For modern websites accessibility becomes more and more important today. User experience and convenience of website usage and navigation becomes priority for many companies. The same requirements are applied to the third party software used by websites, like live chat tool.
Keyboard accessibility and compatibility with screen readers are critical to ensure all users have access to the live chat tool and ability to use it. We at Provide Support focus on the live chat accessibility and do our best to implement all accessibility improvements suggested by our customers.
Keyboard navigation is supported in Modern Embedded Chat Window by Provide Support. Each control can be accessed via keyboard and has a bright outline when it is focused on. This accessibility improvement is very helpful for those users who prefer using keyboard over a mouse or touchpad.
Aria-labels are used by screen readers when they encounter an interactive element such as input, button, link, etc. They read the aria-label text to tell the user what the element is. Aria-labels are supported in live chat links and by default tell the screen reader the current live chat status.
You can also specify custom texts for your chat links aria labels. You can do this in your account on the Account Settings / Live Chat Window page, Texts section. Texts from "Online chat button tooltip" and "Offline chat button tooltip" are used for both aria labels, alt and title attributes of the chat link.
Escape button can be used to end an active chat session and proceed to the Post Chat Survey. For pre-chat survey and offline forms this button is used to minimize the window. This small improvement facilitates live chat experience for those who prefer using keyboard or physically are unable to use a mouse and navigate websites with help of the keyboard alone.