Over the past few years, we've been working hard to identify and deliver accessibility improvements for all of our users across our platforms. Each tweak might seem subtle on its own, but together they create a continuous movement in the right direction towards a more accessible communication platform.
For users who rely on screen readers, keyboard navigation, or other assistive technologies, the difference between “usable” and “comfortable” often comes down to the details.
Examples of recent accessibility improvements
In recent months we’ve made more than 40 accessibility updates. Some were correcting simple oversights; fixing poorly labeled buttons, and headings that didn’t make sense when read aloud. Others required more systemic rethinking, such as improving screen reader focus, respecting font size settings, or reworking how reactions are announced.
Some examples of recent improvements:
- Fixed missing or unhelpful alt text across profile images, buttons, and polls options
- Improved screen reader handling of reactions and navigation order
- Enhanced structure and semantics of chat views, message history, and modals
- Made settings toggles and dialogs more accessible via keyboard
We also fixed a few surprising issues such as parts of the page that weren’t visible but still receiving keyboard focus and the inability to close a profile photo using just the keyboard.
Laying the groundwork for future improvements; accessibility by design and by default
Many of the above described improvements were prompted by direct user feedback from the community, our customers, external accessibility audits, and ongoing testing of our platforms. Others were part of larger infrastructure efforts; for example improvements to our dialog components and the gradual rollout of our design system, Compound.
Compound has been instrumental in embedding accessibility into our development workflows. By defining consistent user interface (UI) components up front - from buttons, to tooltips to resizable panes - we create cohesive and consistent designs across our product. The result is a delightful user experience and better accessibility all round.
What's next?
Accessibility isn’t just a tick-box exercise. As part of our mission to provide secure communications to everyone, accessibility is something we build into every new feature and review as part of every release. Outside of direct feature development, here are some accessibility improvements that are top of mind for us to prioritise next:
- A better emoji picker for keyboard users: We’re updating the emoji picker to make it easier to navigate with a keyboard — no more getting stuck or lost in emoji grids.
- Simplifying error messages: We’re rewriting error states across the app to use clear, plain language — so it’s easier to understand what went wrong and what to do next.
- Smoother device verification: We’re working on better handling of timeouts on mobile.
- A more usable polls experience: Polls should be getting an upgrade — including improved support for screen readers and introducing multi-select options.
- Focus on the composer when entering a chat: On mobile, we want to improve the readability of the timeline and automatically focus the message composer when entering a room - making it quicker to start sending messages.
- Better announcement of new messages on web and desktop: We aim to improve how new messages are announced to screen readers - so it’s easier to keep up with conversations in real time.
As part of our broader efforts towards compliance with the European Accessibility Act (EAA), we’ll continue to close bugs, refine our accessibility statement accordingly, and keep up with any changing guidelines. And most importantly, we’ll keep listening.
For our customers with specific obligations under the EAA, we are also in a position to provide accessibility conformance reports. We also plan to have our commercial products audited against WCAG 2.1 AA and EN 301 549.
We’re not done yet — and that’s the point
We know there's more to do. If you're using Element and encounter barriers, or simply have ideas for how we can do better, we want to hear from you (ideally via https://github.com/element-hq or https://matrix.to/#/#element-accessibility:matrix.org). Your input is helping shape a platform that works better for everyone.
🔧 Check out our latest accessibility statement for more information.
As always, our attitude is: “Let’s build something better.” Together we can create a secure and inclusive space for all to connect, collaborate, and communicate.
Thanks
We’d like to sincerely thank @bgtlover:stealthy.club for reviewing this post and helping keep us honest. That said, any errors here are our own!
