Screen reader access

Screen reader options

This platform is built to standard HTML semantics and does not require any particular reader. It is regularly checked against the following. Two of them cost nothing.

• NVDA (Windows) — free and open source, from nvaccess.org. Also available in a portable build that needs no installation, which is useful on a managed government desktop.
• VoiceOver (macOS, iOS, iPadOS) — built in, no download. Turn on with Command + F5 on a Mac, or triple-press the side button on iOS once the accessibility shortcut is set.
• TalkBack (Android) — built in, under Settings → Accessibility.
• JAWS (Windows) — commercial, from Freedom Scientific.
• Orca (Linux) — free and open source, bundled with most GNOME desktops, including the Indian government's BOSS distribution.

Any modern browser works. On Windows, NVDA and JAWS are most reliable with Firefox or Chrome; on macOS, VoiceOver with Safari.

How pages are structured

Every page follows the same order, so the shape is predictable:

1. A skip to main content link — the first focusable item on the page.
2. A utility bar with screen reader access, text size, contrast and language.
3. The banner landmark: the site name and the main navigation.
4. A breadcrumb trail, with the current page marked and not a link.
5. The main landmark, beginning with exactly one level-1 heading that names the page.
6. The content info landmark: the footer, with policy links and the content review date.

There is one h1 per page and heading levels never skip. Every section of a page is a region with an accessible name, so you can move between them by landmark rather than reading linearly.

Landmark and heading navigation

• NVDA — D moves by landmark, H by heading, T by table, K by link. Press Insert + F7 for the elements list.
• JAWS — R moves by region, H by heading, T by table. Insert + F6 lists headings.
• VoiceOver — Control + Option + U opens the rotor; choose Landmarks or Headings and arrow through them.
• TalkBack — swipe up or down to change the reading granularity to Headings or Landmarks, then swipe left and right to move.

On a dashboard, the fastest route to a figure is landmark navigation: each block of indicators, each chart and each register is its own named region.

Charts and figures

No value on this platform is available only inside a chart. Every chart is a figure with three things attached:

• An accessible name and summary. The plot itself announces what it shows, how many periods it covers and its latest value per series — enough to know whether you need the detail.
• A data table twin. A “Show data table” button on every chart card reveals the same values as a properly marked-up table with row and column headers. This is the recommended route for reading exact figures, and it is always included in printed output.
• Keyboard readout. Trend charts take focus; Left and Right arrow through the periods and the value for each is announced as it changes. Escape dismisses the readout.

Score bands and report statuses are never conveyed by colour alone: each is announced as its word — “Good”, “Fair”, “Needs attention”, “Critical”, “Resolved”, “Disputed” — with a matching icon for sighted readers.

Tables

Registers and league tables use real table markup with a caption, column headers scoped to their columns, and the first cell of each row scoped as a row header — so your reader announces “Hadapsar, Score 54” rather than reading a bare number out of context.

Sortable columns are buttons inside the header cell and report the current sort direction. Sorting re-announces the new order rather than changing it silently.

Forms and reporting

Every field on the report form has a visible label programmatically associated with it. Required fields are marked in the label text as well as programmatically. Validation messages are attached to the field they concern and are announced when they appear, and an invalid field is marked as invalid rather than only turning red.

The form is a short sequence of steps; the current step is announced on entry, and no step depends on a mouse. On submission the reference number is announced immediately in a live region — you do not need to hunt for it.

Language and pronunciation

The document language attribute is set to the selected interface language, so your reader uses the correct voice and pronunciation rules. Selecting Hindi sets hi-IN, Marathi mr-IN, Kannada kn-IN and Telugu te-IN. Where a passage remains in English within a translated page, that passage carries its own language attribute so it is not read with the wrong phonetics.

Numbers are grouped in the Indian convention (12,34,567) and dates are given in Indian Standard Time.

If something is announced wrongly

Please report it — the specific wording your reader spoke, on which page, is what makes it fixable.

• Email: contact@nagrik.in
• Full conformance detail and open exceptions: accessibility statement