Accessibility volunteer your design, coding, testing and/or writing skills

Accessibility: volunteer your design, coding, testing and writing skills

Accessibility Inspector is an inspector for your application accessibility tree.

Help people with visual, auditory and motor disabilities by making KDE software easy to use.

Identify specific bugs related to accessibility or areas where accessibility can be improved, for instance:

• screen reader support
• keyboard navigation
• color contrast

Improve how Plasma interacts with assistive technologies. Or tackle UI design changes to improve usability.

Join KDE Accessibility Contributors

Accessibility Knowledge to contribute to KDE

To contribute, familiarize yourself with: Accessibility usability principles Common accessibility barriers (visual, auditory, cognitive, motor) Web Content Accessibility Guidelines (WCAG) ARIA (Accessible Rich Internet Applications) standards Qt Accessibility APIs (e.g., QAccessible class) KDE’s libraries and frameworks Work with empathy and awareness of real-world challenges faced by users with disabilities. Back to top

Programming language(s) to make KDE more accessible
Most KDE accessibility work is done using: C++ Python Qt/QML (used in UI development) Qt Framework (foundation for KDE software development) Back to top

Accessibility testing tools
Identify and resolve Accessibility issues with: Accessibility Inspector Accerciser AT-SPI Orca (screen reader) Valgrind, GDB or KDebug to debug and analyze performance issues related to accessibility Back to top

Accessibility Documentation and User Feedback
Clear documentation and accessible feedback channels help users and contributors: Write user guides tailored for people with disabilities Provide instructions for enabling assistive technologies Collect accessibility feedback via KDE platforms Back to top

UI/UX Accessibility Principles
Apply these best practices when designing interfaces: Intuitive Design: Ensure readable fonts, icons, gestures, and spacing Keyboard Navigation: Support full navigation via keyboard, including focus management Color Contrast: Use tools to check legibility and contrast ratios Reduce Motion: Provide options to disable animations for users with vestibular disorders Back to top

How to start contributing to make KDE more accessible

To begin contributing, create a KDE Identity account Begin with beginner-friendly accessibility tasks: Phabricator Log in to KDE Phabricator with your KDE Identity account. Visit the Plasma Accessibility workboard Choose a task Join KDE Accessibility Contributors KDE GitLab Log in to KDE GitLab Review open accessibility issues Join KDE Accessibility Contributors KDE Bugs 1.Find and resolve accessibility bugs 2.Test KDE apps with accessibility tools: Accessibility Inspector KMag (screen magnifier) KMouth (speech synthesis) KMouseTool (automatic mouse clicker) System Settings → Accessibility 3. File Bugs Resolve Accessibility Bugs Back to top

Accessibility Mentorship
Mentors can help review your code or guide your contributions: Jeremy Whiting – jpwhiting [at] kde [dot] org Sebastian Sauer – mail [at] dipe [dot] org Will Entriken – kde [dot] org [at] phor [dot] net Back to top

Summary: Make KDE software usable for people with visual, auditory, and motor disabilities. Your tasks include:

• Identifying and testing accessibility issues
• Coding with C++, Python, and Qt/QML programming languages
• Writing documentation for people with disabilities
• Performing user research with disabled people
• Designing user interfaces that are intuitive, navigable, legible, and readable.

To start contributing, you need a KDE Identity account. Work happens on KDE GitLab, KDE Phabricator, and KDE Bugzilla. You can get in touch with KDE accessibility contributors via

• IRC
• Forum
• Email
• GitLab
• Phabricator
• Bugzilla

Contact KDE Accessibility contributors
You can reach KDE accessibility contributors via: KDE's accessibility mailing list, Matrix rooms, KDE's Phabricator KDE GitLab

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