PGHAA operating standard
The website must work where people actually need it
PGHAA is specified for a phone-first, low-friction environment: a small screen, one hand, ordinary or older hardware, a weak mobile connection, and a visitor who may need a meeting immediately. A large monitor, fast computer, precise mouse, perfect vision, or strong connection must never be a prerequisite for getting help.
Responsive operating range
- Specification
- Every page reflows from a 320 CSS-pixel viewport upward, with no page-level horizontal scrolling. Layouts expand for tablets and desktops instead of maintaining a separate reduced mobile site.
- Purpose
- Keep the same information and actions available at every practical screen size.
- Helps
- People using small or older phones, browser zoom, split-screen windows, tablets, laptops, and large desktop displays.
Touch and one-handed operation
- Specification
- Primary buttons, filters, map controls, phone links, directions, and meeting actions target at least 44 by 44 CSS pixels with separation from competing controls.
- Purpose
- Make important actions dependable without precise tapping or accidental activation.
- Helps
- People using one hand, people in motion, people with tremors or limited dexterity, and anyone operating a phone while stressed.
Readable without pinch-zooming
- Specification
- Body copy uses a practical 16-pixel minimum target, comfortable line spacing, short readable measures, scalable headings, and content that remains usable when text or page zoom is increased.
- Purpose
- Prevent essential addresses, times, notes, and instructions from becoming tiny, clipped, or crowded.
- Helps
- People with low vision, aging eyes, reading disabilities, screen magnification, glare, or a small display.
Contrast and visible state
- Specification
- Normal text targets at least 4.5:1 contrast; large text and meaningful interface boundaries target at least 3:1. Color is reinforced by text, outlines, counts, or state changes.
- Purpose
- Keep meeting information, focus, selections, map boundaries, and density differences visible.
- Helps
- People with low vision or color-vision differences and anyone reading a screen outdoors, in dim light, or on a low-quality display.
Equivalent access
- Specification
- Every critical action works without hover alone. Controls use meaningful names and visible focus; the reading order stays logical; maps, filters, and results expose the same information through focus and selection.
- Purpose
- Ensure that the input method does not determine whether someone can find a meeting.
- Helps
- Screen-reader users, keyboard users, switch-device users, touch users, and people who cannot use a mouse precisely.
Useful before everything finishes loading
- Specification
- Core meeting text, links, filters, and navigation remain the priority. Heavy maps and media must not block access to addresses, times, phone numbers, directions, or help.
- Purpose
- Deliver the recovery information first and avoid making assistance depend on expensive hardware or fast data.
- Helps
- People on weak cellular service, limited data plans, older devices, congested public Wi-Fi, or slow connections.
Dense information without lost content
- Specification
- Maps retain boundaries, labels, count gradations, zoom and pan access, and selectable places. Tables reflow or use contained scrolling only when necessary; columns are not deleted merely to fit a phone.
- Purpose
- Keep geographic relationships and complete meeting details understandable at every size.
- Helps
- Visitors comparing nearby meetings, unfamiliar travelers, people using neighborhood or municipality filters, and volunteers checking the published data.
Canonical, maintainable data
- Specification
- Meeting results, counts, municipalities, and Pittsburgh neighborhoods draw from canonical fields in the meeting master data rather than duplicated page-specific values.
- Purpose
- Prevent maps, filters, tables, and meeting lists from disagreeing and make corrections propagate consistently.
- Helps
- People relying on accurate meeting information and the trusted servants responsible for maintaining it.
Who this is for: the standard is designed first for the person who needs a meeting now—possibly distressed, new to A.A., unfamiliar with Pittsburgh, visually or physically disabled, using one hand, using assistive technology, or connecting through an older phone and weak signal. If the site works in that situation, it remains clear and efficient for everyone else.