Plain A11y

Changelog

What changed in each version of Plain A11y, newest first. A date is the day the version appeared in the Chrome Web Store. The full technical list is in CHANGELOG.md in the repository.

Version 0.2.0

Under review in the Chrome Web Store

Added

  • The window shows the result of your last check again when you reopen it on the same page, with the time of the check. Press “Check page” to check again. The result is dropped when the page changes or the tab is closed.
  • The extension icon shows how many elements have issues after a check. When no issues are left but there are items for a manual review or AAA recommendations, it shows a yellow “!”. Nothing is shown when nothing is found.

Changed

  • The summary counts elements and shows issues, manual review and AAA recommendations as three separate groups, for example “Issues found: 8 (5 kinds)”.
  • A link or button whose accessible name differs from its visible text is now listed under “Needs manual review”, because a person has to decide: a link “Notifications” that shows “5” is usually fine.

Privacy

  • The last result of a tab is kept in the memory of the browser until the page changes, the tab is closed or the browser is closed. It is never sent anywhere, and no permission was added. See the privacy policy.

Version 0.1.0: launch of the base version

The first public version, with everything needed to check a page and read the result.

Added

  • “Check page” runs the axe-core 4.14.0 engine on the current tab.
  • Problems are grouped by severity (critical, serious, minor) and by role (design, content, code), with a role filter that is remembered.
  • A plain-language entry for 94 rules: what is wrong, who is affected, how to fix it. Rules without an entry show the engine text and the role Code.
  • “Show on page” outlines the element and scrolls to it, also inside open shadow DOM. An element with no visible area is shown through its nearest visible parent, or the window says that nothing can be outlined. The page is left exactly as it was.
  • A “Needs manual review” section for cases the engine could not decide, not counted as issues.
  • An “AAA recommendations” block, not counted as issues, which can be hidden.
  • “Copy report” puts a Markdown checklist grouped by role on the clipboard.
  • The minimum clickable size rule from WCAG 2.2 AA (target-size) is turned on.

Privacy

  • Three permissions only: activeTab, scripting and storage. No network requests and no remote code.