Tuva's Commitment to Accessibility
At Tuva, we are committed to making our data, graphing, and statistical tools accessible to learners with diverse cognitive and physical abilities. Data literacy is an essential skill for today's students — growing up in a data-driven world, they will need to be fluent with data to effectively engage in civic and professional life.
We believe every student deserves the opportunity to develop these skills, so we build tools that enable all students to explore, manipulate, and analyze data. We also offer free access to Tuva, so that cost is never a barrier.
WCAG 2.1 AA & Ongoing Audit
We are working to ensure that our tools comply with the Web Content Accessibility Guidelines (WCAG) 2.1 AA. This work has added urgency as we pursue availability in state and standardized assessments, which require WCAG compliance.
We are currently undergoing a formal accessibility audit with Accessible Web, a third-party accessibility firm. The audit covers all major visualization types in the Tuva Data Tools — including Dot Plot, Bar Chart, Histogram, Box Plot, and more — and tests each against WCAG 2.1 AA using a combination of approximately 25% automated testing and 75% manual testing. Identified failures are documented with detailed remediation tasks and instructions.
A VPAT (Voluntary Product Accessibility Template) will be published upon completion of the audit.
Universal Design for Learning
Everyone learns in a unique way, yet all learners are entitled to meaningful, rigorous learning opportunities. Universal Design for Learning (UDL), a framework developed by the non-profit organization CAST, posits that learners with and without disabilities are served best if educational materials and methods are designed from the outset to be accessible to the widest possible range of students.
Tuva has implemented a variety of features to provide a universally accessible experience. You can see how each feature maps to the UDL framework in the sections linked throughout this documentation.
The Three UDL Principles
- Multiple Means of Representation: Present information in multiple ways because no single mode will be optimal for all learners. Tuva addresses this through screen readers, read-aloud, language support, color modes, and font size controls. Reading & Language → Visual Accessibility →
- Multiple Means of Action & Expression: Offer multiple ways for learners to navigate materials and express what they know. Tuva addresses this through full keyboard navigation and shortcuts. Motor & Keyboard Access →
- Multiple Means of Engagement: Engage a variety of learners with different motivations and sensory needs. Tuva addresses this through animation controls, authentic data, and student choice. Focus & Sensory →
What We're Working On
Our commitment to accessibility is active and ongoing. Here is what is currently in progress or planned:
- Alternatives to Auditory Information — Documentation for how Tuva provides visual and textual alternatives to audio content is in progress.
- Printable Keyboard Shortcuts PDF — A downloadable reference for keyboard shortcuts will be added to the Motor & Keyboard section.
- Translation Widget Screenshots — In-lesson translation screenshots and a demo are pending.
- VPAT (Voluntary Product Accessibility Template) — Will be published upon completion of the Accessible Web audit.
- Formal Accessibility Statement — A compliance statement page is in progress.