Story: accessibility
This page is for journalists who cover digital accessibility, and for creators with disabilities who review software. Accessibility claims are easy to overstate; the documented work is in the administration of Exponential and its help, not in every public site. This page tells you what is documented and how to say it.
Contents
- The story in one paragraph
- What is new, and when
- Facts you can print
- What not to claim
- Testing it yourself
- Angles and headline ideas
- Who to ask
- Related pages
The story in one paragraph
In October 2026 the new administration design of Exponential, admin4, went through an accessibility series: landmarks and names, keyboard use of tabs and the content tree, a name for every form field, contrast of the colors, focus indicators and the modes a browser asks for (6.0.15 changelog). "The admin4 design follows WCAG rules that tests check: a contrast test of the color tokens in light and dark mode and target sizes of at least 24 by 24 pixels" (Languages and accessibility). The rules bind contributors too: no inline styles, shared components, color tokens with dark values, and a test that enforces it (CONTRIBUTING.md).
What is new, and when
All in the 6.0.15 line, the current release line of Exponential 6.0; the dates are dates of the changes, not a release date.
| What | When | Source |
|---|---|---|
| Landmarks and names in admin4 | 14 October 2026 | 6.0.15 changelog |
| The content tree is a tree for screen readers and keyboards | 14 October 2026 | 6.0.15 changelog |
| Focus indicators in admin4 | 14 October 2026 | 6.0.15 changelog |
| The remaining serious accessibility findings of the admin pages | 17 October 2026 | 6.0.15 changelog |
| The layout editor page and its zoom | 17 October 2026 | 6.0.15 changelog |
Facts you can print
| Fact | Source |
|---|---|
| Targets are at least 24 by 24 pixels (WCAG 2.5.8), and every form field has a name. | Talking points: accessibility |
| A skip link is the first Tab stop, with landmarks for header, menus, breadcrumb and main content. | The admin4 design, Landmarks and names |
| The administration and the help can be used with the keyboard alone. | Keyboard shortcuts |
| Light and dark themes, Windows high contrast (forced colors) and reduced motion are supported. | Talking points: accessibility |
| On the dashboard, a change is shown as a number, an arrow and words, never by color alone. | The admin4 design, What you get |
| Image fields can require alternative text, per class; it is off until switched on. | Talking points: accessibility |
| Exponential Intelligence can suggest alternative text and report images that lack it. | expai, For editors |
| Right-to-left languages turn the administration around. | Right to left |
What not to claim
- "Exponential is WCAG compliant" or "fully accessible". The sources describe tests and features of the administration, not a conformance claim for every page or site.
- "Sites built with Exponential are accessible." Each site's own templates and content decide that.
- "Screen readers work perfectly." Say what is built and invite testing.
- The sources contain no accessibility statement for the product; do not say there is one.
Testing it yourself
On an installation you control: press Tab once on any admin page (the skip link appears), press the sun button
(dark mode), use the arrow keys in the content tree, open the help with "?" and press /
(Talking points: accessibility). Reviewers who use
assistive technology are the best testers; report problems as bugs in the public tracker.
Angles and headline ideas
"Accessibility as a test that fails: how Exponential guards its admin"
"No state by color alone: inside a CMS administration redesign"
"Contributors must follow the same rules: accessibility written into CONTRIBUTING.md"Who to ask
| Question | Ask | Where |
|---|---|---|
| The accessibility work and its tests | 7x | [email protected], or https://exponential.earth/about/contact-us |
| An accessibility bug | the public tracker | https://github.com/se7enxweb/exponential/issues |
Related pages
- Talking points: accessibility
- Story: admin4, the administration design
- Story: languages and right to left
- Feature stories: index
- Free documentation: this page is free to copy, translate and improve under the GNU FDL 1.3.
Become an Exponential Partner
Partners share their information, provide funding, contribute back and develop the products with us, and that is how Exponential grows. A partner website and dashboard are planned for mid-2027: please become a partner today to speed up our growth rate and land new features faster.