Microsoft Stream - Accessibility

‘Accessible’ means a person with a disability is afforded the opportunity to acquire the same information, engage in the same interactions, and enjoy the same services as a person without a disability in an equally effective and equally inclusive manner, with substantially equivalent ease of use.

There are severe and significant accessibility issues with Microsoft Stream. Microsoft is aware and actively working on improving screen reader support of the Microsoft Stream web interface.

The most problematic issues are summarized below based on preliminary screen reader testing by CU Boulder AUL.  Testing was conducted with NVDA 2017.2 and JAWS 18 with Firefox on Windows 10.

Accessibility testing of MS Stream found issues in both severe and significant categories.

Severe Issues

• Selectable items within the video carousel banner cannot be selected by screen reader users within the time available before the carousel changes its display.
• Combo Box list values are not read by JAWS and are unintelligible when read by NVDA.
• Screen readers are unable to access video controls (pause, volume, settings, etc.) while the video is playing.
• Most graphics do not have appropriate tags.

Significant issues

• The carousel causes the screen readers to start reading carousel information whenever the carousel changes its display.
• Many pages do not have headings or page titles and, if there are headings, they are often not defined at the appropriate level.
• Some form fields are poorly defined.

The standards compliance document used for the tests is Web Content Accessibility Guidelines (WCAG) 2.0, level AA, as prescribed by CU Boulder Campus Standards for the Accessibility of Information and Communication Technology Policy. References to the relevant portions of WCAG 2.0 are provided with the description of each issue in the severe and significant groupings.

Microsoft has documented accessibility support information for Stream at link below:

• Microsoft Stream hot keys and accessibility

CU Boulder OIT is working directly with Microsoft to improve the accessibility of Microsoft Stream. While this effort is underway, you may want to consider trying alternative video sharing applications.

Stream has been tested through the CU Boulder Accessibility and Usability Lab. OIT is actively working with Microsoft to resolve the issues identified above, and we will update this page as additional information becomes available. Additional testing is planned for the Fall of 2018 based on Microsoft’s roadmap for accessibility improvements.

For more information, see the Stream 508 Statement.

OIT has partnered with Disability Services to provide assistance for accessibility issues related to OIT supported services and we want to hear from you about this service. If you need assistance using this service or you have more information about the accessibility of this service that we should share with others, please contact the IT Service Center at oithelp@colorado.edu or at 303-735-4357.