Accessible Google Business Profile software, for every way you work
GBPly is built so you can manage Google Business Profiles with a screen reader, a keyboard, a magnifier or high zoom, on a phone, tablet or desktop. This page explains what that means in practice, how we test it, what we're still fixing, and how to tell us when something gets in your way.
What a screen reader says
- Skip to main content, link
- Main menu, navigation landmark
- Review Management, heading, level 1
- Filter by rating, combo box, All Ratings
- Filter by reply status, combo box, All
- AI Suggest, button
Can I use GBPly with a screen reader?
Yes. The main jobs, like replying to reviews, scheduling posts, checking your Google Maps rankings and reading your profile's performance, are built to work with a screen reader, a keyboard alone, or high zoom. In practice that means:
- Every button, link and field has a name
- A Skip to main content link on every app page
- A labelled Main menu and a heading on every page
- Works with Tab, Enter, Space, arrows and Escape
- Zoom to 400% without scrolling sideways
- Phones, tablets and desktops, no app to install
- A Schedule post button instead of dragging
- Known issues published, with workarounds
We design and test against WCAG 2.2 Level AA. We haven't had a formal independent audit yet, so we don't claim full conformance, and we list what we know still needs work.
Why it matters
Why accessibility should be at the core of every app
1 in 6
people worldwide, about 1.3 billion, experience significant disability.
Official source — WHO, 2023 (opens in a new tab)
25%
of people in the UK reported a disability in 2024 to 2025: 16.7 million people.
Official source — DWP Family Resources Survey, 2026 (opens in a new tab)
Over 1 in 4
US adults have some type of disability, according to the CDC.
Official source — CDC, 2026 (opens in a new tab)
2.2 billion
people have a near or distance vision impairment.
Official source — WHO, 2026 (opens in a new tab)
Each source measures disability differently, so the figures aren't directly comparable.
How we source the disability figuresAccessibility helps everyone, not only disabled people
The W3C's Web Accessibility Initiative points out that accessible design also helps people with temporary disabilities, like a broken arm or lost glasses, people in difficult situations, like bright sunlight or somewhere they can't play audio, and older people whose sight, hearing or dexterity changes with age.
Official source — W3C WAI — Introduction to Web Accessibility (opens in a new tab)
Who benefits from accessible designPermanent
A café owner who is blind replies to this week's reviews with a screen reader.
Temporary
An agency account manager with a broken wrist works with only a keyboard for six weeks.
Situational
A plumber checks rankings on a phone in bright sunlight between jobs, where contrast and big buttons matter.
Changing with age
A practice manager who has run the same profile for 15 years zooms text to 200% to read it comfortably.
Illustrative examples.
Screen reader users are on phones too
91.3%
of survey respondents use a screen reader on a mobile device.
71.6%
find information by moving through a page's headings.
That's why GBPly works the same way on a phone and gives every page real headings.
Industry research — WebAIM Screen Reader User Survey #10, 2024 (1,539 respondents) (opens in a new tab)
About this surveyPeople leave when it doesn't work
69%
of disabled online shoppers who responded said they click away from websites they find difficult to use because of their disability.
The W3C's business case adds that accessibility drives innovation, strengthens your brand and extends your reach.
Industry research — Click-Away Pound survey, 2019 (dated UK survey) (opens in a new tab)
Official source — W3C WAI — The Business Case for Digital Accessibility (opens in a new tab)
About the Click-Away Pound surveyIt's part of the law in many places
In Great Britain the Equality Act 2010 requires service providers to make reasonable adjustments. The US Department of Justice says the ADA applies to businesses open to the public, including what they offer online. The European Accessibility Act has applied to certain consumer services, including e-commerce, since 28 June 2025.
A summary, not legal advice. Which rules apply depends on your organisation.
Official source — Equality Act 2010, s.29 (opens in a new tab)
Official source — US DOJ ADA web guidance, 2022 (opens in a new tab)
Official source — Directive (EU) 2019/882 (opens in a new tab)
More on accessibility lawWhy we build it in from the start
Accessibility is cheapest and most reliable when it's part of how something is made, not a fix bolted on later. A button that gets its name when it's built never needs a repair ticket, and a layout designed to reflow never breaks at high zoom. So every new GBPly feature follows the same rules: icon-only buttons get a specific name, fields get labels, and expandable sections work with the keyboard.
The state of the web
The web's six most common accessibility failures, and how GBPly handles each
Low contrast text
Home pages affected:Partly in place83.9%In GBPly: Main text, buttons and links use high-contrast colours. Some secondary text, such as inactive tab labels and small grey notes, is still below the 4.5:1 ratio, and we're adjusting those colours.
Missing image alternative text
Home pages affected:In place53.1%In GBPly: No images were missing a text alternative in our checks, including logos and profile photos.
Missing form input labels
Home pages affected:In place51%In GBPly: Every field and dropdown in our checks has a label, including search boxes and the review filters.
Empty links
Home pages affected:In place46.3%In GBPly: Every link has a name, including icon-only links such as Open in Google Maps.
Empty buttons
Home pages affected:In place30.6%In GBPly: Icon-only buttons have specific names, such as Edit post, Delete post, Schedule post and Open support chat.
Missing document language
Home pages affected:In place13.5%In GBPly: Every page declares that it's in English, so screen readers use the right voice and pronunciation.
| Failure | Home pages affected | In GBPly |
|---|---|---|
| Low contrast text | 83.9% | Partly in placeMain text, buttons and links use high-contrast colours. Some secondary text, such as inactive tab labels and small grey notes, is still below the 4.5:1 ratio, and we're adjusting those colours. |
| Missing image alternative text | 53.1% | In placeNo images were missing a text alternative in our checks, including logos and profile photos. |
| Missing form input labels | 51% | In placeEvery field and dropdown in our checks has a label, including search boxes and the review filters. |
| Empty links | 46.3% | In placeEvery link has a name, including icon-only links such as Open in Google Maps. |
| Empty buttons | 30.6% | In placeIcon-only buttons have specific names, such as Edit post, Delete post, Schedule post and Open support chat. |
| Missing document language | 13.5% | In placeEvery page declares that it's in English, so screen readers use the right voice and pronunciation. |
Industry research — WebAIM Million, February 2026 (automated tests of home pages) (opens in a new tab)
About the WebAIM MillionInside the app
How GBPly is built for accessibility
Every control has a name
Buttons, links, fields, switches and dropdowns all have a name your screen reader can read out. Icon-only buttons say what they do, like Edit post or Previous month, not just "button". Voice control software uses the same names.
WCAG 4.1.2 Name, Role, Value
Works with a keyboard
Move with Tab and Shift+Tab, press Enter or Space to act, use the arrow keys in menus and tabs, and press Escape to close. The control you're on is outlined so you can see where you are. Expandable cards open with Enter or Space too.
WCAG 2.1.1 Keyboard · 2.4.7 Focus Visible
Skip straight to the content
The first thing you reach on every app page is a Skip to main content link, so you don't have to tab through the whole menu each time.
WCAG 2.4.1 Bypass Blocks
Headings and landmarks
Every app page has one main content area, a labelled Main menu and a page heading, so you can jump between regions and headings instead of reading everything in order.
WCAG 1.3.1 Info and Relationships
Zoom without scrolling sideways
Pinch-zoom and browser zoom are never blocked. At high zoom, pages switch to a single column: we check the main pages at 320 pixels wide, the width WCAG uses to represent 400% zoom.
WCAG 1.4.4 Resize Text · 1.4.10 Reflow
Phones, tablets and desktops
The same app works in any modern browser. Below 768 pixels wide, the side menu moves behind an Open menu button, and filters, tabs and buttons wrap onto new lines instead of disappearing.
WCAG 1.4.10 Reflow
Dragging is optional
You can drag posts around the schedule calendar, but you never have to. On the Posts page, every post that hasn't been published yet has a Schedule post button that opens a date picker, so you can reschedule it with a single click or the keyboard.
WCAG 2.5.7 Dragging Movements
Dialogs and menus behave predictably
Menus, dialogs, tabs and dropdowns are built on Radix UI components, which follow the WAI-ARIA design patterns: focus moves into a dialog when it opens, stays there until you close it, and returns to where you were.
WCAG 2.4.3 Focus Order
Messages are announced
When something is saved, published or goes wrong, the confirmation or error appears in a notification area that screen readers announce, without moving your place on the page.
WCAG 4.1.3 Status Messages
Sign-in that works with password managers
Sign-in and sign-up fields tell your browser what they're for, so password managers and autofill can fill them, and pasting is never blocked. Two-factor codes come from an authenticator app and can be pasted in.
WCAG 1.3.5 Identify Input Purpose · 3.3.8 Accessible Authentication
Help in the same place
The Open support chat button sits in the bottom-right corner of every app page. From it you can ask how to do something in plain words, open the user guide or report a problem.
WCAG 3.2.6 Consistent Help
The numbers behind the visuals
Rank maps, charts and sentiment trends are visual, so the key figures are also shown as text, and reviews, review insights, rank competitors, AI visibility results and competition analyses can be exported as CSV to read in a spreadsheet.
WCAG 1.1.1 Non-text Content
Getting started
Using GBPly with a keyboard, screen reader or magnifier
Keyboard quick reference
- Tab
- Move to the next button, link or field
- Shift plus Tab
- Move back
- Enter
- Follow a link or press a button
- Space
- Press a button, tick a box or flip a switch
- Up arrow plus Down arrow
- Move through menus and dropdowns
- Left arrow plus Right arrow
- Move between tabs
- Escape
- Close a dialog, menu or dropdown
The first Tab on any app page reaches Skip to main content.
Tips for assistive technology users
- Press Tab once on any app page to reach Skip to main content.
- Jump by headings and landmarks: the menu is labelled Main menu and each page has a top-level heading.
- Zoom with Ctrl and + (Cmd and + on a Mac). Pages switch to a single column rather than scrolling sideways.
- Follow the user guide: its steps name each button and field exactly as your screen reader announces it.
- Export reviews, review insights and rank competitors as CSV when a spreadsheet is easier than a chart.
- Ask questions in the support chat, or connect an AI assistant through the MCP server, if typing your way through screens is slow.
Any screen
Phones, tablets and desktops: one app that fits every screen
Phones
The side menu moves behind an Open menu button in the top-left corner, cards stack into one column, and filters, tabs and buttons wrap onto new lines instead of hiding.
Tablets
From 768 pixels wide, the Main menu sits down the left side and content uses the remaining space, so you can see the menu and your work together.
Desktops and zoom
Zoom in and the layout adapts. On a 1280-pixel screen, 200% zoom gives you the phone layout with the Open menu button, and pages still fit at 400%, so you don't have to scroll sideways to read a line.
More than one way in
Other ways to get things done in GBPly
A user guide you can follow click by click
Every guide page lists the steps in order and names each button and field exactly as it's labelled in the app, which is also what your screen reader announces. The guide is published as machine-readable JSON too, at gbply.net/user-guide.json.
Open the user guideSupport chat on every app page
Press Open support chat in the bottom-right corner and ask how to do something in plain words. From the same place you can open the user guide or report a problem.
Or email supportWork through an AI assistant
GBPly's MCP server / AI connector lets an AI assistant you already use read your profiles, reviews, rankings and insights, and draft replies and posts. Ask in plain language, by voice if your assistant supports it. Changes wait for your approval in GBPly unless you choose to pre-approve them.
About the MCP serverYour data as a spreadsheet
Export reviews, review insights, rank competitors, AI visibility results and competition analyses as CSV, and Website SEO Audit reports as Markdown, to read them in the tools that suit you best.
Find exports in the user guideHow we test
How we check GBPly's accessibility
Our latest check: 10 November 2026
- main app pages tested with axe-core, at 1280 and 390 pixels wide
- 13
- unnamed buttons or links
- 0
- unlabelled fields or dropdowns
- 0
- images without a text alternative
- 0
- pages checked at 5 widths, from 1280 down to 320 pixels
- 6
- app pages checked for a page heading, a main area, the Main menu and the skip link
- 22
The same check found the issues listed under Known limitations. Fixes made during it included a Skip to main content link, a spoken name for the Sign Out button on phones, and filters, tabs and calendar controls that wrap on small screens.
Full details of how we testWhat we do
- Automated axe-core tests of the signed-in app at desktop and phone widths
- Width checks from desktop down to 320 pixels for anything running off the screen
- Keyboard checks of the skip link and the Main menu
- A written rule for every new feature: named icon buttons, labelled fields, keyboard-operable sections
- User guide steps written with the exact names of each button and field
What we haven't done yet
- A formal audit by an independent accessibility specialist
- Structured testing sessions with disabled users
- A full test with every screen reader and browser combination
Automated tests only find some kinds of problem, which is why your feedback matters.
Standards
WCAG 2.2 and GBPly
Perceivable
Names and text alternatives for controls and images, readable text, and pages that reflow when you zoom.
Operable
Everything reachable by keyboard, a skip link, visible focus, and buttons as an alternative to dragging.
Understandable
Plain-English labels, the same menu on every page, and messages that say what happened and what to do next.
Robust
Standard HTML and ARIA from well-tested components, so browsers and assistive technology can understand each page.
The criteria that are new in WCAG 2.2
2.4.11 Focus Not Obscured (Minimum)
Level AA
App pages have no sticky header or footer that could cover the control you've moved to. The only element that stays on screen is the small support chat button in the bottom-right corner.
In place2.5.7 Dragging Movements
Level AA
Posts can be rescheduled with the Schedule post button and a date picker instead of dragging them on the calendar.
In place2.5.8 Target Size (Minimum)
Level AA
In our checks, the only controls smaller than 24 by 24 pixels were items on the schedule calendar and a few small links in the Citations table. We're enlarging them.
Partly in place3.2.6 Consistent Help
Level A
The support chat is in the same place on every app page, with links to the user guide and to report a problem.
In place3.3.7 Redundant Entry
Level A
Your business details come from Google when you connect a profile, so posts, review replies and reports reuse them instead of asking you again.
In place3.3.8 Accessible Authentication (Minimum)
Level AA
No puzzles or memory tests at sign-in. Password managers, autofill and pasting all work, including for two-factor codes.
In place
Official source — W3C — Web Content Accessibility Guidelines (WCAG) 2.2 (opens in a new tab)
About WCAG 2.2Being honest
Known limitations, and what to do instead
Items on the schedule calendar
Posts and photos on the calendar are draggable items with a clickable button inside them. Some screen readers announce this awkwardly, and the items are smaller than we'd like.
What to do instead: For posts, use the list on the Posts page and the Schedule post button on each post, which lets you reschedule without the calendar.
Contrast of some secondary text
Inactive tab labels, small grey notes and some badge text are below the 4.5:1 contrast ratio WCAG asks for at AA. Main text, buttons and links are not affected.
What to do instead: Browser zoom, or your operating system's high-contrast or increased-contrast setting, helps until we've adjusted these colours.
Heading levels on some pages
Some pages go from the page heading straight to card headings and skip a level. Moving between headings still works; the levels just aren't perfectly nested.
What to do instead: Use your screen reader's heading list or landmarks to move around. Every page has a top-level heading and a labelled Main menu.
Maps and charts
Rank grids, maps and trend charts are visual and don't yet have a full text description of everything they show.
What to do instead: Use the summary figures shown as text, the tables beside them, and the CSV exports.
PDF reports
PDF and print reports are designed for printing and may not be fully tagged for screen readers.
What to do instead: Use the CSV exports, or the Markdown export of the Website SEO Audit, which read well with assistive technology.
Screens run by other companies
Connecting your Google account, paying through Paddle and embedded Google Maps are run by those providers, so their accessibility is outside our control.
What to do instead: If one of them stops you finishing a task, contact us and we'll help you complete it another way.
Looking for accessibility on your Google Business Profile?
That's different, but just as important. Your profile can show customers a wheelchair-accessible entrance, toilet, seating or parking, and an assistive hearing loop. GBP Expert checks which attributes your profile is missing, and our examples guide shows how the best profiles use them.
Accessibility statement
Feedback and contact
How to reach us
- Email support@gbply.net with "Accessibility" in the subject.
- In the app, press Open support chat in the bottom-right corner, then report a problem.
Helpful details to include
- The page or feature you were using
- What you were trying to do, and what happened
- Your browser and device
- The assistive technology you use, if any, such as a screen reader or magnifier
This statement
- Covers
- The gbply.net website and the GBPly app you use after signing in.
- Standard
- WCAG 2.2 Level AA, as our design and testing target.
- Status
- Not yet independently evaluated, so we don't claim full conformance. Known issues are listed above.
- How we check
- Automated axe-core tests, width checks and keyboard checks, described above.
- Last reviewed
- November 2026
Accessibility: frequently asked questions
Can I use GBPly with a screen reader?
Does GBPly work with JAWS, NVDA, VoiceOver and TalkBack?
Is GBPly WCAG 2.2 AA compliant?
Can I use GBPly with only a keyboard?
Does GBPly work on phones and tablets?
Is there a Google Business Profile tool for visually impaired business owners?
Can I manage my Google Business Profile by voice or chat?
Do you have a VPAT or Accessibility Conformance Report?
How do I report an accessibility problem?
Can GBPly help make my Google Business Profile more accessible to customers?
Last reviewed November 2026
Related
User Guide
Click-by-click instructions for every part of GBPly.
MCP Server / AI Connector
Use GBPly from an AI assistant, with you approving changes.
Trust & Security
How we protect your account and your data.
Research & Methodology
Where every figure on this site comes from.
Best GBP Examples
Including accessibility attributes for your own profile.
All Features
Everything GBPly does for your Google Business Profiles.
Try GBPly with your own setup
Use your own screen reader, keyboard, magnifier or phone. Every account gets 250 free map point scans every month with the Free Rank Checker, so you can see how GBPly works for you before you choose a plan.