Accessibility at Aerie
Aerie is a web app, and this is what its code, its tests, and an axe-core scan run for this site show today. It has a skip link, landmarks, a first-level heading on every page, controls named by their visible text, a command bar that works from the keyboard, and no horizontal overflow at 375 pixels. The same axe-core run in a real browser on 12 captured states finds no violations. It has not been tested with a screen reader or on a real phone. We do not claim a conformance level.
What Aerie supports today
Each line says what the product does, how we know, and where to look. “Not yet tested” means exactly that: we have not checked, and we do not claim it.
Partly supported
Keyboard operation
A scripted walk with only the keyboard reaches "Skip to main content" first, then the brand link, Launcher, Websites, Admin, the search button, the theme button, and the bug button. Enter on the search button opens the command bar with focus in its field, the arrow keys move through results, Enter opens one, and Escape closes the bar. Cmd+K and Ctrl+K open it from any page. A tool tile is a button, so Enter opens it. Nobody has walked the Admin and Websites screens by keyboard alone.
Evidence
- screenshots/captures/aerie.spec.ts, test 'keyboard walk': skip link first, header stops in order, Enter opens a result, Escape closes the bar, Enter opens a tile (passing 10/29/2026)
- frontend/src/components/CommandBar.tsx: ArrowUp, ArrowDown, Enter, and Escape handlers; aria-activedescendant on the field
- No keyboard-only walk of the Admin or Websites screens is on record.
Partly supported
Screen reader landmarks and labels
The page has landmarks and a hidden first-level heading on every route, controls are named by their visible text, the command bar is a labeled dialog with a combobox and a listbox of grouped options, health dots carry a text label, and a coming-soon tile is marked aria-disabled and says so. axe-core finds no violation on the captured states. Aerie has not been tested with VoiceOver, NVDA, or JAWS.
Evidence
- axe-core in a real browser on 12 captured states (6 views, light and dark), 10/29/2026: no violations after the fixes in commits d12f6e8, bc3c6d3, and ab2f0d5 of the Aerie repo
- frontend/src/__tests__/A11yFixes.test.tsx: one h1 per route, tile and trigger names contain their visible text, listbox structure
- No screen-reader run is on record.
Partly supported
Contrast in light and dark
axe-core's color-contrast rule passes on all 12 captured states. Its first pass found 28 elements below 4.5 to 1 (the active navigation link at 3.95, white text on the lifted dark-mode accent at 2.24, overdue dates at 3.76, the Remove button's red, and a count badge at 4.49), all since corrected. Axe checks the text it can compute; it does not judge images, gradients, or the website cards' hero art.
Evidence
- axe-core color-contrast, real browser, 12 states, 10/29/2026: 0 violations after the fixes (28 elements on the first pass)
- frontend/src/global.css: --brand-accent-ink, the accent shade used as text on accent tints
Partly supported
Reduced motion
The design system's global stylesheet shortens animations and transitions to almost nothing when the system asks for reduced motion. Tiles and panels also animate with an animation library on their own, and nobody has confirmed in a browser with the setting on that those stop.
Evidence
- node_modules/@renkara/design-system/dist/tokens.css: a prefers-reduced-motion block
- frontend/src/components/ToolTile.tsx and pages/AdminPage.tsx use framer-motion; not checked with reduced motion turned on
Not yet tested
Text resize and zoom
Nobody has tested Aerie at larger text sizes or browser zoom. Tile descriptions are clipped to two lines and several labels are set in 10 to 12 pixel type, so large text may crowd them.
Partly supported
Mobile and touch
At 375 by 667 pixels the Dashboard, Launcher, Websites, and Admin pages, and four more states (a person expanded in Admin, the user menu, the command bar with results, and the focused skip link), show no horizontal scrolling of the page. The header folds its labels away and moves the theme and bug buttons into the user menu, and the website tabs scroll sideways inside their own row. The same scripted check counted 0 controls under 44 pixels in all eight states (earlier runs counted 6 in the header and menus and 230 on the Websites cards; the Aerie repo has since made every control at least 44 by 44 pixels at phone width). It ran in one automated browser at one phone size, so this is not a test on a real phone.
Evidence
- screenshots/captures/aerie.spec.ts, test 'phone width': document overflow 0 and small targets 0 in eight phone states (re-run 10/29/2026 after the Aerie repo's tap-target change)
- frontend/src/App.tsx: labels hidden below sm, theme and bug buttons folded into the user menu
No WCAG conformance level is claimed for Aerie. What exists: an axe-core run in a real browser against the six views captured for this site, in light and dark (12 states, 10/29/2026), which failed 124 elements across 5 rules on its first pass and none after the fixes listed below; a scripted keyboard walk of the launcher; and a 375-pixel overflow and tap-target check of eight states. No screen-reader test and no manual contrast audit beyond axe is on record. This site's own pages are scanned by the kit's axe-core run at 375 and 1,440 pixels in light and dark.
More about Aerie
Keyboard shortcuts
Cmd+K on a Mac, or Ctrl+K elsewhere, opens the command bar from any page. Escape closes it.
| Cmd+K or Ctrl+K | Open the command bar |
|---|---|
| Type | Search tools and websites; name matches rank first, then description matches |
| Arrow Down, Arrow Up | Move through the results, across the Tools and Websites groups |
| Enter | Open the highlighted tool or website in a new tab; a tool also lands in your Recent row |
| Escape | Close the bar |
What does not work yet
- The phone check ran in one automated browser at 375 by 667 pixels; no real phone, other size, or landscape orientation was tested.
- No screen-reader test (VoiceOver, NVDA, JAWS), no keyboard-only walk of the Admin and Websites screens, and no larger-text or Increase Contrast test is on record.
- The website cards' preview art has no text description beyond the site name.
- axe-core finds only part of what a person would find; a clean run is not a conformance result.
How this site is built and checked
This site targets WCAG 2.2 level AA. That is a target we build and test toward, not a certification, and no one has audited it for conformance.
Structure
A skip link, labeled landmarks (header, navigation, main, footer), one h1 per page, and headings that do not skip levels.
Keyboard and focus
Links and buttons are native elements, so they work from the keyboard. Focus is drawn as a visible ring, and the menu closes with Escape.
Contrast
Text meets 4.5 to 1 in both the light and dark themes, checked against the stylesheet by the test suite.
Motion
Transitions and animation switch off when your system asks for reduced motion.
Small screens and zoom
Layouts hold at 375 pixels wide with no sideways scrolling, text resizes with the browser, and touch targets are at least 44 pixels.
Automated scan
Every page is scanned with axe-core at 375 and 1440 pixels in light and dark, and the checks fail on any serious or critical violation. Automated tools find only part of the problems, so this is a floor, not proof.
Images
Every product screenshot has a text description and comes in a light and a dark version that follows your theme.
Your theme choice
The theme follows your system setting until you pick one with the button in the header.
Tell us what is in your way
If something here or in Aerie does not work for you, write to Renkara Media Group. Say what you were doing, what you used, and what happened, and a person will answer.
Statement last reviewed 10/29/2026.