Our commitment

EDWINS is committed to providing a digital platform that everyone — including people with disabilities — can use. Our reentry care plan system supports state Department of Corrections staff, alumni participants, and (where the agency requests) people in custody. We treat accessibility as part of meeting that mission, not an optional feature.

This page explains what level of accessibility the platform aims for, where it stands today against that target, and how to report an issue.

Conformance target

• WCAG 2.1, Level AA
• U.S. Section 508 of the Rehabilitation Act — Chapters 3, 4, and 6 (the technical standards applicable to web content and authoring tools)
• VPAT® 2.4 (ITI Accessibility Conformance Report template)

Conformance status

The platform partially supports WCAG 2.1 Level AA as of the date above. We have completed an automated audit using axe-core 4.10 across all six signed-out public surfaces and six representative signed-in surfaces (dashboard, client list, settings index, email reports, security training, and user profile). The headline numbers from that audit:

The four remaining items, all on the signed-in side of the platform, are heading-order issues (e.g. a section uses an <h5> where an <h2> would be more semantic). They do not block users of assistive technology, and they are scheduled for resolution in the next platform release.

What we have addressed

The 2026-04-28 release (platform v3.2.10) introduced the following accessibility improvements; the 2026-05-07 release (v3.2.28) extended aria-label coverage to the messenger reply / edit / delete / pin buttons and the client-list row action buttons that previously relied only on a title attribute:

• Every page is wrapped in a <main> landmark.
• Every page provides a "Skip to main content" link as the first focusable element.
• Every authenticated page emits an <h1> via the page-title field for screen-reader users.
• Bootstrap palette colors that did not meet WCAG 1.4.3 (4.5:1) on white have been overridden site-wide:
  • .text-info & .bg-info — #0dcaf0 → #087990
  • .text-warning & .btn-outline-warning — #ffc107 → #856404
  • .text-danger — #dc3545 → #b02a37
  • .text-muted — #6c757d → #5b6065
• Icon-only links and buttons (table action buttons, navigation bell, "Clear filters") now carry aria-label attributes describing their action and target.
• Decorative icons in interactive controls now carry aria-hidden="true" so they are not announced as part of the link or button name.
• All form inputs (including read-only cron schedule fields and dashboard widget toggles) now carry an associated <label> or aria-label.
• Visible focus outlines have been added to all links, buttons, and form fields so keyboard navigation is clearly traceable.
• Footer and inline links now carry text-decoration: underline so they are distinguishable without relying on color (WCAG 1.4.1).

Known limitations

The following items are tracked openly. We will report progress on each in the next release notes.

Area	Status	Notes
Heading order on signed-in pages	Partially Supports	4 surfaces use heading levels that skip a step (e.g., h2 → h5 inside cards). Targeted for the next platform release.
Third-party rich-text editor (Summernote)	Partially Supports	The care-plan content editor is the Summernote library. Its toolbar buttons are keyboard-reachable but do not all have complete aria-label coverage. Plain-text and Markdown alternatives are available for assistive-technology users.
Charts (Chart.js)	Partially Supports	Dashboard charts are rendered as canvas. Adjacent text summaries of the same data are provided. We are working on adding aria-describedby tabular alternatives.
Manual screen-reader testing (NVDA / JAWS / VoiceOver)	Not Yet Tested	Automated axe-core auditing is in place; manual screen-reader evaluation is scheduled. We welcome feedback from screen-reader users in the meantime.
Captioned video content	Not Applicable	The platform does not host or play video. The 40-module culinary curriculum is delivered through correctional-tablet partners (Edovo, ViaPath); captioning of that content is the tablet partner's responsibility.

How we test

• An automated axe-core 4.10 audit is run against the live platform on every release. The most recent audit (2026-05-07) covered all six signed-out surfaces and six representative signed-in surfaces; the JSON output is archived at /public/docs/axe-core-audit-2026-05-07.json.
• Findings are triaged into "fix-before-release" (any color-contrast or ARIA-name failure) and "schedule" (heading order, structural changes).
• The audit is incorporated into the platform's release runbook so that regressions are caught before deploy.
• Manual screen-reader testing (NVDA, VoiceOver) is on the roadmap for Q3 2026.

Reporting an accessibility problem

If something on the platform is hard to use because of an accessibility issue, please tell us. We will work with you directly.

We aim to respond to accessibility reports within five business days. If a workaround is available, we will share it; if a code change is required, we will give you an expected resolution date.

Formal documentation

For procurement reviewers (state IT, vendor compliance teams), the vendor self-attested VPAT 2.4 / Accessibility Conformance Report (ACR) is available on request from either contact above and is also published at /docs/VPAT_2.4_EDWINS_Care_Plan_System_v3.2.10.pdf. This is a vendor self-attestation, not a third-party-audited certification. A refreshed ACR for v3.2.28 is in preparation; third-party VPAT engagement (Level Access or Deque) is available on contract request. The ACR documents conformance against:

• WCAG 2.1 Levels A and AA — all 50 success criteria
• Section 508 Chapters 3, 4, and 6
• EN 301 549 — Chapters 9 (web), 10 (non-web documents), and 11 (software) where applicable

← Back to home