Accessibility
Every student should be able to use Volanee, including students who use a screen reader, a keyboard, a switch, or larger text. We hold Volanee to WCAG 2.1 Level AA, the standard the federal ADA Title II rule sets for school districts and the web services they provide through vendors, with compliance dates of April 26, 2027 for larger districts and April 26, 2028 for smaller ones.
1. How we test
| Test | What it covers | Result |
|---|---|---|
| Automated WCAG 2.1 A and AA checks (axe) | The public site, the student app and the counselor console, on a phone and a computer: about 70 page views | No violations |
| Keyboard only | Sign in, home, activities, the interest quiz, seals, friends and the counselor's student list, crossed with the Tab key alone | Focus visible at every stop, no traps |
| Measured in the browser | Text size, tap target size, contrast of text against what is actually behind it, sideways scrolling at phone width | Text 14 px or larger, targets 44 by 44 px, no sideways scrolling, on every screen we changed this fall |
| Every screen as every kind of account | 103 screens, checked for errors and broken pages | No unexpected errors |
2. Where we stand, by principle
| WCAG 2.1 AA | Status | Notes |
|---|---|---|
| Perceivable: text alternatives, structure, contrast, resizing | Supports | Icons are labeled or hidden from screen readers, forms have labels, tables have headers, text meets contrast minimums, and pages reflow at phone width without sideways scrolling. |
| Operable: keyboard, focus, time, navigation | Supports | Everything works with a keyboard, focus is always visible, nothing times out while a student is typing, and every page has a clear heading and a way back. |
| Understandable: language, predictable behavior, input help | Supports | Plain language, errors shown next to what caused them in words, and nothing changes page on its own. |
| Robust: works with assistive technology | Supports | Standard HTML controls, names and roles on every control. |
| Documents Volanee makes (hour exports, proof letters, resume, brag sheet) | Partially supports | They are real text that can be selected and read aloud, with a title, but they are not yet tagged with document structure for screen readers (PDF/UA). |
3. What we have not done yet
No independent accessibility audit, and no full walkthrough by an expert screen reader user with VoiceOver or NVDA. Automated checks find many problems but not all of them, which is why we also test by keyboard and by measurement. Tagging our PDFs for screen readers is next on the list.
4. Report a barrier
If anything in Volanee is hard to use with the way you use a computer or phone, tell us through support or ask your counselor to. We reply within two school days and fix barriers before new features.