Built with access in mind. Some of it, limited by a 6th-century building.

basilicacistern.istanbul-tourist-information.com conforms to WCAG 2.2 level AA. Independent audit 3 April 2026 with a Turkish a11y consultancy. Report available on request.

The site uses a dark theme throughout — chosen because the cistern itself is dark and the design reflects that atmospheric reality. We paid close attention to the luminance ratios and tested the theme at both 100% and 200% zoom with three screen readers. See section 04 for the specifics.

Semantic HTML · skip links · focus rings (2px bronze outline, 2px offset — visible on dark bg). Forms: every input labelled, autocomplete attrs, inline validation. Motion: prefers-reduced-motion respected.

Language tagging: Turkish terms (Yerebatan Sarnıcı, Medusa) tagged lang="tr". Keyboard order: logical and tested.

A dark design is a style choice. It can reduce eye strain for some users and cause others (particularly people with astigmatism or certain visual impairments) to read with more difficulty because of halation around text.

We chose dark because the cistern itself is dark — the design communicates atmosphere honestly. To compensate: ivory body text at 10.1:1 contrast against the deep cistern blue (exceeds AAA at 7:1). Font weight slightly heavier than our other sites (450 display, 400 body) to reduce halation. Warm ink — not pure white — which testing has shown reads easier than #FFFFFF on dark.

If the dark theme is genuinely difficult for you, the other four sites in our portfolio use light themes with identical information architecture. Hagia Sophia's tickets page is a close sibling of this one.

Large-print PDF, plain-text, audio, braille-ready, Easy Read: accessibility@istanbul-tourist-information.com. Response 5 business days, delivery 15.

The Basilica Cistern is a 1,500-year-old Byzantine water reservoir managed by the Municipality of Istanbul. The entrance involves 52 non-negotiable stone steps down to the walkway level.

Once at walkway level: all 336 columns are on one continuous loop of wooden walkway. No steps, fully flat. Wheelchairs that have been carried down (by a companion or the Municipality's staff, on request 48 hours ahead) can circulate freely. Medusa heads are accessible from the walkway but at a fixed viewing point — no closer access beyond the rope line.

Companion tickets free for essential carers — email us the booking reference. Sensory: the space is dark, cool (~17°C year-round), echoing, and there is standing water in view throughout. No flashing lights anywhere.

Hearing-impaired visitors: the audio guide is a phone-streamed MP3; captioned transcripts are available. Reverberant acoustics may make hearing aids difficult — subtitled mode recommended.