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Policies

Accessibility

Palster should work for everyone, whatever device, assistive technology or settings you use. Here is where we stand and how to tell us when it doesn’t.

On this page

Our commitment

Palster is for everyone, so it has to work for everyone: people who use screen readers, a keyboard or switch control, magnification or larger text, people with low vision or colour blindness, people sensitive to motion, and anyone using an older phone or a slow connection.

We design and test Palster against the Web Content Accessibility Guidelines (WCAG) 2.2, level AA. We don’t meet it everywhere yet. This page says where we stand and how to tell us when something gets in your way.

What we do

  • Touch targets are at least 44 by 44 points under a finger, even where the drawn button is smaller.
  • Keyboard: menus, the notifications page, Palsenger’s chat list and messages, and dialogs work with Tab, arrow keys, Home and End, Enter and Escape, and return focus where you were when they close.
  • Screen readers: real buttons, headings, landmarks and labels; icons that do something have names; new notifications are announced politely.
  • Alt text: when you add a photo, the editor’s Alt text tool lets you describe it for people who can’t see it, and the description travels with the photo.
  • Contrast: text meets AA contrast in both light and dark mode, and white text never sits on a fill too light to read.
  • Motion: if your device is set to reduce motion, Palster calms animations.
  • Zoom and text size: pages reflow when you zoom or enlarge text, without scrolling sideways on a phone.
  • Light and dark: choose either, or follow your device.

Where we fall short today

  • Videos, voice notes and Campfire live audio don’t have captions or transcripts yet.
  • Camera effects and some Scene editing tools are hard to use without sight or a pointer.
  • Maps don’t yet offer a full text alternative beyond the place name.
  • Some older, less used screens haven’t been fully checked with a screen reader.
  • Photos people post without alt text can’t be described to you.

We’re working through these, starting with what people use most.

Tell us about a barrier

If something on Palster is hard or impossible to use, we want to know. Tell us through the contact form or email [email protected]. It helps to say what you were trying to do, which device, browser and assistive technology you use, and where it went wrong. We aim to reply within five business days, and if we can’t fix it quickly, we’ll help you do what you needed another way.