Accessibility Statement

Last updated: 31 August 2026

Markdown Reader aims to be usable by everyone, including people who rely on assistive technology. This statement applies to the web version at markdown-reader-editor.netlify.app and, where relevant, to the desktop application.

Target standard

Markdown Reader targets WCAG 2.1 Level AA. WCAG 2.1 AA is the technical basis for:

• EN 301 549 (the European accessibility standard referenced by the EU Web Accessibility Directive and the European Accessibility Act), and
• Section 508 of the US Rehabilitation Act and expectations under the Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA).

Conformance status

Markdown Reader substantially conforms to WCAG 2.1 AA. “Substantially conforms” means the content conforms except for the limitations noted below, which we are working to address.

What has been done

• Semantic structure — the interface uses landmark regions (header, main, nav, aside), and rendered documents preserve their heading hierarchy.
• Keyboard — all controls are reachable and operable with the keyboard; the tab strip uses arrow-key navigation; the sidebar file tree, backlinks list and full-size image preview are operable with Enter / Space; opening a dialog (Preferences, server connection, the command palette, the image preview, the unsaved-changes prompt) moves focus into it, Esc closes it, and focus returns to the control that opened it. The unsaved-changes prompt, which blocks the rest of the app, also contains focus while it is open. There are no keyboard traps. A “Skip to content” link is the first focusable element and moves focus to the document.
• Visible focus — a high-contrast focus ring is shown on every focusable element.
• Screen readers — dialogs expose role="dialog" and aria-modal; a polite live region announces actions such as saving and reloading; buttons that show only an icon carry an accessible label.
• Colour and contrast — text meets the AA contrast ratio (4.5:1 for body text, 3:1 for large text and UI-component boundaries) in both light and dark themes; the primary colour is automatically darkened (light theme) or lightened (dark theme) as needed so link text and solid buttons keep AA contrast whatever colour is chosen. Colour is never the only means of conveying information.
• Respects system preferences — prefers-color-scheme for light/dark, and prefers-reduced-motion to remove animation and smooth-scrolling.
• Resizable text — text can be enlarged to 200% (and the app has its own text-size and zoom controls) without loss of content or function; layout reflows to narrow widths.
• Forms — every input has an associated label.
• Language — the page declares its language.

Known limitations

• Mermaid diagrams render as SVG images without a full text alternative. The original diagram definition remains available as a code block, which is screen-reader accessible.
• Mathematical notation rendered by KaTeX includes MathML for assistive technology, but complex expressions may not be announced ideally by every screen reader.
• The CodeMirror editor (used in edit mode) is keyboard-accessible, but rich code-editing interactions have inherent limitations with screen readers. The reading view is fully accessible without entering edit mode.
• Exported PDF and HTML inherit their structure from the source document; a well-structured Markdown file produces well-structured output.
• The web version’s advanced file and folder features require a Chromium-based browser; the core reading and editing experience works in all modern browsers.

Compatibility

Markdown Reader is tested with recent versions of Chrome, Firefox and Safari, and with VoiceOver on macOS. It should work with other modern browsers and assistive technologies; if you find it does not, please let us know.

Feedback

If you encounter an accessibility barrier in Markdown Reader, please tell us — we treat accessibility issues as bugs.

• Vasyl Madei — https://www.linkedin.com/in/vasyl-madei

We aim to respond within a few working days.

Assessment and review

This statement is based on a self-assessment of the application against WCAG 2.1 AA, supported by automated checks. The test suite runs axe-core against rendered documents on every change and asserts that alert, link and control colours meet the AA contrast ratio in both themes. It is reviewed when significant changes are made to the interface.