At Firstup, we are committed to reaching every worker. As a SaaS platform, we are continuously updating and adding new functionality. In doing so, we strike a balance between meeting our clients' needs and market demands, while also focusing on speed, stability, scalability, and accessibility.

New features go through several stages. First, the features undergo internal testing, then move to a beta or limited release, and finally, they become generally available (GA) for all customers. Throughout this process, we ensure that the features are stable, scalable, and accessible.

During the design and development phase, our Research and Development (R&D) team prioritizes accessibility. They use development tools that scan for common accessibility elements such as Aria, headings, language, and mouse and keyboard compatibility. Furthermore, once a new feature reaches General Availability, we make commercially-reasonable efforts to ensure it complies with the full accessibility standards of level AA, as defined by WCAG 2.1.

We believe in being transparent about our efforts to improve accessibility and will keep our customers informed about the progress we make in this area.

Design Approach

The User Experience team at Firstup follows a design system that prioritizes accessibility from the ground up. Accessible products and services are designed to effectively communicate, be easy to use, easily understood, and adaptable to evolving web standards. Our design system includes guidelines that assist us in making informed decisions when creating the product experience.

Alongside the aforementioned principles, we also utilize auditing tools during the design process to address visual accessibility concerns. These concerns primarily involve fonts, component size, colors, and contrast. Our checks consider all four aspects within their actual context and in relation to each other. This approach allows us to focus more on the code-based side of ARIA (Accessible Rich Internet Applications) during development and quality assurance (QA) phases.

Accessibility Processes

Design

• Firstup design system used when implementing updates and new features
  • Fonts sizes and colors, contrast colors, page hierarchy

Development

• Use tools to ensure accessibility requirements for buttons, ARIA labels, alt text, etc.
• Currently in use in Creator Studio: https://reach.tech/router/accessibility
• Creator Studio and member experience: https://github.com/jsx-eslint/eslint-plugin-jsx-a11y#supported-rules

QA Process

• Review for keyboard accessibility
• Text to speech for screen readers

WCAG 2.1 Requirements