What do screen readers 'read' out loud in Jira?

[Sarah Cahalan]

I'm writing a SOP for staff using Jira. I want to know what screen readers read when in different parts of the screen in Jira.

Where do I find this information?

[Liz Tanner]

Hi there, Sarah, and welcome to the Atlassian Community! Atlassian App documentation won't have what parts of the screenreaders will be read. But, a bunch of free/freemium solutions I use do:

If you are on Windows, NVDA** is open source and free. It's one I've used forever. It has 1) mouse tracking that reads text under the cursor (you can refine this setting too), 2) keyboard control configs to use keyboard (laptop and PC) navigation on different parts of the Jira site and see what's read. JAWS is an awesome PC-only option but super expensive. ($2k USD)

Voiceover** is exclusive to Mac, is a built-in screen reader, and reads text on mouse hover/focus.

For an automated approach, here are some browser add-ons that can automate scans of parts/sections of Jira and identify inaccessible content, non-intuitive functionality, missing alt tags/nav, etc. Some of these are:

- Axe DevTools*: automates scans and saves reports of these audits
- WAVE*, which is my favorite: pops up these little icon for what content should be read and provides a written summary listing and categorizing issues it found 
- Silktide* Toolbar: specifically targets Focus order and keyboard nav. This is a big help b/c that tells you what order the content is read in also and let you know when the Focus order is not set or off sequence. This tool also gives you robust reports highlighting improvements

* - Freemium          ** - Free

Atlassian is working toward AA compliance. In my experience, some apps and components are not compliant yet and some are solidly AA compliant. Atlassian's progress, public backlog of critical a11y issues, and VPAT docs for Jira are at this link.

I hope these tool suggestions get you started! Also, thank you for your diligence in helping on the efforts to make Jira AA compliant. I appreciate you! If you have any questions about tools or a11y, please reach out!

[Sarah Cahalan]

Thanks so much for taking the time to respond so comprehensively, I sincerely appreciate it!

Unfortunately, I'm working at a Government organisation with quite strict protocols, which prevent me from downloading add-ons.

I'd troubleshoot from my personal computer, but I can only access Jira Cloud - my work uses Jira data center/service management. Would Jira Cloud screens read the same as Data Center/Service Management do you think?

[Liz Tanner]

Dang it! FedRAMP/NIST (et. al.) up and got me! If project constraints allow, I'd do a a11y review on both the Cloud and DC. Not b/c tools won't read the screen UIs the same but to minimize a missed a11y compliance. It sounds like that's what you're leaning into, and I think you 100% have the right idea!

Just a couple "To think abouts" when you go through:

I think Jira Cloud screens and Jira DC screens will definitely read the same. UI languages used to create the look of your Jira environments (Cloud and DC) is the same. So, that's no prob! 

The issue will be this: You may have miss an error on the DC side that you don't pick up on your Cloud side, unless you were able to make exact copies between the two Jira instances, and synchronize data and info for modifications and updates.

You may run into a board, project, or component with sensitive data in DC, so its hidden from you (like a project permission). One more to be  The last "Devil's Advocate" brainstorm is, make sure you have same/similar permissions and authorization between your Jira Cloud and DC instances. "Tilted" group/role permissions might block you from viewing content at home that you can see at work! Especially if you belong to an admin or other full control group in your Jira Cloud vs. DC where you're only have user views/access.

Last, keep in mind: If you are on Windows you still have Narrator screenreader built into Windows 11 and VoiceOver on Macbooks, iPhones, and so forths. Those aren't downloads nor add-ons, So, if they're not blocked, don't forget to leverage them in too!