Miro is now more accessible for screen reader users

  • 19 July 2021
  • 7 replies
  • 945 views

Userlevel 6
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We are working on making Miro more accessible, and released the first significant bundle of product improvements for screen reader users. 

Now they can be invited to Miro boards – sign up & sign in are screen-reader friendly, it is possible to navigate through the Miro dashboard to open the required board, and the main types of board content such as frames, sticky notes, and shapes can now be accessed with the help of the screen reader. 

Please, note, that the flow described above works the best for:

  • Users invited to the existing team on the Enterprise Plan

  • Users on Team, Business, Consultant, Education or Enterprise Plan that are invited directly to the board as anonymous Guest Editors 

All of the flows described above are currently only available on the desktop. 

The current solution is read-only making it possible for users to access existing board content with the help of the screen reader, and does not allow creating or editing content on Miro boards yet. 

We will continue working on making Miro more accessible, and are planning to support other possible setups in the future. 

Visit the Help Center and watch the product video to learn more!

 


7 replies

Userlevel 1

As sighted people forward this blog post to mark achievement, I sit back and wonder why?  Sure it is more accessible than before, but it still receives an F.  Miro is used by numerous organizations.  Mine builds software and we sometimes use Miro to brainstorm ideas about how to improve our software.  The blind voices however are left out along with others needing WCAG compliance.  Miro has now gone one further and on purpose no less said, if you use a screen reader, we’re going to make the platform read-only.  As a blind person I can’t actively participate in the brainstorm of solutions to problems.  The voices that could help create great things in the world are silenced.  I can’t stay silent, so I write this post and wait.

Userlevel 6
Badge +1

@Voyager 2  thank you for your feedback. You are absolutely right – we have a lot of work ahead of us, and we fully understand that making our product more screen-reader friendly is just a first step in a very long journey. 
We are currently hiring our first accessibility product lead, who will help us build a long-term strategy and roadmap, so that we can continue making our product more accessible to users with various access needs. 
We are hoping to be able to share new exciting accessibility updates with you in the coming months – stay tuned. 
In the meantime, we hope your team members can help facilitate your participation in workshops and brainstorming sessions by creating boards that are easier to perceive – we shared a few tips on the topic in this Help Center article.

As you’re considering accessibility, I would add a small fix: giving sticky notes a subtle pattern or other label rather than just color backgrounds. I use Miro for brainstorming with my web team, but one of my developers, who is colorblind, can’t see sticky colors and it really limits the functionality for him. 

I would like to follow up on this post.  Has there been any enhancements made in terms of managing frames/sticky notes with the screen readers?

Hello there, 

I am wondering if the table on Miro could function with screen-reader for people with visual impairment. Additional if I could export it in Excel format? 

Thanks in advance for your answer 

Seconding the request for an update on this topic. I like a lot of the perks of Miro, but it’s not an option for us without full access to all users.

Hello there, I would like to know if that is possible to make the arrows (including the text attached to them) accessible for screen reader users?

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