# JoeSSH accessibility assessment status Last reviewed: 2026-08-09 Applies to: JoeSSH `0.1.0-beta.20` through the code-equivalent `0.1.0-beta.22` Store candidate `0.1.0-beta.23`, its beta.24 replacement, the superseded beta.25 WACK candidate, `0.1.0-beta.26`, and the current `0.1.0-beta.27` are maintenance source revisions. Their source and automated checks do not extend this historical manual assessment or establish accessibility conformance for a newly built Store package. JoeSSH is designed to be usable by people with visual, hearing, motor, and cognitive disabilities. The project targets WCAG 2.2 Level AA for its web-based interfaces and uses EN 301 549 V3.2.1 as the additional ICT accessibility baseline where its requirements apply. This document records EAA-oriented readiness work for Directive (EU) 2019/882. It is not a certification, legal determination, or formal WCAG, EN 301 549, or European Accessibility Act conformance claim. ## Assessment status Assessment is in progress. Automated and documented checks pass for the tested product paths described below, but JoeSSH does not currently make a formal conformance claim for WCAG 2.2, EN 301 549, or the European Accessibility Act. A criteria-by-criteria assessment and broader assistive-technology and native-device validation remain incomplete. The latest bounded review is recorded in [docs/accessibility-technical-review-2026-08-09.md](docs/accessibility-technical-review-2026-08-09.md). It is agent-assisted technical evidence, not a substitute for screen-reader or representative-user testing. The current assessment scope includes: - the Windows-first Desktop workbench, including connection management, terminal controls, SFTP, port forwarding, settings, and team-access previews; - the read-only Web Admin dashboard; - the React Native/Expo mobile sync companion preview; and - the public documentation and static fallback pages shipped from this repository. It does not cover content produced by remote SSH hosts, third-party shells or terminal applications, operator-provided deployment pages, or authentication systems added by a downstream deployer. ## Accessibility measures JoeSSH currently provides: - keyboard access to primary Desktop and Web Admin workflows, visible focus indicators, a skip link, focus trapping in dialogs, and keyboard alternatives for connection drag-and-drop ordering; - programmatic names, states, headings, landmarks, status and alert live regions, table relationships, and error descriptions for assistive technologies; - layouts that reflow on narrow screens, tolerate large text, and preserve a minimum 24 CSS pixel target size or equivalent target spacing for interactive web controls; - light and dark themes, Windows forced-colors support, and reduced-motion behavior; - no time-limited interaction, CAPTCHA, memory puzzle, or user-facing authentication challenge in the shipped interfaces; and - localized UI for the supported languages, including right-to-left layout for Arabic. ## Assessment method and evidence The project evaluates accessibility through: - Playwright and Axe checks for WCAG 2.0, 2.1, and 2.2 A/AA rules, including the WCAG 2.2 target-size rule; - keyboard-only workflow tests, focus visibility and focus-not-obscured checks, narrow-viewport and large-text coverage, Lighthouse accessibility audits, and source-level semantic contracts; - automated React Native accessibility-role, label, state, dynamic-type, and target-size tests; and - Windows Chromium-based browser verification during this review. Automated checks cannot prove accessibility on their own. A formal release for a regulated deployment should add manual testing with representative disabled users and current combinations of NVDA with Edge or Firefox, VoiceOver with Safari and iOS, and TalkBack with Android. ## Known limitations - Raw terminal output is controlled by the connected host and terminal application. Xterm-compatible screen-reader behavior can vary with the shell, full-screen terminal program, browser engine, and assistive technology. - The current assessment evidence does not include a complete manual audit on physical iOS and Android devices with VoiceOver and TalkBack. - The Web Admin accepts operator-configured bearer credentials rather than providing an end-user sign-in flow. If a deployer adds authentication, that flow must independently meet WCAG 2.2 criterion 3.3.8 and the applicable EN 301 549 requirements. - Translations are checked for completeness and layout safety, but every language has not yet received a native-speaker accessibility review. These limitations prevent a formal conformance claim. The community Beta keeps its accessibility assessment explicitly in progress until they are resolved or evaluated with representative manual evidence. ## Feedback and assistance Report an accessibility barrier with the [accessibility issue form](https://github.com/JoeWorkspace/JoeSSH/issues/new?template=accessibility.yml). Please include the affected surface, steps to reproduce, expected result, and assistive technology or input method if relevant. Do not include passwords, private keys, access tokens, hostnames, terminal output, or other sensitive operational data. We aim to acknowledge accessibility reports within 10 business days and to publish the disposition or planned remediation in the issue when it is safe to do so. Security-sensitive barriers should instead follow [SECURITY.md](SECURITY.md). If JoeSSH is supplied as part of a service that falls within Directive (EU) 2019/882, the service provider remains responsible for its deployment-specific assessment, accessible support channel, documentation retention, and any notice to the competent national authority. The current free source preview does not activate a consumer checkout. Before a future paid launch, the commercial release gate requires an explicit assessment of EU consumer-market scope, including whether an e-commerce service is being offered and whether any claimed microenterprise or business-only boundary is actually available under the applicable national law. ## Standards references - [Directive (EU) 2019/882](https://eur-lex.europa.eu/eli/dir/2019/882/oj/eng) - [WCAG 2.2](https://www.w3.org/TR/WCAG22/) - [EN 301 549 V3.2.1](https://www.etsi.org/deliver/etsi_en/301500_301599/301549/03.02.01_20/en_301549v030201a.pdf)