Accessibility

The web is for everyone. That belief is at the core of how Kelp is built.

Kelp adheres to some specific guidelines designed to make it as usable as possible for as many people as possible.

• Color combinations are designed to meet WCAG AAA guidelines.
• Interactive elements use visual affordances other than just color to indicate their state.
• The baseline font size is set to the equivalent of 18px for better visibility.
• ARIA authoring practices are followed for all relevant interactive components (and deviated from in areas where they’re insufficient or wrong).
• Interactive components are tested with a screen reader to make sure what gets announced meets expectations.
• Components are tested using keyboard-only navigation to ensure they work without a mouse.
• Accessible labels are included on elements (using things like a .visually-hidden class, [aria-label], or [aria-describedby] attribute) when visual affordances might not be properly conveyed to screen readers.
• Dynamic changes to content and state are properly announced to screen readers using ARIA live regions.
• Simple, plain language is used as much as possible to account for cognitive challenges.
• Skip nav links are included for keyboard-only users to skip over lengthy navigation sections.
• The documentation models accessibility best practices rather than providing simpler-but-less-accessible examples.
• Performance and progressive enhancement are favored whenever possible to accommodate slow or failed network connections.
• The license terms expressly forbid the use of Kelp to promote fascism, hate, and systems of oppression.

Accessibility is as much a practice as an end-goal. If you see any areas where Kelp has failed in meeting these guidelines, please get in touch.