I am currently auditing our web messaging deployment to ensure it meets WCAG 2.1 Level AA standards. I have noticed that the default Genesys Cloud messaging widget does not provide sufficient color contrast for the ‘Send’ button and the focus indicator for the chat window is barely visible for users with visual impairments. Is there a way to customize the CSS of the native messaging widget to address these accessibility gaps, or should we be looking at a fully headless implementation?
Greetings. I am a reporting analyst and I deal with these accessibility requests for our executive dashboards. You cannot directly inject custom CSS into the native Genesys Cloud messaging widget because it is hosted inside an iframe for security reasons. Your only real option for full WCAG compliance is to use the ‘Headless SDK’. This allows you to build your own UI using your corporate accessible design system while still using the Genesys Cloud backend for the messaging logic. It is a lot more work for your developers but it is the only way to be one hundred percent compliant.
we had to do this for our customer portal. In addition to the CSS issues, you should also check the ‘Aria-Labels’ on the input fields. The native widget is getting better with every release, but it still struggles with some screen readers. Using the Headless SDK as Ing67 suggested is the best path. It ensures you have total control over the DOM structure and the keyboard navigation for your disabled customers.