Accessibility in Agile Central

[Legacy User]

If anyone has any info on work that's being done to improve the level of accessibility in Agile Central, either within CA itself or externally, I'd be very interested to hear about it. The VPAT (Voluntary Product Accessibility Template) makes a grim read, and as a blind user I'm struggling to use this potentially excellent tool much more than I should be. It's pretty much unusable at the moment.  

[bulmi01]

frex65,

 

There are plans to improve and we’re working towards better accessibility with our new features and UI.

 

Generally, the updated features are more accessible than the old ones.   We’re aware of the gaps, and resolving as we move forward is part of our plan.

 

If you have further questions or need more information, I will work to track that down for you.

 

Michael

[Legacy User]

That's really good to know Michael. Do you know if there are likely to be big accessibility improvements in the next build, and if so when the projected release date will be? The lack of accessibility is negatively affecting my ability to be productive in my job, so a more accessible UI will make a huge difference to me and I expect to many other current and    prospective users.

[bulmi01]

Isabel,

 

There will not be any dramatic improvements all at once.  It is going to be a continual and gradual process.  We deploy daily usually.  I realize there is a lot to be improved, but the Product Owners asked me to ask you if there are specific pages or features that would benefit you if they were scheduled for updates as soon as practical.  I can let them know so they can take that into consideration.

 

I apologize I don't have a more definitive date or timeline for you.

 

Michael

[Nev Percy]

Hi, both.

I might add that a discussion just this morning with a colour-blind colleague identified that the QDP (or Quick Details Page/Pane/Panel) and Quality Management screens are more Accessible than the ones they will superseded in due course: the EDP (or Editable Details Page).

One small piece of proof that the incremental changes in new developments are indeed heading in the right direction.

Regards,
--Nev.

[Legacy User]

Michael, it’s great news that CA wants to hear from real users.

Let me describe a few of the issues that cause me the most frustration and hinder me from doing my job:

• Logging time against tasks is almost impossible. The timesheet interface looks like a spreadsheet but doesn’t have the corresponding keyboard functionality. To log some time against a task requires clicking the grid cell that corresponds with the day and task. It’s not possible to achieve this using a keyboard, and there isn’t enough structural mark-up for me to know which cell belongs to which day/task. It would be great if this interface could be marked up as a table with row and column headers and given good keyboard functionality: Tab moves in and then out of the interface, arrow keys move the focus to the corresponding grid cells, and F2 toggles the cell between edit and view modes.
• I can’t currently create a test case within a user story using the keyboard, and I can’t see to use a mouse. So I must create a stand-alone test case and attach it to a user story later, which isn’t without its own problems.
• When content appears dynamically on the screen, for example when I want to choose a user story for my test case, the new content appears in a random place in the document, and doesn’t receive focus, so I don’t know it’s there. It would be great if dynamic content like this could be rendered in an accessible dialog.

 

I guess those might keep you going for a while J

 

Thanks again for such a positive response.

[bulmi01]

Isabel,

 

I passed along this feedback to the Product Owners.  I can't guarantee that those specific requests will be at the top of the queue to be worked on, but the Product Owners will take the information into consideration.

 

Thank you for your feedback!

 

Michael