Manifold Accessibility: Difference between revisions
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[https://manifoldapp.org/ Manifold] is a platform for publishing books online that can be locally installed or hosted through Manifold. For our testing, we used the University of Washington's instance. As with [[PressBooks Accessibility|PressBooks]], the final accessibility of a published book relies on the author to use accessibility best practices. It should be noted that Manifold is grant funded and open source, so updates and responses to accessibility reports may depend on the availability of the incredibly small developer group. | [https://manifoldapp.org/ Manifold] is a platform for publishing books online that can be locally installed or hosted through Manifold. For our testing, we used the University of Washington's instance. As with [[PressBooks Accessibility|PressBooks]], the final accessibility of a published book relies on the author to use accessibility best practices. It should be noted that Manifold is grant funded and open source, so updates and responses to accessibility reports may depend on the availability of the incredibly small developer group. | ||
In general, we have some reservations around Manifold's accessibility. | In general, we have some reservations around Manifold's accessibility. There are focus errors and UI issues that get in the way of being able to call it generally, functionally, accessible. There is a strong cognitive load issue around understanding the various aspects of the frontend and backend; even with an expert on call, our testers struggled trying to understand and use the site. Annotations are not accessible. The backend is only available in a "night" or dark mode, which may be a barrier to some low vision users, and the focus is non-intuitive depending on the page you are accessing. | ||
Manifold is built on bringing documents into the program rather than authoring directly in the platform. Due to some issues, we weren’t able to properly test the new authoring options. With the small development staff, they are understandably unable to dedicate resources to continued development compared to PressBooks. Manifold also lacks links to resources on creating accessible books with Manifold. | |||
== General Information == | == General Information == | ||
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=== Keyboard Control === | === Keyboard Control === | ||
The keyboard shortcuts listed on the Accessibility page are standard keyboard navigation shortcuts. Manifold does not have any action-specific keyboard commands | The keyboard shortcuts listed on the Accessibility page are standard keyboard navigation shortcuts. Manifold does not have any action-specific keyboard commands. Manifold does offer alternatives for drag-and-drop actions (select with spacebar, and use the arrow keys to move), but we were unable to get them to work on the Layout tab. There is also a Select a File alternative when uploading files to the project. If you use Manifold to host video (rather than embedding YouTube or Vimeo videos), there is no way to use the keyboard to access that video. | ||
=== Color Contrast === | === Color Contrast === | ||
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=== Focus Errors === | === Focus Errors === | ||
At times, our testers experienced nonsensical focus errors. For example, after performing a search, tabbing to the results jumped the focus to the middle of the list, rather than the top. Sometimes the skip to main content would jump to the bottom of the page, or there will be secondary or tertiary landmarks that are not included with the Skip To options. | At times, our testers experienced nonsensical focus errors. For example, after performing a search, tabbing to the results jumped the focus to the middle of the list, rather than the top. Sometimes the skip to main content would jump to the bottom of the page, or there will be secondary or tertiary landmarks that are not included with the Skip To options. For example, when entering a Manifold project with a screen reader, you don't even experience the Skip to main content text; it simply throws you down to the bottom of the page. | ||
=== Annotating a Book === | === Annotating a Book === | ||
Manifold does not support an accessible alternative to annotating a book. You may be able to access some annotations using VoiceOver. There is a full explanation of this issue on [https://manifoldscholar.github.io/manifold-docusaurus/docs/accessibility Manifold's accessibility page]. | Manifold does not support an accessible alternative to annotating a book. You may be able to access some annotations using VoiceOver. There is a full explanation of this issue on [https://manifoldscholar.github.io/manifold-docusaurus/docs/accessibility Manifold's accessibility page]. The Social Annotation aspects of Manifold are a big draw for use in education, but also risks leaving some disabled students unable to participate. | ||
=== Cognitive Load === | |||
It's not impossible to use the Manifold interface, but it is frustrating a lot of the time. Several times our testers gave up trying to do something, even with having an expert user available to walk us through things (and then walk us through it again). Overall the UI is very visually-based, and the backend doesn't always function the way one expects it to. There are things that can be changed with a locally-hosted instance, but you have to have the development staff available to work on it. | |||
The experience of moving from page to page (or tab to tab) should be consistent; for example, sometimes you have to navigate over to the main content area, and other times the page will automatically focus into the main content area. At times, the user will get stuck in an editable field with no way to escape except reloading the page. Some pages are navigable by headers, while other pages won't allow it. The Skip to Main Content links are missing from some pages. | |||
=== Analytics tab (backend) === | |||
The Analytics page was the most difficult to use with a screen reader and/or keyboard. The graphical statistics had some confusing language around them. For example, visually there is a graphic of a big 2 with a caption underneath saying "annotations created in 1 month 2 days", but audibly it’s confusing ("annotations level 3 list with two items has details 2 caption annotations created in 1 month 2 days has details 2 caption public"). The highlights and stars fields also make no sense to the screen reader. | |||
You can't use the keyboard to navigate to the Vistors graph. There was no way that we found to access the Vistors graph with a screen reader. It was pretty much invisible to the screen reader. There was no narration for visitor numbers. | |||
=== Texts tab (backend) === | |||
While there weren't any major barriers in the Texts page, there were some hiccups that were confusing to a screen reader user. The labeling in some areas was unclear or completely different from the displayed text ("Ingest New Text" button reads as "texts.add_text_label", and "Add a new section" is read as "create new category"). This may cause friction between screen reader users and sighted users when trying to support each other or explain what to do. | |||
=== Properties Tab (backend) === | |||
If you click into Properties, you are thrown immediately into an editable field, but you're not told you are there. Manifold should tell users when they've entered an editable field (example: "edit Title"). | |||
Latest revision as of 14:24, 24 January 2025
This page gathers the IT Subcommittee's resources and reviews of the accessibility of Manifold. This page will be updated as new information is available or further reviews are conducted.
Accessibility Overview
Manifold is a platform for publishing books online that can be locally installed or hosted through Manifold. For our testing, we used the University of Washington's instance. As with PressBooks, the final accessibility of a published book relies on the author to use accessibility best practices. It should be noted that Manifold is grant funded and open source, so updates and responses to accessibility reports may depend on the availability of the incredibly small developer group.
In general, we have some reservations around Manifold's accessibility. There are focus errors and UI issues that get in the way of being able to call it generally, functionally, accessible. There is a strong cognitive load issue around understanding the various aspects of the frontend and backend; even with an expert on call, our testers struggled trying to understand and use the site. Annotations are not accessible. The backend is only available in a "night" or dark mode, which may be a barrier to some low vision users, and the focus is non-intuitive depending on the page you are accessing.
Manifold is built on bringing documents into the program rather than authoring directly in the platform. Due to some issues, we weren’t able to properly test the new authoring options. With the small development staff, they are understandably unable to dedicate resources to continued development compared to PressBooks. Manifold also lacks links to resources on creating accessible books with Manifold.
General Information
- Accessibility page
- Github page for reported accessibility issues
- Github page for reported general issues
- Github page for discussion around accessibility issues
Known Accessibility Issues
Keyboard Control
The keyboard shortcuts listed on the Accessibility page are standard keyboard navigation shortcuts. Manifold does not have any action-specific keyboard commands. Manifold does offer alternatives for drag-and-drop actions (select with spacebar, and use the arrow keys to move), but we were unable to get them to work on the Layout tab. There is also a Select a File alternative when uploading files to the project. If you use Manifold to host video (rather than embedding YouTube or Vimeo videos), there is no way to use the keyboard to access that video.
Color Contrast
Looking specifically at the backend/editor mode, we weren't able to find areas that required color discernment for navigation or inadequate color contrast. We did note that the fact the entire backend interface is white text on a black background may be difficult for some users to view. Usually, this is something that the user can switch between (light and dark modes). Not having the flexibility to choose may negatively affect a users experience.
In our testing, the backend was responsive to user-set browser defaults around colors (example: white background and black text by default), though it may affect your ability to easily use the site by sight due to the multi-pane view of the backend.
With some of the books that testers looked at, there were some reports of contrast errors, but these are the responsibility of the people who created those books. The issue around level 1 headers having consistent contrast errors was reported prior to our testing, and was fixed long after our testing was completed.
Focus Errors
At times, our testers experienced nonsensical focus errors. For example, after performing a search, tabbing to the results jumped the focus to the middle of the list, rather than the top. Sometimes the skip to main content would jump to the bottom of the page, or there will be secondary or tertiary landmarks that are not included with the Skip To options. For example, when entering a Manifold project with a screen reader, you don't even experience the Skip to main content text; it simply throws you down to the bottom of the page.
Annotating a Book
Manifold does not support an accessible alternative to annotating a book. You may be able to access some annotations using VoiceOver. There is a full explanation of this issue on Manifold's accessibility page. The Social Annotation aspects of Manifold are a big draw for use in education, but also risks leaving some disabled students unable to participate.
Cognitive Load
It's not impossible to use the Manifold interface, but it is frustrating a lot of the time. Several times our testers gave up trying to do something, even with having an expert user available to walk us through things (and then walk us through it again). Overall the UI is very visually-based, and the backend doesn't always function the way one expects it to. There are things that can be changed with a locally-hosted instance, but you have to have the development staff available to work on it.
The experience of moving from page to page (or tab to tab) should be consistent; for example, sometimes you have to navigate over to the main content area, and other times the page will automatically focus into the main content area. At times, the user will get stuck in an editable field with no way to escape except reloading the page. Some pages are navigable by headers, while other pages won't allow it. The Skip to Main Content links are missing from some pages.
Analytics tab (backend)
The Analytics page was the most difficult to use with a screen reader and/or keyboard. The graphical statistics had some confusing language around them. For example, visually there is a graphic of a big 2 with a caption underneath saying "annotations created in 1 month 2 days", but audibly it’s confusing ("annotations level 3 list with two items has details 2 caption annotations created in 1 month 2 days has details 2 caption public"). The highlights and stars fields also make no sense to the screen reader.
You can't use the keyboard to navigate to the Vistors graph. There was no way that we found to access the Vistors graph with a screen reader. It was pretty much invisible to the screen reader. There was no narration for visitor numbers.
Texts tab (backend)
While there weren't any major barriers in the Texts page, there were some hiccups that were confusing to a screen reader user. The labeling in some areas was unclear or completely different from the displayed text ("Ingest New Text" button reads as "texts.add_text_label", and "Add a new section" is read as "create new category"). This may cause friction between screen reader users and sighted users when trying to support each other or explain what to do.
Properties Tab (backend)
If you click into Properties, you are thrown immediately into an editable field, but you're not told you are there. Manifold should tell users when they've entered an editable field (example: "edit Title").