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WCAG related accessibility fixes to student facing pages - #1401

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ascholerChemeketa wants to merge 9 commits into
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ascholerChemeketa:accessibility-stuff
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WCAG related accessibility fixes to student facing pages#1401
ascholerChemeketa wants to merge 9 commits into
RunestoneInteractive:mainfrom
ascholerChemeketa:accessibility-stuff

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Collection of fixes to remove hard fails using WAVE to audit student facing pages.


This pull request introduces several improvements across the codebase, focusing on accessibility enhancements, UI/UX updates, and improved maintainability. The main changes include adding ARIA attributes for accessibility, updating the course switching UI to a dropdown with improved feedback, and standardizing the use of CSS variables for theming. Additionally, minor UI refinements and template adjustments were made for consistency and clarity.

Accessibility improvements:

  • Added ARIA labels and descriptive attributes to form elements and interactive controls in courses.html and profile.html for better screen reader support. [1][2][3][4][5]
  • Updated table headers in studentreport.html to use <th> elements for semantic correctness and accessibility. [1][2]

UI/UX enhancements:

  • Replaced the course chooser select menu with a dropdown menu in current_course.html, providing clearer feedback and improved interaction. Updated the associated JavaScript for better error handling and accessibility. [1][2][3]
  • Added a <main> element wrapper to base templates for improved document structure and accessibility. [1][2]

Styling and theming:

  • Refactored admin.css to use CSS variables for colors, improving maintainability and theming consistency across admin pages. Updated button, link, and banner styles accordingly. [1][2][3][4][5]
  • Adjusted color variables in assignment_block.css for better visual contrast.
  • Minor color and style tweaks in legal and HEVCAT templates for consistency. [1][2]

Template and content updates:

  • Improved labeling and structure in donation and profile forms for clarity and accessibility. [1][2]
  • Updated navigation blocks and template inheritance for better extensibility and content separation. [1][2]

Context flag propagation:

  • Ensured the "student_page": True context variable is consistently passed to profile-related views for correct template rendering. [1][2][3][4]

CopilotAI lite review requested due to automatic review settings August 21, 2026 00:00

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Pull request overview

This PR targets WCAG/WAVE “hard fail” accessibility issues and improves UI consistency across student-facing and auth/admin pages by introducing semantic HTML updates, better ARIA/labeling, and centralizing colors via CSS custom properties.

Changes:

  • Introduces a shared :root color token set in rs-core.css and refactors multiple CSS files to use those variables for contrast/theming consistency.
  • Improves page semantics/accessibility by adding <main> wrappers and upgrading some tables/inputs with more appropriate markup.
  • Updates the course switcher UI to a dropdown with status messaging and more robust client-side error handling.

Reviewed changes

Copilot reviewed 24 out of 24 changed files in this pull request and generated 4 comments.

Show a summary per file
FileDescription
components/rsptx/templates/staticAssets/main.cssSwitches to flex layout for sticky-footer structure on non-PTX pages.
components/rsptx/templates/staticAssets/css/subchapoverview.cssReplaces hard-coded colors with shared CSS variables.
components/rsptx/templates/staticAssets/css/studentreport.cssReplaces hard-coded colors with shared CSS variables and contrast tweaks.
components/rsptx/templates/staticAssets/css/student_detail.cssReplaces hard-coded colors with shared CSS variables.
components/rsptx/templates/staticAssets/css/rs-core.cssAdds CSS variable palette and updates “bootstrap-like” core styles.
components/rsptx/templates/staticAssets/css/peer.cssReplaces hard-coded colors with shared CSS variables.
components/rsptx/templates/staticAssets/css/lti.cssUses shared danger background variable for error rows.
components/rsptx/templates/staticAssets/css/auth.cssApplies shared variables and refines auth/danger-zone styling.
components/rsptx/templates/staticAssets/css/assignmentoverview.cssUses shared surface/text variables for stat cells.
components/rsptx/templates/staticAssets/css/assignment.cssReplaces hard-coded colors with shared variables and improves dropdown theming defaults.
components/rsptx/templates/staticAssets/css/admin.cssRefactors admin styling to shared variables for maintainability/contrast.
components/rsptx/templates/staticAssets/course.cssAdds styling for the new course chooser toggle button.
components/rsptx/templates/staticAssets/assignment/assignment_block.cssAdjusts success/error colors (contrast) in assignment blocks.
components/rsptx/templates/legal/hecvat.htmlMinor contrast tweak for “N/A” answer color.
components/rsptx/templates/legal/_legal_base.htmlTweaks legal template styling and removes a breadcrumb block.
components/rsptx/templates/book/course/current_course.htmlReplaces course select with dropdown + JS status/error handling.
components/rsptx/templates/assignment/student/studentreport.htmlImproves table header semantics by using <th> in Grades and adds headers to Recent Activity.
components/rsptx/templates/admin/auth/profile.htmlImproves form labeling/ARIA and clarifies delete-account section structure.
components/rsptx/templates/admin/auth/login.htmlOverrides auth navbar items (empty) for the login page.
components/rsptx/templates/admin/auth/donate.htmlAdds an explicit label for the “Other” donation amount field.
components/rsptx/templates/admin/auth/courses.htmlAdds ARIA/labeling improvements for course selection and filtering controls.
components/rsptx/templates/admin/auth/_auth_base.htmlIntroduces nav_items block and wraps content in <main>.
components/rsptx/templates/_base.htmlWraps main content in <main> for improved document structure.
bases/rsptx/admin_server_api/routers/auth.pyPropagates student_page: True context for profile-related views.
Suppressed comments (1)

components/rsptx/templates/staticAssets/main.css:35

  • body is now a flex column with main { flex: 1; }, but .footer is still position: absolute and body no longer has a bottom margin. This can cause the footer to overlap page content (especially on short pages) and defeats the sticky-footer flex layout.
.footer {
position: absolute;
bottom: 0;
width: 100%;
height: 50px;

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Comment on lines 30 to +31
<input class="form-check-input" type="radio" name="course_name"
id="ic_{{ course.course_name }}" value="{{ course.course_name }}">
id="ic_{{ course.course_name }}" value="{{ course.course_name }}" aria-label="Text filter for course or author name">
Comment on lines 76 to +80
<table class="nodec">
<tr>
<th>Timestamp</th>
<th>Event</th>
<th>Div ID</th>
Comment on lines 458 to +462
.form-check {
position: relative;
display: block;
padding-left: 1.25rem;
}

.form-check-input {
position: absolute;
margin-top: 0.3rem;
margin-left: -1.25rem;
display: flex;
gap: 20px;
Comment on lines +21 to +25
{% block nav_items %}
<div class="ml-auto nav-item">
<a class="nav-link" href="/admin/auth/login">Log In</a>
</div>
<div class="nav-item">
<a class="nav-link" href="https://blog.runestone.academy/pages/faq.html">Help</a>
</div>
{% endblock %}
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2 participants

@ascholerChemeketa