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Universal access

3 min read

Universal access is very important to us. We follow web standards and check to make everything usable also with keyboard and assistive software such as screen readers. We aim to be compliant with the Web Content Accessibility Guidelines 2.1 on AA level, with the high contrast theme even on AAA level. We also follow the German BITV 2.0 guidelines.

If you find any issues, don’t hesitate to report them on our issue tracker. And if you want to get involved, come join our design team!

Zoom and responsiveness #

The Nextcloud interface is fully responsive and usable on any size of screen. You can zoom in and out to fit the text and element size to your liking. The navigation and sidebar can be expanded or collapsed.

Navigating via keyboard #

You can navigate the web interface with keyboard only just like you can with the mouse:

  • Tab and Shift + Tab to move between elements
  • Enter or Space to activate or open the element (depending on the type of element)
  • Escape to be used to close modals, popover menus, and file viewers
  • Left arrow and Right arrow to navigate between photos in the viewer
  • Ctrl + F to focus the search field
  • Ctrl + S to save changes in editors like Nextcloud Text

For quicker navigation, we offer 2 “skip links” at the beginning of the document which allow you to:

  • Skip to main content
  • Skip to navigation of app

Nextcloud Talk has shortcuts which are also documented inside the settings of the app itself:

  • C to focus the message input field
  • Escape to unfocus the message input field to be able to use shortcuts
  • F to fullscreen the chat or call
  • While in a call:
    • M to toggle the microphone on and off
    • V to toggle video on and off
    • Space for push to talk or push to mute
    • R to raise or lower hand

Nextcloud Mail has shortcuts as well, also documented inside the settings of the app itself:

  • C to compose a new message
  • Left arrow to switch to a newer message
  • Right arrow to switch to an older message
  • S to toggle a message as favorite
  • U to toggle a message unread
  • Del to delete a message
  • Ctrl + Enter to send
  • R to refresh and load new mails

Included themes #

We offer several themes you can activate to aid accessibility:

  • High contrast theme: A high contrast mode to ease your navigation. Visual quality will be reduced but clarity will be increased.
  • Dark theme: A dark theme to ease your eyes by reducing the overall luminosity and brightness. It is still under development, so please report any issues you may find.
  • Dyslexia font: OpenDyslexic is a free typeface/font designed to mitigate some of the common reading errors caused by dyslexia.

To reach the accessibility settings:

  1. Open the settings menu at the end of the header
  2. Pick Settings
  3. In the navigation, pick Accessibility

Note

Contrast of elements can vary based on custom theming. For example, the primary theming color is used as background color by the header, log in page, and primary buttons. If this causes contrast issues, please contact your administrator for help.