Web²Access

Results for Google Wave

Description

Google Wave has been developed to allow users to communicate and collaborate on projects in real time. Data is held on a central server which provides access to message histories etc. It offers web based email, instant messaging and social networking. At present it is in beta with invitation only access.

Accessibility Testing Results

As it stands, Google Wave is not particularly accessible. There is no guarantee the issues raised will be changed in the final release version. Webaim completed a review of Google Wave accessibility in October 2009

#	Test	Score	Summary
1	Login, Signup and Other Forms Accessible		Key forms lack labels (e-mail, password). Uses standard Google/Gmail input - might not be wholly representative of final product functionality, as service is still in preview stage.
2	Image ALT Attributes		No alt-text available on any images, not just user-added content.
3	Link Target Definitions		Links on the page do not navigate away from the main page. Links provide functions (trash can, new message etc.), which are labelled appropriately.
4	Frame Titles and Layout		Only one frame used, and apparently for no reason - in the top left hand corner of the screen. No discernible reason can be found for it's presence but it should not affect screen reader use.
5	Removal of Stylesheet		Removing style sheets renders all windows except for the currently selected one to disappear. This means the site is rendered inaccessible until the Cascading Style Sheet (CSS) is re-enabled.
6	Audio/Video Features		Under the current build of Wave, it is not possible to add audio or video functions. However, there is ample space to add a full transcript to video or audio input.
7	Video/animations - audio descriptions		The full build of Wave will allow many file types to be uploaded to the workspace, so ostensibly, one could have full audio descriptions and text transcripts for all media.
8	Appropriate use of Tables		The screen appears to be made up of tables, none of which have headings which were highlighted during the Dev. toolbar highlight functions
9	Tab Orderings Correct and Logical		Some areas, when skipped to, do not follow logical progression, or cannot be tracked easily (leaving 'Wave' window to exit to an area that is not visible, and which NVDA will only refer to as 'out iframe...' etc.) Otherwise, tab order is sensible. Tabbing in Chrome results in the top-left navigation portion of the Wave window being excluded, and it skips straight to the Contacts window so the tab order appears to be browser dependent.
10	Page Functionality with Keyboard		The navigation panel is excluded when tabbing in Chrome. However keyboard access works well in Firefox and Internet Explorer.
11	Accessibility of Text Editors		The text editor is accessible to the edit area only. Keyboard users cannot make use of the menu items such as font formats etc. This means that widgets, a key feature of Wave, are inaccessible with a keyboard and screen reader.
12	Appropriate Feedback with Forms		Within Wave, no feedback is given, as it is essentially an email client and is not about submitting data to a server to allow access or enter values etc., Login using standard Google interface produces appropriate login feedback.
13	Contrast and Colour Check		Some white text on light-blue background is less than ideal but it is readable. These colour options occur in every panel on the page and can be changed with browser accessibility options.
14	Page Integrity when Zooming		On extreme levels of zooming (6 times zoom), panel navigation disappears off some screens and becomes unusable. Zooming out causes the 'Navigation' panel to remain at the same aspect.
15	Text size, style, blinking elements and Readability		Arial sans serif font used as a site font throughout, font is 10pt and is readable - responds well to minor zooming such as plus 2 but not when plus 6 is used.

Disability-Tailored Results

The following table shows how well the product performs for people with disabilities, as listed in the Disabilities section.

Percentages do not indicate how much of a site is accessible. They indicate the average figure of test results relevant to each disability. Select a disability to see which tests are relevant to it.

Activities you can do with Google Wave

• Group Discussion
• Comments and Sharing Views
• Real-Time Communication