Accessibility Conformance
How CanvasXpress conforms to WCAG 2.1 Level AA — a plain-language accessibility report you can hand to a procurement or compliance review.
Summary
A chart drawn on an HTML5 canvas is, by default, invisible to assistive technology. CanvasXpress builds a parallel semantic layer — real DOM that mirrors the visual chart — so screen-reader and keyboard users can reach the same information. This report states, criterion by criterion, what is supported today, what is partially supported, and what is not yet evaluated. It is written to the structure of a VPAT® / Accessibility Conformance Report against WCAG 2.1 Level A and AA.
Conformance terms: Supports — the criterion is met. Partially Supports — some functionality meets it. Not Evaluated — not yet formally tested. This report is maintained alongside an automated axe-core conformance gate that runs on every release.
WCAG 2.1 conformance report
| Success criterion | Level | Conformance | Remarks |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1.1.1 Non-text Content | A | Supports | Every chart canvas carries role="img" and a generated aria-label (chart type, titles, axes, series/sample counts, value range), and an adjacent visually-hidden, screen-reader-navigable data table (linked via aria-describedby, with row/column header scope) exposes the underlying values. |
| 1.4.1 Use of Color | A | Partially Supports | A high-contrast theme applies pattern line decoration so series can be told apart without colour; not every chart type yet encodes every series non-redundantly (shape/pattern/label). |
| 1.4.3 Contrast (Minimum) | AA | Partially Supports | A built-in highcontrast theme provides black text/axes on a white ground for maximum text contrast; the default and decorative themes are not all audited to 4.5:1. |
| 1.4.11 Non-text Contrast | AA | Partially Supports | The high-contrast theme gives black borders/guides and a visible focus outline; other themes are not fully audited to 3:1 for non-text UI. |
| 2.1.1 Keyboard | A | Supports | The chart canvas is keyboard-focusable; arrow keys / Home / End move a roving cursor through data points (each announced), and menus, toolbar and customizer controls are focusable and activate on Enter/Space. |
| 2.1.2 No Keyboard Trap | A | Supports | Focus can always move away; Escape closes menus and clears the data-point focus. |
| 2.1.4 Character Key Shortcuts | A | Supports | Single-key pan/zoom shortcuts are gateable via the existing disableKeys/disableArrowKeys flags. |
| 2.3.3 Animation from Interactions | AAA* | Supports | Render transitions are skipped when the operating system requests prefers-reduced-motion. (Provided though it is Level AAA.) |
| 2.4.7 Focus Visible | AA | Supports | A :focus-visible outline is shown on the canvas and on every keyboard-operable control for keyboard focus. |
| 4.1.2 Name, Role, Value | A | Supports | Canvas exposes name + role; interactive controls have roles and accessible names (from title or a derived label). |
| 4.1.3 Status Messages | AA | Supports | A polite aria-live region announces “Chart updated” with the new summary when a chart's data or configuration changes. |
| 2.4.3 Focus Order · 3.2.1/3.2.2 On Focus/Input | A/AA | Partially Supports | Controls activate on click/Enter, not on focus; full role="menu" semantics and modal focus-trap/restore are in progress. |
| Other Level A / AA criteria | A/AA | Not Evaluated | Criteria not listed above (e.g. reflow, text spacing, timing) have not yet been formally tested for the interactive chart surface. |
How to get the accessible experience
- Screen readers: the canvas is labelled and described; the adjacent data table is navigable with standard table-reading commands.
- Keyboard:
Tabto the chart, then arrow keys /Home/Endto move through data points;Tabreaches menus and controls,Enter/Spaceactivates,Esccloses. - High contrast: set
theme: "highcontrast"in the chart configuration for black-on-white text and pattern-distinguished series. - Reduced motion: honored automatically from the operating-system setting.
Feedback & formal VPAT
This report reflects the current state and is updated as conformance improves. For a signed VPAT for a specific procurement, or to report an accessibility barrier, contact us. Accessibility issues can also be filed at github.com/neuhausi/canvasXpress.
VPAT® is a registered trademark of the Information Technology Industry Council (ITI).
