Next Experience accessibility features and updates

Learn about accessibility features and updates in the Next Experience user interface on the ServiceNow AI Platform.

Next Experience delivers a next generation, intuitive, personalized experience to drive productivity, improve engagement, and reveal insights across the ServiceNow AI Platform. This new UI unifies your instance apps and reduces clicks to access the items you need to get working.

The following table contains links to information regarding accessibility features and user preferences in the Next Experience User Interface. Explore each link to learn more.

Table 1. Next Experience UI

Accessibility feature	Summary
Next Experience accessibility preferences	Next Experience includes a guided tour that introduces the available accessibility preferences and where to find them. The guided tour is available from the Help Center and provides an in-context walkthrough of the preferences and related settings. The following Accessibility User Preferences are available: Show date and time formats on forms Replace colors with patterns in charts and graphs Enable special keyboard shortcuts Show all buttons without the need to hover Enable data table for charts and graphs Reduce the motion of animations Enable accessibility in Classic preference Enable keyboard focus on text that displays a tooltip Enable voice input for Now Assist panel. Note: The Voice Input preference only appears if your system administrator has enabled Now Assist voice input for your instance. Do not auto-dismiss page alerts Enable auto-focus on page alerts
Next Experience preferences by persona.	Learn more about accessibility preferences in Next Experience, organized by persona: visual, physical, cognitive/neurodiverse, and universal design. These settings help reduce barriers and create an inclusive experience for all users.
Configure Next Experience Workspace preferences	Lady load workspace pages: Control the way Workspace pages are loaded. This option can enhance compatibility with screen readers by providing a more consistent and reliable reading experience.
Next Experience Keyboard Shortcuts	Starting in the Washington, D.C. family release, new keyboard shortcuts are available to help you quickly perform common actions in the user interface. The keyboard shortcuts that display in the modal are specific to the screen you’re viewing. Keyboard shortcuts depend on the browser and operating system that you’re using. To enable keyboard shortcuts for your instance, turn on the Enable keyboard shortcuts user preference. For more information see, Configure Next Experience accessibility preferences Starting in the Yokohama family release, you can create your own keyboard shortcuts for frequently used actions. For more information, see Customize the Next Experience keyboard shortcuts.
Enable voice input for Now Assist	Activate voice-to-text in the Now Assist panel. With this feature, use your voice to access Now Assist skills in the Now Assist panel in any supported language. To turn on this feature, enable the voice input for Now Assist user preference. See Configure Next Experience accessibility preferences for details. Note: This preference only appears if your system administrator has enabled Now Assist voice input for your instance.=
Working with themes in Next Experience	Themes allow you to fine-tune the user experience in Next Experience. You can configure a theme to match your company brand look and feel in ServiceNow. When you configure a theme, you adjust the color schemes, fonts, and images of your applications. On the Theme Builder Theme form, you configure Order, Style, and Type settings. Base system variants include Dark and compact modes: Configuring Next Experience with Theme Builder Working with dark theme
Manage or edit a theme with Theme Builder	As you create or manage your theme, you can edit individual components to better suit your brand and meet accessibility compliance standards: Edit components Adjust components to meet accessibility standards Upload a custom font to your theme to improve globalization support and provide greater flexibility to users who may benefit from specific font styles or sizes. See Upload a custom font to your theme for instructions.
Dark mode for the Coral theme	Enhance readability and reduce eye strain with the new dark mode option for the Coral theme, now available for both web and mobile experiences. This feature can be particularly beneficial in low-light environments. See Working with the dark theme for more information.
Next Experience Components on Horizon	To view accessibility conformance information for Next Experience components, refer to the Components section of the ServiceNow Horizon Design system site. The Overview for each component contains accessibility (A11y) information.
Guardrails for PDF generation and accessibility	Document Services: Leverage new static and dynamic guardrails for accessibility support for PDF document generation. These enhancements monitor and manage memory usage to help maintain stability during PDF generation.
Guided Tours	Guided Tours is enhanced with more accessibility features including: Descriptive page titles Keyboard assistance for suggesting required fields through screen reader Keyboard assistance for focused user interface controls like, tool tip icons and checkboxes Reflow functionality enabled for visible content
Onboarding Carousel	Empower new users to customize their experience from day one. A new card in the Onboarding Carousel guides them to Accessibility preferences, making it easier for them to find and apply the settings they need.
Playbooks in Workflow Studio	Improved accessibility in keyboard navigation and user preferences: In diagram view, users can navigate between and configure stages and activities via keyboard. Users can set the action bar to always show in Diagram view. To learn more, see View all buttons without hover.