Independent Voices

This assessment covers portions of the Reveal Digital’s Independent Voices application. The assessment revealed some problems with screen reader compatibility, resulting in screen reader users sometimes missing critical information needed to understand how to operate the features.

Top 3 Issues:

1. Color combinations – there are multiple red on grey or white color combinations that have a low contrast ratio. People who have low vision or are colorblind may have difficulty reading text if the contrast between the text its background is insufficient. When the contrast ratio between text and its background is adequate, people who have low vision or are colorblind are more likely to be able to read the text.
2. Use of color – links are defined as links by using a change of color alone. When color alone is used as the only visual means of conveying information, indicating an action, prompting a response, or distinguishing a visual element, people who are blind, have low vision, or are color blind will not be able to access that information. It is perfectly acceptable to use color to convey information as long as it is redundant with another visual indication (such as real onscreen text, icon, pattern, or a contrast ratio between elements greater than 3 to 1) AND text that can be accessed by a screen reader (such as real onscreen text, screen reader accessible alternative text, or ARIA attributes). When information conveyed by color is also conveyed by redundant visual and screen reader accessible information, people who have visual disabilities will have access to that information.
3. Link context – links in the pages are often not using the context or allowing a user to work out the visual context when they use a screen reader. When link text - along with its immediately surrounding content - does not completely describe the destination of a link, people who are blind, and people with mobility impairments, reading disabilities, and low vision may have more difficulty understanding the purpose of a link so they can decide whether they want to follow the link. In order to sufficiently describe a link's destination, the link text and its immediately surrounding content must provide a complete description of the destination. (Note: Whenever possible, provide link text that identifies the purpose of the link without needing to refer to surrounding content.) Meaningful link text helps people choose which links to follow without requiring complicated strategies to understand the page.