Accessibility

Here is exactly where DetentShell’s accessibility stands. Verified by automated tests: WCAG AA contrast for every text-and-background pair in every theme, High Contrast included, held to 4.5:1 with no large-text exemption — a failing pair fails the build — and an automated scan that walks the same UI Automation tree Narrator uses and asserts control names, runnable against any build. Editor state (caret, selection, folds, zoom), the breakpoint gutter including disabled breakpoints, and the console’s full text are exposed through UI Automation. A small number of known naming gaps remain in third-party editor internals and one panel; they are tracked, not hidden.

Not yet verified: the end-to-end experience with Narrator, Magnifier, or keyboard-only use. Automated checks assert exposures; they do not prove a working session for someone who relies on assistive technology, and we have not done that verification, so we do not claim the Microsoft Store accessibility declaration. If your team needs that assurance, the honest answer today is that the groundwork is tested and the end-to-end proof is not yet done.

The exposures are in place: descriptive UI Automation names on toolbar controls (“Run Script”, not “button”), the editor’s live caret, selection, fold, and zoom state, the breakpoint gutter’s full set including which breakpoints are disabled, and the console’s entire text through the Value pattern. Commands carry ISE keyboard gestures. Themes, High Contrast included, are WCAG AA contrast-tested per text-background pair in the unit suite. What we have not done is verify the full working session under Narrator, Magnifier, or keyboard alone — if you work that way and try DetentShell, a specific report of what works and what breaks is exactly what this feature needs next, and it earns you a license.

DetentShell is built to work without a mouse: buttons carry names a screen reader can announce, F-keys drive running and debugging, and the High Contrast theme keeps everything readable. What we can promise today is what our tests check — the colors and the control names. What we can’t promise yet is how the whole app feels in a real session with Narrator, Magnifier, or keyboard only, because we haven’t tested that end to end. If you rely on those tools and are willing to try DetentShell and tell us what you find — or to help us test properly — email us and we’ll give you a license for it.

Contrast is verified against WCAG AA (4.5:1) per theme in the test suite — every pair held to 4.5:1, with no large-text exemption — and a failing pair fails the build. UI Automation name coverage is asserted by an automated scan that can be run against any build; known gaps are tracked to closure. DetentShell does not claim the Microsoft Store accessibility declaration: end-to-end verification with Narrator, Magnifier, or keyboard-only use has not been performed, and we say so rather than imply otherwise. Reports from people who rely on assistive technology are actively invited and rewarded with a license.