Help
Accessibility
Use the canvas with a keyboard, reduce animation, and choose a readable appearance.
You can explore the canvas with a keyboard, choose among three themes, and use your device's reduced-motion preference. These controls work in different parts of Glob Social; choose the combination that suits how you use the app.
Reach and explore the canvas
Press Tab until the canvas is focused. The canvas takes one place in the Tab order, so you do not need to tab through every node before reaching the controls after it.
Once on the canvas, the arrow keys move focus between nodes. The first arrow press focuses the first node in reading order: top to bottom, then left to right. Home and End move to the first and last nodes in that order. A visible focus ring follows the focused node, and the view moves when necessary to bring that node on screen.
Press Enter to select the focused node, like a click. Escape returns focus from a node to the canvas. If you are in the middle of moving, linking or cutting, Escape cancels that action first.
| Key | Action while the canvas has focus |
|---|---|
| + or = | Zoom in around the focused node, or the middle of the view. |
| - | Zoom out. |
| Alt + arrow | Pan the view. |
| M on a node | Pick it up; use arrows to move, then Enter or Space to put it down. Escape restores its starting position. |
| L on a node | Start a link; use arrows to choose the other node, then Enter to link. |
| X on a node | Choose among its linked nodes, then Enter to cut that link. |
Moving and editing still follow the canvas's permissions. A read-only canvas announces This canvas is read only. A node that cannot move says so. The keyboard does not bypass these restrictions.
The move, link and cut keys work when a node has focus, so they do not take those letters away from text fields. See Keyboard shortcuts for the app's other combinations.
With Chat enabled, Enter can open Chat when your pointer is over the canvas. Move the pointer off the canvas before using Enter for a canvas action. You can also use Space to put down a node you are moving.
Panels, menus and status messages
Use Tab and Shift + Tab to move forward and backward through controls. Look for the focus outline in panels and forms; menus can highlight the focused row instead. In tab rows such as the Freemarket categories, Left and Right move between tabs and select them; Home and End select the first and last tab.
Search and entry bars show a blue border around the whole bar while you type, whether you reach them with Tab or a click. This includes Listr, Media, Chat and the People panel's Add by username field. Buttons within a bar keep their own keyboard focus indicator.
Canvas nodes are named by their titles, with Untitled node for a node without a title. Keyboard editing announces actions such as starting a move, putting a node down or cancelling a link. Forms also expose progress and result messages, including export requests and safety-setting failures.
On a focused chat line, Shift + F10 or the Menu key opens its action menu. Use the menu to reach actions such as Keep without aiming at a small hover control.
Reduce animation
Turn on reduced motion in your device or browser's accessibility preferences. There is no separate reduced-motion switch in Glob Social Settings.
With that preference active:
- Animated Pixls on the canvas and in the Freemarket use still pictures.
- Animated avatars use their still image.
- A custom animated cursor uses its still form.
- The multibar switches its message without a fade and does not rotate through its idle prompts.
- Interface animations and transitions are shortened.
The preference is read separately from your theme. Changing from Dark to Light does not change the device's motion preference.
Appearance and touch
Open Settings → General → Appearance to try Dark, Glob Classic and Light. Name colours use different shades in each theme. The selected theme and selected name colour are outlined as well as named. See Themes.
On narrow screens, panel controls have larger touch areas, and fields use larger text. Some tasks still have device limits: listing a Pixl in the Freemarket needs a drag on a desktop-sized screen. Browsing and buying are available in its phone layout.
Report a barrier
Open Settings → Nexus → Bug reports and describe the control, what you tried, and what happened. Include your browser, device and assistive software if relevant. You can also contact [email protected].