Zenarate is committed to providing SaaS enterprise applications accessible to all learners, including keyboard-only / screen reader users as well as visually impaired users accessing with screen magnification tools. Accessible technology creates opportunity and equality for all, and this is especially important given the unique type of practice, coaching, and upskilling we provide. Disability inclusion is included in this belief.

As an emerging immersive learning provider that regularly pioneers and develops new types of AI-powered simulation and practice, we are often the first company in the world to discover the limits or accessibility challenges associated with AI-powered conversation and software simulation. With this in mind, in early 2023 we engaged a third-party accessibility expert to help guide us through the coming years as our company scales and engages hundreds of thousands of global learners.

Our ultimate goal is to make all learning and simulation features compliant with WCAG 2.1 standards level AA. As of the time of this report, we have met this goal for the latest version of the learner-facing product and are happy to share a VPAT report outlining our testing methods. 

In cases where the unique/innovative nature of the technology that enables our simulations is inherently incompatible with these standards, we also aim to document this clearly to provide customers with substantive practice/coaching alternatives, whether within our platform or otherwise.

With this in mind, Zenarate is implementing the following strategy and actions as part of a multi-year accessibility plan (2023-2026) to cover the platform’s core functionality, starting with all learner-facing experiences – which represents 99.9% of our user base – and then proceeding to make as many Administrator/Author experiences accessible as possible. The key milestones include:

• WCAG compliance for basic platform navigation and course elements by early Q3 2024 (achieved)
• WCAG compliance for AI-powered conversation simulation exercises (audio recording and written exercises + voice-only conversation simulation) by end of 2024 (achieved)
• WCAG compliance for System Simulation exercises, including screen reader and keyboard-only navigation by Q4 2024 (achieved)
• Following the completion of a large investment round, our product is undergoing a major expansion of features in 2025 that will represent ‘doubling’ the offering available to our customers. Due to the major change noted here, during this time we will maintain WCAG AA compliance for learner-facing experiences at no later than a 3-month delay after new feature release. Major releases are scheduled in early Q2 and early Q3 2025. 
• The authoring/admin panel for the platform is also undergoing major expansions and updates, including for AI simulation authoring, software simulation authoring, digital lesson authoring, assignment path design, automation features, and user/role/permissions/team configurations. These features will be made accessible wherever possible in a rolling fashion across the end of 2025 and 2026.

Non-Accessible Content

With this plan in mind, we are aware of current limitations, which we are working to address. Here follows a description of the main items:

• While we have been using HTML and WAI-ARIA attributes to describe some of the role, name, value, identity, operation, and state of user interface elements to assistive technologies, there are a few exceptions caused by the unique nature of interactive AI powered conversation and software simulations.
• As noted above, our first priority is to ensure that our compliance addresses core functionality related to the Learner platform role. Beta features, Coach Features, or Admin builder/authoring portal may achieve compliance goals at later dates or in some cases not at all.
• While we design such that a focus indicator is always visible and has good contrast with the surrounding content and background, it is important to note that many elements of the learner experience are managed/authored by the customer. Customers should build and review all content and experiences they author to ensure ongoing WCAG compliance of their programs.

If you are a current customer, and become aware of other notable limitations, please share your findings with your Customer Success Account Manager or at support@zenarate.com

Design and Development

Based on the initial accessibility planning conducted in 2023, our product planning approach aims to implement native accessibility where possible that are accessible by default, using semantic code – integrated by WAI-ARIA. We are also thoughtful about the plug-ins and components we select during the engineering process to avoid those that are not compatible with the needs of those with disabilities.

Platform Tests Against the WCAG Guidelines

Based on our milestone plan, we are on track to conduct our next round of audits/tests in Q1 2025. We will post ongoing updates and progress to this statement over the coming years as this plan unfolds. 

Test Environment

We test on recent versions of Microsoft Windows and Apple iOS, using Chrome, Safari and Microsoft Edge for:

• keyboard-only navigation
• browser zoom 100% to 400%;
• page reflow without requiring to scroll in two dimensions;
• JAWS screen reader (2022/2023/2024 versions)

About this Statement

This statement was issued on November 19, 2024.