We've written before about making your newsletter accessible to your readers. This time, we turned that lens on ourselves: the app you use to write, send, and manage your newsletter.
Here’s what we fixed.
Screen readers
- A "Skip to content" link comes first when you press Tab, so you can skip the sidebar.
- You can jump between the sidebar and main content using landmarks. The sidebar marks your current section, including on pages within it, like a subscriber's page.
- Screen readers announce page titles when you navigate and "Changes saved" when you save settings.
- Tables, inputs, and about 25 icon-only buttons now have accessible names. Buttons previously read out as just "button" now say what they do.
Keyboard navigation
You no longer need to Tab through every row in a table. Tab enters the table, ↑ and ↓ move between rows, and Home and End jump to the first or last row. Tab still moves between controls within a row.
File rows, sponsorship slots, sortable analytics columns, import checklist steps, and collapsible sections now work with a keyboard. File rows also support middle-click and "open in new tab". Chart bars and slices are only buttons when they have an action.
We've also added code checks to catch clickable elements that lack keyboard support.
What's next
Still on our list:
- Making text easier to read in light and dark mode, starting with muted text, badges, and buttons.
- Making sure every control shows a clear focus outline when you reach it with a keyboard.
- Support for Windows' high-contrast mode.
- Checking against WCAG 2.2, which our first pass didn't cover.
If anything in Buttondown gets in your way, whether you use a screen reader, a keyboard, a magnifier, or anything else, let us know. We'd love to hear about it.