HR Platform Improvements

This was a project for a company that provided HR management software to various clients. One public sector client in particular, needed to make changes to their software to make sure they were compliant with the 23rd Sept 2019 deadline for the Public Sector Bodies (Websites and Mobile Applications) (No. 2) Accessibility Regulations 2018 act.

The Project

HR reporting apps to meet all required WCAG 2.1 criteria to a minimum Level AA. There were two specific apps that required ammendments.

The larger app had four pages where violations had been found during an audit. They included many of the most common violations, such as poor content structure and layout, colour contrast and no alt text. Some of the more complex issues related to tables which couldn't be navigated by keyboard.

The smaller app mainly focused on a form that allowed HR personnel to log information related to individual HR cases. Radio buttons, inputs and error/help text were the main issues.

The Action

I started with smaller tasks that would make some immediate improvements. Colour contrast and spacing between text blocks were generally easier to fix than the more complex navigation issues that required further research and testing. I used a continuous testing strategy to check the accessibility, which involved using a number of tools and assistive aids such as Lighthouse, colour contrast checkers and a several different screen readers. Additionally, I added some automated tests to the code to alert against the common violations creeping back into the code in future.

The Outcome

Both apps met the accessibility requirements in time for the deadline and the client was very pleased with the updates. Disabled employees reported the apps were much more accessible and the changes had made their day to day work easier.