Postman Client Accessibility

Hi, I wanted to follow up with an issue that was opened on the Postman Github support page about the lack of accessibility for the blind and visually impaired who use screen readers. The issue in question is here:

https://github.com/postmanlabs/postman-app-support/issues/3121

This issue has not been addressed at all, and there are a tun of visually impaired developers, myself included, who are constantly reminded that Postman is not accessible to screen readers. Hopefully one of the developers of Postman is on this form and can contribute toward this discussion. I and so many other blind individuals would love to see some progress made on making Postman more accessible.

If it is a question of how, any number of us, myself included, would be more than willing to assist in improving the user interface to make it more accessible to people with vission impairments. As the most popular tool for testing RESTFul APIs, it is very frustrating to have to look else where for other solutions than the tool that everyone else uses.

Thanks,

Timothy Breitenfeldt

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Hi Timothy,

Thank you, sincerely, for bringing this up. We’re starting an internal conversation about how to best address accessibility at this time–I know it is important to me and others at Postman.

Best,
Hannah

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Hi Timothy,

thanks for sharing your struggle with us. It is hard to imagine how frustrating this can be.

I think it is important to have your voice heard, so what I encourage you to do is to bring more people to the issues you have referenced (by commenting, sharing ideas, giving thumbs-up).

Maybe the Postman team is not aware of how many people are impacted by this. I am sure that @hannah.neil will help get more awareness inside Postman.

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It’s definitely a conversation that our team is having! @technical-participan, I sent you a DM with an offer to talk with our UX team :slight_smile:

Hi,
I’m also a blind developer and remain frustrated that I cannot use Postman with a screen reader. I have to imagine the Postman UI isn’t anything specifically graphical or unusual. Why not just make sure the controls are in a logical tab order and extend the appropriate ARIA properties such that they can be detected and announced by screen reader software? The replies in this thread make it sound like it will be some Herculean act to make the app accessible. I find that hard to believe. Please make it a priority. We’re in an era of diversity and inclusion, and not addresssing a fully fixable problem that literally excludes an entire group of developers because of a physical disability is frankly unacceptable. Like OP, I’d be happy to offer any support or help needed in accomplishing this, but please - let’s not keep putting us blind developers off. Do it now - you’ll be better for it.

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Hi @research-cosmologis2 and @technical-participan -

Our UX team would love to talk with you (and any other visually-impaired developers who have input) and start prioritizing accessibility requirements. If you’re open to this, could you please DM me and I can coordinate those conversations?

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Hello how are you?
Do we have any news on this accessibility issue?
I would love to use the tool most used by my team for testing APIs, but I’m not successful, if you want to be able to click send.

Is the Postman team familiar with WCAG…
https://www.w3.org/TR/WCAG21/

I’ve read intent on the responses from Postman over a year’s period, but not action. Any one of us would be willing to assist in testing, but Postman as should any organization would better serve the community by reviewing WCAG, engaging organization/companies that help others adapt and adopt best accessible practices and maybe build some prototypes and engage us for feedback rather than isolate to an individual developer.

I, recently, transitioned to all speech, but even with magnification software, Postman was difficult to navigate.

All that being said, to my fellow developers can you point me to best practices/ideas/tools to mitigate the shortfalls of Postman. I have some vision and try to use magnification, but at the level I have to use it, it is not efficient and is detrimental to my remaining vision due to fatigue.

Hello.
5 months have already passed and no answer about any accessibility updates from Postman. How does it go with UX team? Do you have any particular plans of releasing first accessibility implementations?
It would be great to know current situation about this.

Dear Postman Community,
As a blind programmer keen on accessible tools, I’m reaching out to rekindle the conversation about enhancing Postman’s accessibility. Noting that the last update in this thread was over six months ago, I believe it’s crucial to reignite this dialogue.
Postman’s prowess in API testing is commendable, yet its current lack of accessibility features creates a barrier for visually impaired users like myself. Beyond the ethical imperative of inclusivity, making Postman accessible offers tangible benefits.
From a business perspective, an accessible Postman not only widens its user base but also taps into a market often overlooked. This approach doesn’t just align with diversity and inclusion principles but also amplifies the potential for varied inputs, fostering innovation.
In today’s digital landscape, where accessibility is increasingly a legal necessity, proactive measures in this regard can position Postman as a forerunner in compliance and inclusivity. This proactive stance not only mitigates potential regulatory challenges but also enhances Postman’s reputation as a tool for everyone.
The journey towards full accessibility might seem daunting. However, just as others in this discussion have offered, I am also willing to collaborate with the Postman team. By lending our expertise, we can pinpoint key enhancements and aid in testing new features, ensuring they meet the needs of users with visual impairments.
I am hopeful that Postman will prioritize this initiative, setting a benchmark in the tech community and truly embodying the spirit of inclusivity.
Thank you for considering my perspective. I look forward to contributing to a more accessible Postman.
Warm regards,
Christopher

This would be a problem if our organization decided to adopt Postman on a wider basis.

One of our standard non-functional requirements is that all systems and applications need to be WCAG 2.2 AA or above.

This would fail that requirement.

The problem is that if a system wasn’t designed with accessibility in mind, retrofitting it afterwards is very difficult and sometimes requires a complete re-write of the front end. I’ve yet to see someone make a completely non-compliant system compliant after the fact.

I work for a local government organisation. In the UK, there are laws around accessibility for externally facing interfaces in the Public sector bodies act.

As we are a local government organisation which pro-actively encourages disadvantaged people to apply for roles, then we decided it needed to apply across the board including internal interfaces and applications.

You could argue that the UK Equalities act, then takes preference. You shouldn’t buy systems that aren’t compliant knowing that at some point in the future, there is a high chance that you may have existing or new staff that need to use accessibility software.

You then need to complete an equalities impact assessment, and it all gets very complicated. Hence the reason it’s a mandatory non-functional requirement for us.