mirror of https://github.com/zulip/zulip.git
85 lines
4.4 KiB
Markdown
85 lines
4.4 KiB
Markdown
# Accessibility
|
|
|
|
## Guidelines
|
|
|
|
In order to accommodate all users, Zulip strives to implement accessibility
|
|
best practices in its user interface. There are many aspects to accessibility;
|
|
here are some of the more important ones to keep in mind.
|
|
|
|
- All images should have alternative text attributes for the benefit of users
|
|
who cannot see them (this includes users who are utilizing a voice interface
|
|
to free up their eyes to look at something else instead).
|
|
- The entire application should be usable via a keyboard (many users are unable
|
|
to use a mouse, and many accessibility aids emulate a keyboard).
|
|
- Text should have good enough contrast against the background to enable
|
|
even users with moderate visual impairment to be able to read it.
|
|
- [ARIA](https://www.w3.org/WAI/intro/aria) (Accessible Rich Internet
|
|
Application) attributes should be used appropriately to enable screen
|
|
readers and other alternative interfaces to navigate the application
|
|
effectively.
|
|
|
|
There are many different standards for accessibility, but the most relevant
|
|
one for Zulip is the W3C's [WCAG](https://www.w3.org/TR/WCAG20/) (Web Content
|
|
Accessibility Guidelines), currently at version 2.0. Whenever practical, we
|
|
should strive for compliance with the AA level of this specification.
|
|
(The W3C itself
|
|
[recommends not trying](https://www.w3.org/TR/UNDERSTANDING-WCAG20/conformance.html#uc-conf-req1-head)
|
|
to comply with the highest AAA level for an entire web site or application,
|
|
as it is not possible for some content.)
|
|
|
|
## Tools
|
|
|
|
There are tools available to automatically audit a web page for compliance
|
|
with many of the WCAG guidelines. Here are some of the more useful ones:
|
|
|
|
- [Accessibility Developer Tools][chrome-webstore]
|
|
This open-source Chrome extension from Google adds an accessibility audit to
|
|
the "Audits" tab of the Chrome Developer Tools. The audit is performed
|
|
against the page's DOM via JavaScript, allowing it to identify some issues
|
|
that a static HTML inspector would miss.
|
|
- [axe](https://www.deque.com/products/axe/) An open-source Chrome and Firefox
|
|
extension which runs a somewhat different set of checks than Google's Chrome
|
|
extension.
|
|
- [Wave](https://wave.webaim.org/) This web application takes a URL and loads
|
|
it in a frame, reporting on all the issues it finds with links to more
|
|
information. Has the advantage of not requiring installation, but requires
|
|
a URL which can be directly accessed by an external site.
|
|
- [Web Developer](https://chrispederick.com/work/web-developer/) This browser
|
|
extension has many useful features, including a convenient link for opening
|
|
the current URL in Wave to get an accessibility report.
|
|
|
|
Note that these tools cannot catch all possible accessibility problems, and
|
|
sometimes report false positives as well. They are a useful aid in quickly
|
|
identifying potential problems and checking for regressions, but their
|
|
recommendations should not be blindly obeyed.
|
|
|
|
## GitHub issues
|
|
|
|
Problems with Zulip's accessibility should be reported as
|
|
[GitHub issues](https://github.com/zulip/zulip/issues) with the "accessibility"
|
|
label. This label can be added by entering the following text in a separate
|
|
comment on the issue:
|
|
|
|
> @zulipbot add "accessibility"
|
|
|
|
If you want to help make Zulip more accessible, here is a list of the
|
|
[currently open accessibility issues][accessibility-issues].
|
|
|
|
## Additional resources
|
|
|
|
For more information about making Zulip accessible to as many users as
|
|
possible, the following resources may be useful.
|
|
|
|
- [Font Awesome accessibility guide](https://fontawesome.com/how-to-use/on-the-web/other-topics/accessibility),
|
|
which is especially helpful since Zulip uses Font Awesome for its icons.
|
|
- [Web Content Accessibility Guidelines (WCAG) 2.0](https://www.w3.org/TR/WCAG/)
|
|
- [WAI-ARIA](https://www.w3.org/WAI/intro/aria) - Web Accessibility Initiative
|
|
Accessible Rich Internet Application Suite
|
|
- [WebAIM](https://webaim.org/) - Web Accessibility in Mind
|
|
- The [MDN page on accessibility](https://developer.mozilla.org/en-US/docs/Web/Accessibility)
|
|
- The [Open edX Accessibility Guidelines][openedx-guidelines] for developers
|
|
|
|
[chrome-webstore]: https://chrome.google.com/webstore/detail/accessibility-developer-t/fpkknkljclfencbdbgkenhalefipecmb
|
|
[openedx-guidelines]: https://docs.openedx.org/en/latest/developers/concepts/accessibility.html
|
|
[accessibility-issues]: https://github.com/zulip/zulip/issues?q=is%3Aissue+is%3Aopen+label%3Aaccessibility
|