Accessibility

Aperio was developed from the ground up to be fully usable with a screen reader. This page explains the most important concepts and gives tips for the common screen readers.

The core principle: application mode

Aperio runs in application mode (role="application"). This means:

• You do not need to switch to browse (virtual) mode.
• Your arrow keys control the calendar and lists directly – not the screen reader’s virtual cursor.
• Keystrokes reach Aperio directly, so all shortcuts work.

This is different from classic web pages and enables smooth, app-like work.

Live announcements

Important status changes are announced through live regions, without moving the focus, for example:

• “Event saved”, “Task done”,
• the view change and the focused period,
• the synchronization status,
• due reminders.

Tips by screen reader

NVDA

• Aperio enables focus mode automatically (application mode). If you accidentally end up in browse mode, NVDA+Space brings you back.
• Use NVDA+Tab to have the currently focused element announced again.

JAWS

• Here, too, application mode ensures the arrow keys go straight to Aperio. If needed, force forms mode with Enter.
• Insert+Tab repeats the focus announcement.

VoiceOver (macOS)

• With VoiceOver enabled, you navigate Aperio with the arrow keys; the “Quick Nav” behavior is not needed within the application area.
• VO+F lets you search for controls.

Narrator (Windows)

• Scan mode is not required in Aperio; if it is active, toggle it with Caps Lock+Space.

What you can expect

• All features are reachable without a mouse.
• Buttons, menus, dialogs and lists are correctly marked up and labeled.
• Visual truncation (e.g. shortened event titles in the month view) changes nothing about the announced information – you always get the full text.

Feedback

If you find a place that doesn’t work well with your screen reader, we’d love a note on the project on GitHub. Accessibility is a central goal of Aperio.