Accessibility statement for Urban Biome

Last updated: October 2026

What this statement covers

This statement applies to:

  • the Urban Biome app for iPhone and Android, where people record small green and blue spaces in towns and cities, such as street trees, planters, rain gardens and green walls;
  • the Urban Biome web map at sightings.urbanbiome.co.uk, which shows the same public map in a web browser and is view only;
  • this website, urbanbiome.co.uk, which describes the service and holds our policies.

Urban Biome is run by Urbanbiome Ltd. We want as many people as possible to be able to use it: for example, with your phone's own accessibility settings, such as larger text, a screen reader (VoiceOver on iPhone, TalkBack on Android) and dark mode. Below we say what we have checked so far, and what we know doesn't work well yet.

AbilityNet has advice on making your device easier to use if you have a disability.

How accessible the service is

We have not had the app, the web map or this website audited for accessibility, so we don't claim that they meet any particular standard.

What we have checked

  • On iPhone, the app's text follows the text size you set on your phone, and nothing is shown smaller than 12 point.
  • On Android, we check the main screens at the normal text size and at a larger one (1.3 times), on a small and a large phone, so that text isn't cut off.
  • You can dictate notes using the microphone button, instead of typing.

We have not yet tested the app with VoiceOver or TalkBack from start to finish, or with switch control or voice control.

What we know doesn't work well

  • Recording a site uses a map: you find the place and place a pin. You can search for a place to move the map there, but you can't record a site by typing an address alone. This depends on seeing the map and on precise touch.
  • The map can colour each site by its condition. We have not checked that condition is always shown in a way that doesn't rely on colour, or that the colours have enough contrast.
  • Photos that people upload have no text descriptions.
  • The app needs your phone's location and, to add a photo, its camera or photo library.
  • The web map depends on seeing and moving the map. Before it loads, a browser check (Cloudflare Turnstile) runs, and some people are asked to tick a box.

Feedback and contact information

If you find a problem we haven't listed, or you need information from the app, the web map or this website in a different format, such as large print or plain text, email support@urbanbiome.co.uk.

Tell us which phone or browser you use, what you were trying to do and what went wrong. A person reads every email, and we'll get back to you.

Enforcement procedure

Urbanbiome Ltd is a private company, not a public sector body, so the Public Sector Bodies (Websites and Mobile Applications) (No. 2) Accessibility Regulations 2018 do not apply to us directly. We have written this statement in the format those regulations use, because the councils and other public bodies we work with are covered by them.

If you're not happy with how we respond to your complaint, you can contact the Equality Advisory and Support Service (EASS).

Technical information about this service's accessibility

We aim to meet the Web Content Accessibility Guidelines version 2.2 AA standard, for the app, the web map and this website.

Compliance status

None of them has been tested against WCAG 2.2 AA, so we don't know whether they meet it. Until they have been tested, we treat them as not compliant.

Non-accessible content

We will list the content that is not accessible, and the WCAG success criteria it fails, once the service has been tested. The problems we already know about are listed under how accessible the service is.

What we're doing to improve accessibility

  • Test the iPhone and Android apps with VoiceOver and TalkBack, with the largest text sizes, and with voice control.
  • Test the web map and this website against WCAG 2.2 AA.
  • Update this statement with what we find, and with a plan for fixing it.

Preparation of this statement

This statement was prepared in October 2026. It is based on what we know about how the service is built and the checks listed above, not on an accessibility audit. When the service is tested, we will say here who tested it, when, and how.