Updates & Bug Fixes
Release Date: 05/16/2024:
Knowledge
This release enhances the accessibility of interactive elements across the Knowledge editor, ensuring consistent and clear announcements through screen readers. All checkboxes, toggle switches, buttons, input fields, and other controls now properly announce their names, roles, values, and available actions when focused. This includes elements like the Restore button on previously published versions, checkboxes in filter menus, title/subtitle fields, embedded article options, token insertion, thumbnail navigation in File Manager, and related article controls. Proper keyboard accessibility has also been implemented for previously inaccessible components. These improvements align with WCAG 2.0 guidelines for providing programmatically determinable information, allowing users to effectively understand and interact with on-screen elements through assistive technologies. The standardized announcements create a more inclusive and seamless experience for all users.
This release further enhances the accessibility of interactive elements throughout Knowledge Home by standardizing announcements for screen readers and other assistive technologies. Clear buttons in filters now convey their associated actions. The Page field at the bottom of the list is accessible via keyboard with proper announcements. On the Templates page, the clear button in the search bar, column headers, and row actions are all properly announced. When modals open, the auto-focused close button correctly states its purpose. The buttons within modals like Clone, Archive, and Delete are accurately labeled for clear communication. These improvements ensure users can effectively perceive the available interface components and interactions through auditory cues, aligning with WCAG 2.0 guidelines around providing programmatically determinable names, roles, and values. The consistent and descriptive announcements create a more inclusive experience across all user workflows.
This release standardizes the announcements for interactive form fields throughout Knowledge Home, improving accessibility for users of screen readers and other assistive technologies. Dropdowns like Libraries, Status, Visibility, Tags, Products, and Shared With now properly announce their label, role as a collapsed or expanded listbox, current selection state, and available operations like text editing or navigating options. This consistent pattern of "Label, Role, State, Operation" ensures fields are comprehensively conveyed, allowing users to easily identify and interact with them solely through audio cues. These enhancements align with WCAG 2.0 guidelines for providing programmatically determinable name, role, and value information, creating a more inclusive and seamless experience across all user interfaces.
This release introduces significant improvements to the accessibility of the tree element across Knowledge. Previously, these interactive components did not adhere to WCAG standards for keyboard operability and screen reader announcements. With this update, the tree elements in the Details tab and the Insert Article modal when editing an article now fully comply with the recommended keyboard navigation patterns and programmatic announcements. Users can seamlessly traverse the tree structures, expand/collapse nodes, and understand the current context through clear and consistent screen reader feedback.
This release resolves multiple accessibility issues identified across Knowledge when using the JAWS screen reader. Checkboxes throughout Knowledge are now operable via keyboard and announced correctly by JAWS. When visiting a page within Knowledge that contains a table with JAWS enabled, pressing "T" properly announces the table contents. Additionally, all main pages (Knowledge, Reports, Settings) now have an H1 header that is announced when pressing "H" with JAWS on, helping users identify their current context. Lastly, the sub-menu options accessed through the three-dot menu throughout Knowledge are fully keyboard accessible and announced accurately by JAWS.
This release introduces significant enhancements to the accessibility of modals across the Knowledge, Settings, and Reports areas of the application. Previously, screen readers did not provide any announcements when modals were opened, limiting the ability for users relying on assistive technologies to effectively navigate these interfaces. With this update, the focus is now properly set to the first interactive element within each modal, and the modal's title is clearly announced.
We fixed an accessibility bug with the "Discard Changes" modal in the Knowledge editor. Previously, when using a screen reader, the modal's contents were announced incorrectly, with the title, description, and buttons being repeated multiple times. With this fix, the screen reader will now properly announce the modal's title and description, followed by each button's accessible name individually. This ensures users relying on assistive technologies can clearly understand the purpose of the modal and interact with its controls in a logical, streamlined manner.
Journeys
Over the next few weeks we will be rolling out the new version of our Journeys product. This will include access to the Journey API Activity powered by the API Library as well as new backend engine with improved reliability at scale.
Messenger (Web & SDK)
We updated Messenger to be loaded from a CDN, improving the load performance of Messenger on websites and in applications.
Reporting & Dashboards
We improved the loading performance for the reporting tables that power the Customer and Case data in our dashboards. This will ensure the dashboard data is updated on a more timely and consistent cadence.
This release addresses accessibility issues across the Reports section of the application Teams section in Settings by providing descriptive and unique labels for all interactive elements, ensuring compliance with WCAG 1.3.1 guidelines. Buttons such as "Add Team," "Search Filters," "Edit," "More Options," as well as various actions within team management modals like "Edit Team," "Add Hours," "Edit Additional Info," "Add User to Team," and "Add New User" now have clear labels that accurately convey their purpose. Additionally, the irrelevant tab label in the "Add New User" modal has been removed for clarity. These improvements create a more inclusive experience, enabling all users, including those using assistive technologies, to effectively navigate and interact with team-related settings and functionalities. The consistent labeling enhances the overall usability and comprehension of Reports interface.
Admin & Settings
We improved the performance of loading the Teams page under Settings.
This release addresses accessibility issues across the Teams section in Settings by providing descriptive and unique labels for all interactive elements, ensuring compliance with WCAG 1.3.1 guidelines. Buttons such as "Add Team," "Search Filters," "Edit," "More Options," as well as various actions within team management modals like "Edit Team," "Add Hours," "Edit Additional Info," "Add User to Team," and "Add New User" now have clear labels that accurately convey their purpose. Additionally, the irrelevant tab label in the "Add New User" modal has been removed for clarity. These improvements create a more inclusive experience, enabling all users, including those using assistive technologies, to effectively navigate and interact with team-related settings and functionalities. The consistent labeling enhances the overall usability and comprehension of the Teams interface.
This release addresses accessibility issues on the My Profile page in Settings, ensuring compliance with WCAG 1.3.1 guidelines for providing descriptive and unique labels across interactive elements. Previously, buttons such as "Edit contact info," "Switch role," "Add to team," and others lacked proper labeling, hindering users' ability to understand their purpose and relationships. Additionally, the "Back" and "Save & Exit" buttons on subsequent screens suffered from the same issue. With this update, all buttons now have clear, descriptive labels that accurately convey their functionality. The styling of the "Back" and "Save" buttons has been updated to align with the visual treatment of similar Settings options, further enhancing consistency and usability. These improvements create a more inclusive and seamless experience for all users navigating and managing their profile settings.
This release enhances the accessibility of the Knowledge settings interface by providing descriptive labels for interactive elements, addressing violations of WCAG 1.3.1 guidelines. On the main Knowledge page, the action buttons and search filters now have associated aria-labels for clear identification. When editing a Knowledge library, all buttons within that interface are properly labeled. Additionally, the "Browse" button for custom branding options has received an appropriate aria-label. These improvements ensure that all users, including those relying on assistive technologies, can effectively perceive and interact with the various Knowledge settings and configurations. The consistent labeling creates a more inclusive and comprehensible experience throughout this critical area of the application.