React Chat - Accessibility

Accessibility Features Overview

NOTE

The overall accessibility level of your application depends on the Chat features you use.

Accessibility Requirement	Support Level
Right-to-Left Support
Keyboard Navigation Support
Screen Reader Support
Contrast Color Theme
Mobile Device Support
Lighthouse Accessibility Validation
Axe Accessibility Validation
WAVE Accessibility Validation
Section 508 Support
WCAG 2.x Support

- All component features meet the requirement
- Some component features may not meet the requirement
- Accessibility requirement is not supported

Accessibility Standards Compliance

The Chat component meets a variety of Section 508 and WCAG 2.x compliance standards. Known exceptions:

Section 508 criteria	WCAG 2.x criteria	Exception description
501 (Web)(Software) 504.2 (Authoring Tool) 602.3 (Support Docs)	1.4.3 Contrast (Minimum) (Level AA) 1.4.11 Non-text Contrast (Level AA 2.1 and 2.2)	Chat does not support Windows High Contrast themes.
501 (Web)(Software) 504.2 (Authoring Tool) 602.3 (Support Docs)	2.1.1 Keyboard (Level A) 11.5.2.12 Execution of available actions	You cannot edit or delete Chat messages with the keyboard.

The component also complies with the European Accessibility Act (EAA) and Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA) directives.

Keyboard Navigation

A user can use the following keys to interact with the Chat component:

Key	Action
Enter	Enters a message. Applies change to the edited message.
Esc	Cancels message editing.

NOTE

Keyboard navigation is not supported in the message list.

Use the registerKeyHandler(key, handler) method to implement a custom handler for a key.

jQuery

index.js

const chat = $('#chatContainer').dxChat('instance');

chat.registerKeyHandler('backspace', function(e) {
    // The argument 'e' contains information about the event
});
chat.registerKeyHandler('space', function(e) {
    // ...
});

Angular

app.component.ts

import { ViewChild, AfterViewInit } from '@angular/core';
import { DxChatComponent } from 'devextreme-angular/ui/chat';

@Component({
    imports: [DxChatComponent],
    // ...
})
export class AppComponent implements AfterViewInit {
    @ViewChild(DxChatComponent, { static: false }) chat!: DxChatComponent;
    // Prior to Angular 8
    // @ViewChild(DxChatComponent) chat: DxChatComponent;

    ngAfterViewInit () {
        this.chat.instance.registerKeyHandler('backspace', function(e) {
            // The argument "e" contains information about the event
        });
        this.chat.instance.registerKeyHandler('space', function(e) {
            // ...
        });
    }
}

Vue

Code

<template>
    <DxChat ref="chatRef" />
</template>

<script setup lang="ts">
import { onMounted, ref } from 'vue';
import { DxChat } from 'devextreme-vue/chat';

const chatRef = ref<DxChat | null>(null);

onMounted(() => {
    chatRef.value.instance.registerKeyHandler('backspace', function(e) {
        // The argument "e" contains information about the event
    });
    chatRef.value.instance.registerKeyHandler('space', function(e) {
        // ...
    });
})

</script>

React

App.tsx

import React, { useRef, useEffect } from 'react';
import { Chat, type ChatRef } from 'devextreme-react/chat';

function App() {
    const chatRef = useRef<ChatRef>(null);

    useEffect(() => {
        const chat = chatRef.current.instance();
        chat.registerKeyHandler('backspace', function(e) {
            // The argument "e" contains information about the event
        });
        chat.registerKeyHandler('space', function(e) {
            // ...
        });
    }, []);

    return (
        <Chat ref={chatRef} />
    );
}

Screen Reader Support

The Chat component supports screen readers and complies to WAI-ARIA standards.