Cloudflare’s inaccessible browser contradicts the company’s mission
An open letter to Matthew Prince, CEO, Cloudflare
by Matt Campbell
July 30, 2021
Mr. Prince:
About four months ago, Cloudflare launched Browser Isolation during Security Week, without ensuring that the product is accessible to blind people using screen readers. Now, four months later, this problem is still not solved. Cloudflare’s neglect of accessibility in this product raises a new barrier to employment for blind people as companies adopt this product to improve the security of their networks.
As I’m sure you recall, I first contacted you about this problem a year and a half ago, when Cloudflare first pre-announced the development of Browser Isolation, because I knew based on the technical description in that blog post that this product would be completely inaccessible with a screen reader unless the team specifically took steps to make it accessible. I even offered deep technical advice on how to make this product fully accessible, based on my expertise in accessibility and many years of experience as a developer of assistive technology. You were quick to respond back then, assuring me that the team was taking accessibility into account. In particular, you wrote the following, referring to your company’s mission: “Agree with [...]