Using Jira Service Desk and/or Confluence? Is accessibility a concern?

Sharon Helms
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August 2, 2019

Our university is working hard to ensure we meet web content accessibility guidelines for content in our  (Cloud-hosted) Jira Service Desk Help Center and associated Confluence spaces, both because we're required by law and because it's the right thing to do. :-)

Is anyone else also part of a similar initiative? Have you worked with any external vendors to do an accessibility audit?

I'm wondering if others have encountered challenges for screen reader users using search on the Help Center, or have noticed the lack of alternative text for images in the new Confluence editor. 

Would love to hear any problems and/or workarounds you may be experiencing! Thanks!

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Brian Chabot August 14, 2019

Accessibility is a large concern for us as well. We discussed this with Atlassian during the last Summit and they stated it is a goal for them as well. They have released the following for 508:

https://confluence.atlassian.com/display/ACCESSIBILITY/Atlassian+product+VPAT+documents

But we know 508 does not really mean WCAG v2.0AA.

 

We have been using Jira Software and Confluence and looking to add Service Desk into our campus. We use local instances and have not moved to Atlassian’s cloud yet. This allows us to make changes to the systems in order to meet standards.

 

We alter Confluence to meet our goal. We have talked about accessibility in the following page:

https://community.atlassian.com/t5/Confluence-discussions/How-to-get-Confluence-WCAG-2-0-AA-Compliant/td-p/723511

 

We have also released our code on GitHub to help teams move Confluence in the right direction. But again, this is for a local instance.

 

On the other side of the house, Jira and Service Desk look good when it comes to these standards. We don’t make any changes outside of colors to ensure there is enough contrast.

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Sharon Helms
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October 4, 2019

Thanks, @Brian Chabot , for your article and code! I appreciate that so many people who care about accessibility are willing to share their resources.

Our school is using the cloud versions of Confluence and Jira, and unfortunately we have a bit less flexibility with customizations. 

We have been in touch with Atlassian about our concerns with the new Confluence Cloud editor, and the good news is that it sounds like they are directing some resources into making their cloud products more compliant. 

Jaclyn Mazzarella
Marketplace Partner
Marketplace Partners provide apps and integrations available on the Atlassian Marketplace that extend the power of Atlassian products.
October 4, 2019

Hi there! 

Addteq's app for Jira and Confluence is a great option for visually impaired users! It allows your Jira & Confluence instances to be compliant and offers your users ease of use. 

Hope this helps anyone in need! 

https://marketplace.atlassian.com/search?query=unstoppable

Sharon Helms
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October 4, 2019

Thanks, @Jaclyn Mazzarella ! Those add-ons look great options for people using server-hosted Jira and Confluence. Fingers crossed the vendor someday can provide versions for cloud-hosted as well!

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Sharon Helms
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November 9, 2019

It's exciting to see that Atlassian's careers site lists an opening for Head of Accessibility.

Can't wait to see progress being made, particularly for their Cloud products! One of the duties is: 

  • Ensuring that we are continuously improving the accessibility of our Cloud product suite

Hurrah!

Fernando Bordallo
Atlassian Team
Atlassian Team members are employees working across the company in a wide variety of roles.
January 14, 2020

Hello @Sharon Helms

As an active participant of the Jira Cloud development teams, I can attest we do take accessibility into consideration and internally audit our implementations. We are aware of the gap for our products to fully adopt the accessibility standards and work towards meeting them 🚀

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Sharon Helms
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January 14, 2020

Thank you, @Fernando Bordallo -- that's great to hear!

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