Acme Transit Timetables

A rural community transport service published its timetables as scanned PDFs that were difficult to read on a phone and impossible for screen readers. I built a small static site generator that turns the operator’s open timetable data into accessible web pages and print-ready leaflets from the same source.

Many passengers do not use smartphones, so printed timetables at stops and in the library matter as much as the website. Keeping the two in step had been entirely manual.

Passenger panels tested printed drafts at real bus stops. The most useful change came from them: list stops in the order you meet them, and highlight the last bus home.

• One data source produces both the web pages and the print stylesheet, so they can no longer disagree.
• Departure grids are real HTML tables with row and column headers, readable by screen readers.
• A simple line diagram for each route, generated from stop order rather than drawn by hand.
• Large type and high contrast throughout, tested on paper as well as on screen.

The operator now updates a single spreadsheet when the timetable changes, and both the website and the print files are rebuilt automatically. Volunteers collect the new leaflets from the local printer rather than redesigning them each season.

• Testing print at the bus stop revealed problems that never showed up on a desk.
• Generating the line diagram removed a whole category of mistakes.
• A static site was the right choice: nothing to patch, and it is fast on poor rural connections.