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Wholisphere Docs

Wholisphere accessibility statement

We are an accessibility tool. We are obligated to hold ourselves to the standards we apply to anything else.

Standards we target

Wholisphere’s own user-facing surfaces — the popup, the in-page widget, side panels, settings dialogs — target:

  • WCAG 2.2 Level AA as the binding floor.
  • WCAG 2.2 Level AAA where reasonable (high contrast, enhanced focus indicators, sufficient sign-language equivalent not applicable).
  • EN 301 549 v3.2.1 — European harmonized standard; AA obligations equivalent to WCAG 2.1 AA, plus mobile/native hardware items that don’t apply to a browser extension.
  • Section 508 (US federal) — equivalent to WCAG 2.0 AA with small additions; covered by our WCAG 2.2 AA target.
  • Section 255 (US telecom) — not applicable.

Conformance status

This is a prototype. The capability registry is complete; the QA program against our own UI is in flight. As of the date below, we self-assess conformance as:

SurfaceTargetSelf-assessed status
In-page widget (the floating button)WCAG 2.2 AAAConforms. Shadow DOM landmark, AAA contrast, full keyboard support, focus ring meets enhanced criterion.
Popup (extension toolbar)WCAG 2.2 AAConforms. Tested with NVDA, VoiceOver, Dragon, keyboard-only, high-contrast OS modes.
Side panels (audio transcript, contrast findings, status monitor, etc.)WCAG 2.2 AASubstantially conforms. Some panels do not yet have a documented keyboard shortcut to focus the panel from the page; see Known limitations.
Settings (in-popup)WCAG 2.2 AASubstantially conforms. Voice / rate / language pickers are accessible; the install-ID display is read-only and copy-to-clipboard.
Documentation site (this guide)WCAG 2.2 AAConforms. Plain Markdown renders with sufficient contrast and structure.

VPAT

A canonical VPAT 2.5 INT is auto-generated from the capability registry on every release. See Generate a VPAT for how it’s produced and how to get a copy.

This is not the marketing kind of VPAT (manually filled in, drifts from reality). Each capability declares which WCAG Success Criteria it supports, and the VPAT generator combines them with our self-assessment of our own UI surfaces. If we add a capability, its SCs auto-appear. If we remove one, they drop. Always honest by construction.

For procurement responses, you can drop the generated VPAT directly into your packet. For your own site, run a Wholisphere scan — the VPAT it produces reflects only what the scan found, with open issues disclosed rather than filled in.

Testing methodology

We test our own UI against the standards we replace:

  • Browsers: Chrome, Edge, Firefox.
  • Assistive technology (for the period before Wholisphere is the AT): NVDA on Windows, VoiceOver on macOS, ChromeVox on Chrome OS, Dragon NaturallySpeaking, OS-level keyboard-only.
  • Self-testing: when the screen reader replaces traditional AT, we still run the popup and widget surfaces through the full Wholisphere screen reader as well — eating our own dog food.
  • Automated: unit tests assert label / role / contrast of every shipped UI component. The widget package’s test suite runs on every commit.

We do not rely on rule-based scanners (axe, pa11y, Lighthouse-a11y) as our source of truth. We are the replacement for those tools’ philosophy; using them to validate ourselves would be circular and incomplete. We test like a real user.

Known limitations (prototype phase)

These are honest, current-as-of-prototype gaps. Resolution timing is roadmap, not commitment.

  • No documented panel-focus shortcut for side panels. Audio transcript / contrast findings / etc. panels are reachable via Tab from the in-page widget, but not yet by a single hotkey. Workaround: use the popup’s “Open active panel” action (planned).
  • High-contrast UI is not separately stylable. Wholisphere’s own panels use a fixed dark theme that meets AAA contrast in isolation, but does not auto-adapt to your OS-level high-contrast theme. Planned for v0.4.
  • No reduced-motion-aware UI animations. The popup’s slide-in ignores prefers-reduced-motion. Patch landing this sprint.
  • Screen-reader user tutorial. This guide is the entry point; a guided in-product tour (driven by the screen reader itself) is planned for v0.5.
  • i18n. UI strings are English only. Translation infra exists in the widget package; no other locales shipped yet.

How to report an accessibility issue with Wholisphere

If our own UI fails you, that’s a P0 bug for us:

  • Open an issue on the project repository.
  • Email web.dev.hari@gmail.com with subject prefixed [a11y].
  • We respond within one business day.

Procurement contact

For VPAT / Section 508 / EN 301 549 procurement questions:

  • Email web.dev.hari@gmail.com.
  • Reference our auto-generated VPAT.
  • For your own site, a Wholisphere scan produces a VPAT that reflects only what that scan found — open issues disclosed, never papered over.

Signed self-attestation

This statement is the company’s good-faith attestation. It is not third-party audited. A third-party VPAT will be commissioned ahead of the first paid enterprise contract.

— Hari Neupane, founder, Wholisphere — 2026-04-28