Vocations · Job Skills

A team chat
everyone can follow

Team chat is where work happens, and it fails people quietly: a call without captions, a decision made with an emoji, a screenshot no one described. Check the app on ten points, agree eight team habits and log each problem with a workaround and an owner. The tool matches the gaps to the access needs your team has shared and prints a habits card for the channel.

Add a workspaceWhat you get
$5one-time · every device you sign in on
Buy · $5

Included with Caveat Classroom and Whole-school licenses. Or get it in the Job search kit, $29 for 46 items.

Chat workspaces

The worked example is made up: a support team with a screen reader user and a deaf colleague, a warehouse crew with problems to log and a new club workspace. Saved on this device only.

Loading the workspace form. If nothing appears, turn on JavaScript.

What you get

Vocations · Job Skills$5 · included with Classroom and Whole-school licenses

What you finish with
A record per chat workspace: the team, app, size, the access needs people have shared and the date; ten interface checks, eight team habits and a log of problems with workarounds and owners; counts of what works and what is agreed, the gaps for each named need, and a printed habits card and issue list.
Who it is for
Team leads, managers, IT and HR staff, employee resource groups and workers who use team chat apps at work, school or in volunteer groups.
Format
Browser tool with a saved record per workspace. Prints a team habits card, the issue list, the record, every workspace in a table or a blank checklist; downloads a spreadsheet (.csv); exports and imports a file.
Access
$5 one-time, yours on every device you sign in on; the tool opens once you are signed in with it. Included with Caveat Classroom and Whole-school licenses. Also in the Job search kit ($29) and the Vocations Suite pass ($99), and 1 more bundle. Everything you type stays in this browser; nothing is sent to Caveat.
Where it lives
The Job Skills space in Caveat Vocations.
Support
Questions about access, an order or a correction: team@caveatacademic.com.

How to use it

  1. Name the team and the needs shared.
  2. Try the ten interface checks.
  3. Agree the eight habits together.
  4. Log each problem with an owner.
  5. Print the habits card for the channel.

Add a workspace

What makes team chat accessible

Two halves of an accessible team chatThe appKeyboard reaches everythingScreen reader hears new messagesZoom to 200%, a readable themeMotion that can be stoppedCaptions and transcriptsThe habitsDescribe every imageDecisions in words, not emojiNo meaning in capitals or colorThreads, plain language, summariesAsk for a format, no reason neededTwo halves of an accessible team chatThe appKeyboard reaches everythingScreen reader hears new messagesZoom to 200%, a readable themeMotion that can be stoppedCaptions and transcriptsThe habitsDescribe every imageDecisions in words, not emojiNo meaning in capitals or colorThreads, plain language, summariesAsk for a format, no reason needed
The app sets what is possible; the team’s habits decide whether everyone can actually follow along.

Checking the app

Most of these checks map to the Web Content Accessibility Guidelines: everything reachable by keyboard, content that reflows at 200% zoom, enough contrast, moving content that can be paused, captions for live audio and text alternatives for images. Try them yourself, and ask colleagues who use a screen reader, captions or keyboard access every day; their experience matters more than a feature list.

Agreeing the habits

A perfect app still fails if images go undescribed, decisions are made with a thumbs-up and calls leave no written record. Agree the habits as a team, post them in the channel and revisit them when people join. An employee never has to disclose a disability to ask for a format change, and a reasonable accommodation request goes through your employer’s usual process.

Sources

  1. W3C Web Accessibility Initiative. Web Content Accessibility Guidelines (WCAG) 2.2, success criteria 1.1.1, 1.2.4, 1.4.4, 1.4.10, 2.1.1 and 2.2.2 (w3.org/TR/WCAG22).
  2. U.S. Department of Labor, Job Accommodation Network. Accommodations for communication technology at work (askjan.org).
  3. Partnership on Employment & Accessible Technology (PEAT). Accessible workplace technology resources (peatworks.org).
  4. U.S. Equal Employment Opportunity Commission. Reasonable accommodation under the ADA (eeoc.gov).

The worked example is made up, including the teams and people. This checklist covers common features and habits; it is not a full accessibility audit of any product, and it is not legal advice. Record only needs people have chosen to share. Nothing you type is sent to Caveat. Support: team@caveatacademic.com.