Accessibility at Back

Last updated 28 August 2026

Back makes four things: Backburner (a task list), Backpack (files, documents and spreadsheets), Backdrop (a video editor) and back.dev (this site). This page says how usable they are, what we already know is not good enough, and how to tell us something is in your way.

We are one person. That is not an excuse for anything below — it is the reason we would rather write down what is wrong than describe an aspiration.

What we are aiming at

The standard we work to is WCAG 2.2 level AA, the international guideline for making web software usable by people with disabilities. We do not fully meet it today. The specific things we know about are listed further down.

Nobody makes us publish this page. The UK regulations that require an accessibility statement apply to public bodies, and Back is not one; the European Accessibility Act exempts very small businesses. We are publishing it anyway, because under the Equality Act 2010 we do owe you reasonable adjustments whether or not anyone is counting, and because a page like this is worth nothing if it only exists once someone forces it.

What already works

• Buttons, links and fields are reachable with a keyboard, and whatever you are on is drawn with a visible outline. No hidden focus, and no keyboard trap that we know of. The one place this breaks down is in the next list.
• Light and dark both work properly, and follow your system unless you pick one.
• If your system asks for reduced motion, we stop moving. No fades, no slides, no animated reveals.
• Nothing interrupts you. No pop-ups, no interstitials, no adverts, nothing that plays by itself, and no cookie banner to dismiss — we do not use advertising or analytics cookies, so there is nothing to ask you about.
• Backdrop has a full keyboard map for the editing work: play, step by frame or second, jump between cuts, split, trim to the playhead, delete, zoom, undo. Press ? in Backdrop to see the whole list.
• Plain language. We would rather write a longer sentence than a shorter piece of jargon.

What is not good enough yet

This is the honest list, not a sample of it.

• Backdrop's timeline is built for a mouse. Most of the editing has keys (see above), but moving a clip to a different place on the timeline is a drag, and there is no keyboard or screen-reader way to do it. If this is what is stopping you, write to us — we will do the edit with you rather than leave you stuck.
• Backpack's documents and spreadsheets are new and have had no accessibility work at all. Assume they have problems. The file list and the rest of Backpack are older and better, but its dialog boxes — including the one that deletes a file for good — are not announced properly to a screen reader.
• Screen-reader support is uneven. Some screens have been tested with one and some have not, and all of that testing was done by us, not by anyone who uses a screen reader every day. We know that is the weakest part of this page.
• Some outlines and quieter text are fainter than the standard allows. We are working through them product by product, starting with the boundaries of the boxes you type into.
• We have never had an independent audit. Everything on this page comes from our own testing, so it is a floor, not a ceiling — there will be problems here we have not found.

How we test

By hand, by us: with the keyboard only, at larger browser zoom, in both themes, and with the screen reader built into macOS on the screens we have got to. There is no automated accessibility check in our build yet, and no outside auditor. That is the truthful description of a one-person operation, and it is why the list above is probably incomplete.

If something is in your way

Tell us and we will answer. Write to legal@back.dev with what you were trying to do and what stopped you — a sentence is plenty, and you do not have to know the technical name for it.

We aim to reply within five working days. If we can fix it quickly we will say when; if we cannot, we will tell you honestly and find another way to get you the thing you needed — including doing it for you.

When this changes

We will update this page and change the date at the top — both when we fix something on the list and when we find something new to add to it.