VPAT #69

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1. tejsanand commented on Jul 22, 2026

   

   tejsanand

   on Jul 22, 2026

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   Hi Lynne - We have the same need at the University of Maryland. Would you be willing to partner to create a VPAT for Gephi?
   Regards, -Tej

   Tej Anand
   Academic Director, MSIS&AI
   tejanand@umd.edu
2. mbastian commented on Aug 27, 2026

   

   mbastian

   on Aug 27, 2026

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   Hi @tejsanand @lacrohn, I don't have context about what VPAT is and what it entails. Would you be kind to give some guidance on what would it require us to do? Thanks in advance!
3. tejsanand commented on Sep 3, 2026

   

   tejsanand

   on Sep 3, 2026

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   Thank you @mbastian for responding.
   The below is an AI Overview generated using Gemini

   VPAT compliance refers to the process of filling out an Accessibility Conformance Report (ACR) using a Voluntary Product Accessibility Template (VPAT®) to show how well a digital product or service meets accessibility standards (https://www.section508.gov/sell/acr-vpat-faq/).

   Key Concepts

   • VPAT (Voluntary Product Accessibility Template): The blank, standardized document created by the Information Technology Industry Council (ITI) (https://vispero.com/resources/voluntary-product-accessibility-template-vpat/).
   • ACR (Accessibility Conformance Report): The actual completed document filled out by a vendor after testing their product against accessibility rules.
   • Covered Standards: Reports usually measure compliance against guidelines like Section 508 (U.S. federal procurement), WCAG (Web Content Accessibility Guidelines), or international standards like EN 301 549 (https://www.section508.gov/sell/acr-vpat-faq/).

   Without a VPAT report our IT departments are reluctant to let us continue to use the software tool.

   Thanks for your hep

   Regards, -Tej
4. hieu10x commented on Oct 13, 2026

   

   hieu10x

   on Oct 13, 2026

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   @mbastian, to answer "what would it require us to do?" in concrete terms:

   1. Pick the template: VPAT 2.5 from ITI, usually the WCAG or 508 edition; it's worth asking the requesting office which one they expect. For a desktop app, WCAG is applied to software using W3C's WCAG2ICT note.
   2. Test, mostly by hand: keyboard-only use of the main workflows (import, layout, filters, export), and a screen reader on Windows (NVDA is free) through the Java Access Bridge, which Swing apps need. Also high contrast and font scaling. Each WCAG row gets Supports / Partially / Does not support, plus a short note.
   3. Be honest about gaps: "Partially supports" or "Does not support" with a note is fine and common. Universities mostly need an accurate report so they can plan around it. Graph canvases are inherently hard to make accessible, and saying so is acceptable.

   Automated tools only catch part of it. On the website, for example, a scan finds the three choice toggles on gephi.org/users/ use role="radio" without aria-checked (4.1.2), but nothing automated can test the app itself.

   @lacrohn @tejsanand, if either of you can share the template or edition your office expects, I can draft the table with the measured and untested rows marked, for the Gephi team to review and test.

   Disclosure: I used AI tools to research and draft this; I checked it before posting.
5. tejsanand commented on Oct 13, 2026

   

   tejsanand

   on Oct 13, 2026

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   Thank you very much @hieu10x
   I checked with our office and they have replied that "we need the information that is found in the WCAG VPAT 2.5 from ITI, although the Section 508 version would also be acceptable as it contains the information needed and additional information."
6. hieu10x commented on Oct 14, 2026

   

   hieu10x

   on Oct 14, 2026

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   @tejsanand thanks for checking. Here's a first draft in the ITI WCAG VPAT 2.5 format: gephi-acr-draft.docx

   @mbastian it's a working draft for your team to finish. I measured what I could by running Gephi 0.11.3, and marked 20 rows "To test" for someone with NVDA and a keyboard. The biggest gap is that most toolbar buttons can't be reached with Tab and have no accessible name.

   Disclosure: I used AI tools to run the checks and draft this.

   👀React with 👀1Reacted by Mathieu Bastian
7. mbastian commented on Nov 4, 2026

   

   mbastian

   on Nov 4, 2026

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   Hi, thank you @hieu10x I very much appreciated the draft! As part of the recent 0.11.4 release I was able to address quite a few low hanging fruits. Do you think you could re-run your diagnostics based on the new version? Thanks in advance
8. hieu10x commented on Nov 4, 2026

   

   hieu10x

   on Nov 4, 2026

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   @mbastian thanks, that's a big step. I re-ran the same checks on 0.11.4; updated draft:
   gephi-acr-draft-0.11.4.docx

   Measured the same way on both versions:

   • Overview controls with no accessible name: 70 → 5 (all graph tools are named now)
   • Buttons that can't take keyboard focus: 45 → 11 in the Overview, 14 → 5 in the Data Laboratory, 12 → 7 in Preview
   • Data Laboratory: the command buttons, the Filter field, the column chooser and the node table all have names now
   • Menu shortcuts: 7 → 22, including Ctrl+1/2/3 and the panel shortcuts

   What's left that I could see:

   • No accessible name: the two trees in the Filters panel, the Layout panel's description area, and the small icon button next to it (it has no tooltip either)
   • The "Filter" toggle in the Filters panel still can't take focus, and the Workspace menu has no mnemonic
   • Tab from the Appearance panel cycles inside it and doesn't move on to the next panel; probably the usual NetBeans behaviour, but worth confirming
   • At --fontsize 26, Preview Settings property names are still cut off, and "Export:" stays small

   I couldn't test the graph view this time, because the OpenGL canvas didn't start in my test setup. So keyboard zoom/pan and the canvas's own name still need someone with a real screen, along with the NVDA rows.

   Disclosure: I used AI tools to run the checks and update the draft.

   👀React with 👀1Reacted by Mathieu Bastian