Accessibility in Zoho CRM: Not just a feature—a way to empower

Accessibility in Zoho CRM: Not just a feature—a way to empower

For instructions on setting up these controls, please check this help document: Configuring accessibility controls.
Hello everyone,

Today (December 3, 2024), on the International Day of Persons with Disabilities, we begin our journey towards a CRM that empowers everyone. This first step makes it possible for more users of all abilities to do their best work in Zoho CRM.

But this is only the start.

We need your support and feedback as we work towards a future of inclusive tools, businesses, and communities where no one's excluded. We invite you to watch the video below for a quick overview of our first update:


What is accessibility, and why does it matter in Zoho CRM?

CRM and other business software tools are deeply woven into our work lives, and the experience of using them often drifts out of focus as we navigate through the interfaces, analyze data, and take action. But for users with disabilities, the experience is quite different.

Just as people who use wheelchairs face unique challenges in navigating through physical spaces, users with disabilities often experience business software tools as spaces filled with obstacles. User interfaces are often crowded with visual elements that make navigation difficult. Every click and every form demands attention and effort, and information is often presented in ways that not everyone can easily perceive. And the list of challenges goes on.

When accessibility is not built into business software like Zoho CRM, it unintentionally amplifies barriers instead of empowering users to work without limits.

Accessibility is the removal of these barriers. It helps everyone use products, services, devices, or environments and benefit from them. Even seemingly small changes can make a big difference for many users. For example:
  • Reading tiny text is challenging, especially for those with visual impairments and older individuals. Adjusting font sizes can greatly enhance readability for all.
  • Color is commonly used to indicate important information. For instance, green for enabled switches or red for mandatory fields. Having this information available by other means (text, symbols, and so on) helps users with color vision impairments.
  • Users who can't use a mouse often use keyboards instead. Providing full keyboard access to the CRM and the option to skip sections expands navigation for all users.

Accessibility in Zoho CRM

For the millions of users who rely on Zoho CRM daily—especially those with disabilities—accessibility controls give them the tools they deserve to achieve what they're capable of.

Just as businesses can customize our CRM to meet their specific requirements, individual users can leverage 18 accessibility controls to accommodate their unique needs. They no longer have to deal with a "standard" CRM that only works for users without disabilities. Instead, they can perform all their tasks with ease in a CRM that can be configured to match their unique needs.

Accessibility controls

Our accessibility controls are designed to support users with vision impairments, motor disabilities, and those who could benefit from enhanced interaction options. You can access these via Setup > General > Personal Settings > Accessibility. You can access certain controls using the Accessibility shortcut, located in the toolbar at the bottom. Let's look at each set of controls.

Vision

  • Screen reader support: Users who are blind or have visual impairments rely on screen readers to complete tasks. Zoho CRM now supports popular screen readers by default, allowing for better understanding and navigation. Users can also enhance their experience by enabling standard navigation order and ARIA landmarks.
    A user goes through a list of contacts in the CRM using a screen reader.
  • Zoom support: Users with vision impairment often need to zoom into parts of the interface to perceive details. Zoho CRM now supports browsers' zoom features by default. Users can zoom up to 150% without disrupting the interface's cohesion.
    A user zooms into a record detail page. The CRM's UI does not lose its structure at any point.
  • Adjustable font size and spacing: Text is crucial in CRM interfaces and affects user experience. Preferences for text size vary, with those with low vision preferring larger text and those with higher visual acuity preferring smaller text. Users can easily adjust font size for better readability, eliminating the need to zoom in.
    A user uses the live preview option to increase the font size.

    Similarly, users can adjust spacing to make text easier to read.
    A user uses the live preview option to increase spacing. The text is much more legible now.
  • Magnify text on hover: At times, we may have no trouble with most text elements but face challenges with certain ones. In such cases, users can use this option to zoom-on-demand. Simply press the alt (Windows) or option (Mac) key to enlarge difficult-to-read text elements.
    A user hovers over certain elements to get an enlarged view. This is done in a deal module kanban view.
  • Motion control: Although animations can enhance an interface's appeal, they can also be distracting and uncomfortable for users, especially after extended use. In fact, excessive animations may even induce dizziness and nausea in individuals with vestibular impairments. Accordingly, users now have the option to reduce animations for a distraction-free experience that's easy on the eyes.
    A popup smoothly opens from the bottom toolbar. With the motion control enabled, it appears immediately without the smooth motion.
  • Switch labels: Toggle switches generally use color to indicate their state, such as green to indicate a toggle is enabled. This can be a barrier for users with color vision impairments. With this option enabled, users can quickly determine the state of a switch in Zoho CRM, as shown below:

  • Strikethrough disabled buttons: Disabled buttons are grayed out like toggle switches, but this can be difficult to distinguish for users with color vision impairment. Enabling a strikethrough cue makes it easier for users to identify these buttons, as shown in the example below:
    Disabled buttons have multiple lines running through them from the top-right to the bottom left.
  • Form display mode: Filling out forms can be difficult for users with disabilities, as it can require zooming in, scrolling, and tabbing through fields. To make it easier, users can enable the form display mode, which users can use to shrink a form down to its mandatory fields, fill them out, and then move on to the next task.

  • Mandatory field appearance: To save records, users often have to deal with mandatory fields, which are typically marked with red accent lines. However, this can be problematic for those with color vision challenges. Thankfully, users can now personalize the presentation of mandatory fields, such as by denoting them with an asterisk or a "Required" label.

  • Custom error message display: Forms can pose a challenge for users with color vision impairment, particularly when it comes to error messages. These messages are typically displayed in red, but this may not be visible for those with color blindness. To address this, users can now select a more accessible color and even include an error icon for easier identification.
    Error messages for two fields are displayed with an icon and an accessible color.
  • Flashing screens for notifications: It's easy to miss notifications in Zoho CRM in certain cases. For example, a user with low vision may be working with a zoomed-in view, which may keep the notification signal out of sight. To address this, users can enable this option, which causes the screen to flash twice when they receive a notification.
    The screen flashes in a yellow shade when the user previews the flash screen option.
  • ARIA landmarks: Users without low vision can perceive an interface's structure at a glance and navigate directly to the section they want. This isn't always the case for users accessing Zoho CRM with assistive technology like screen readers. To help them perceive and navigate the interface easily, they can enable ARIA landmarks, which help them understand the page quickly and skip to the sections they need to get their work done.
    User skips to a section in the home page usig ARIA landmarks. The different sections on the home page are clearly marked in boxes with accessible colors and labels.

Motor

  • Keyboard shortcuts: Many users with and without disabilities prefer using their keyboards to navigate around the CRM and take actions. They can create and use keyboard shortcuts for frequently performed actions. This option has already been released and will now be moved under the Accessibility tab.

  • Zia voice assistant: Some users may not be able to use a mouse or a keyboard. An example would be users with severe motor impairments. We now offer our built-in Zia Voice Assistant to assist such users in navigating Zoho CRM and completing their tasks. After you've enabled this option, press Control + Z + V or click the microphone icon in the bottom bar and start telling Zia what to do. Please note that only English language voice commands are supported for now; it isn't yet available in CN, SA, or JP DCs.
    A user speaks to Zia Voice Assistant to open a lead record and click the Edit button within it.

Interaction

  • Reading focus: The CRM interface is often packed with information so as to present an all-in-one view, but this can be overwhelming for users who are easily distracted. Reading focus enables them to block out distractions and focus solely on the area around their cursor.
    A user has enabled reading focus. Most the of screen is masked except a small rectangular box around the cursor. This box moves as the user moves the cursor.
  • Underline links: Links are important for navigating Zoho CRM, but it's crucial to distinguish them from regular text. This is usually done through color, which can be problematic for users with color vision impairment. In such cases, they can have links underlined for easy identification.
    In a list of tasks, the Task name and the contact name are underlined to show that they are links to records. Other elements like status and priority are not underlined to indicate that they are not links.
  • Standard navigation order: For users navigating the CRM with a screen reader and a keyboard, this option ensures that navigation starts from the first DOM element and proceeds in a consistent pattern (from top to bottom, left to right, and without skipping any elements).

Achieving WCAG 2.2 Level AA compliance: A major step towards inclusive accessibility
The Web Content Accessibility Guidelines (WCAG) are a globally recognized framework of recommendations designed to enhance web accessibility. With our accessibility controls in place, we're happy to announce that we're compliant with WCAG 2.2. Level AA.
Note: For the following features, full compatibility is currently limited to the home page, custom view, and standard record view for create, edit, clone, and details pages:
  • Screen reader
  • Zoom
  • Custom error message display
  • ARIA Landmark
  • Standard navigation order
For the following features, full compatibility is currently limited to the standard record view of create, edit, clone, and details pages:
  • Form display mode
  • Mandatory field display
We encourage you to do the following:
  • Explore: Familiarize yourself with the new accessibility controls and let us know what works and what doesn't.
  • Share: Inform your teams and peers about these enhancements.
  • Support: Assist others in customizing their settings for the best experience.
Availability
Release plan: Soon, we'll be rolling out accessibility controls in a phased manner for all customers.

[13 Jan 2025] Accessibility controls are now available to all users in all DCs.

Editions: All
DCs: All
To learn more about these controls, please refer this help document: Configuring Accessibility Controls.
Accessibility is a moving target, and we need your help to ensure that we're constantly moving towards it. Please spread the word and share your feedback.

    • Recent Topics

    • Add Support to Upload Inventory Items with Categories or Enable Separate Upload for Inventory Categories

      Currently, Zoho Inventory does not support uploading new items along with their parent and sub inventory categories using the item import feature. This creates challenges for businesses with structured inventory hierarchies when trying to upload items

    • i need active of my whatsapp business number in zoho

      i am waiting from 3 days for active of my whatsapp business account in crm ,its too late to configure.its just showing account details i can't able to know its connected or not anything else

    • Sub-Form Padding in CSV Export

      Hi, When you use the Sub-Form, and for example you have a Date Field on the Main Page, then Option 1 and Option 2 fields on the Subform, when you export this to CSV the Date column will only have the Date in 1 row, the first row, it would be nice to pad

    • Integrate your Outlook/ Office 365 inbox with Zoho CRM via Graph API

      Hello folks, In addition to the existing IMAP and POP options, you can now integrate your Outlook/Office 365 inbox with Zoho CRM via Graph API. Why did we add this option? Microsoft Graph API offers a single endpoint to access data from across Microsoft’s

    • Analytics Dashboard User Filters Default Value

      User Filters on Dashboard do not allow Unknown to be set as a default filter value. I have to include NULL values in my dashboard among other values but I can't include NULL/Unknown by default in Dashboard User Filters.

    • Microsoft is retiring Exchange Web Services (EWS): Here's what it means for Zoho Mail users

      Microsoft has officially announced the retirement of Exchange Web Services (EWS) for Exchange Online. If your organization is planning to migrate from Microsoft 365 to Zoho Mail, you may be wondering what this change means for you. The good news is that

    • Zoho Writer page break in a merge repeating region always adds an unwanted blank page

      Hi I'm merging a Zoho CRM record to a Zoho Writer document with a repeating region to display subform records on their own page within the document. When I try to insert a page break in a repeating region, the resulting merge always adds an unwanted blank

    • ZeptoMail account pending review, SMTP blocked with relaying-issues

      Hi ZeptoMail team/community, Our ZeptoMail account has been pending review for more than 3 business days and still shows: “Your account is yet to be reviewed.” I already created a support ticket, but have not received an update yet. Ticket details: Request

    • Zoho ERP | Product updates | June 2026

      Hello users, We launched Zoho ERP on January 23, and since then, our goal has been to help businesses streamline and manage their operations with greater efficiency, flexibility, and control. Since the launch, we've continued to enhance the platform every

    • Tip #83- Give Customers a Faster Way to Reach You with the Quick Support Plugin – 'Insider Insights'

      Hello Zoho Assist Community! Think about the last time a customer needed urgent support. They emailed in, waited for a response, got a session link, couldn't find it in their inbox, called back, and by the time the session actually started, a good chunk

    • How to Open .mbox file in Gmail with Attachments?

      Gmail offer users to backup INBOX folder in .mbox file format via Google Takeout Feature. Howver there is no such option to Restore Gmail MBOX. Thus I would like to suggest you to choose an alternate approach i.e. MBOX to Gmail Wizard. This utility will open .mbox file in Gmail with attachments.  Steps to open MBOX file in Gmail are; Run MBOX to Gmail Wizard Click Add File and add .mbox file. Enter your Gmail login credentials. Click Convert button. Finished! This is how you can open MBOX file in

    • Seperate rating scales for KRA's and Competencies in appraisals

      Is there a way to set-up different rating scales for KRA's and Competencies?? I would like to have; Met/Not met for KRA's and a 1-5 scale for the competencies I know how to set up custom ratings but it spans across both sections and I need them to be

    • Is there a CRM Deluge function available to convert an RTF (rich text field) to plain text (with no formatting tags)?

      I know that we can run reports so that RTF fields can either show as plain text or the text or the text with the formatting fields included (which is wonderful, btw, as it helps me adjust tags when I need to troubleshoot and just see what I need to see

    • How do I set the value of a Lookup field in SlyteUI?

      I am using the "crm-field" component in a SlyteUI project (code attached) https://www.zohocrm.dev/explore/slyteui/ui-components/crm-field/api#Properties The client would like to have this field pre-populated with a value. When I try to input the record

    • Mise à jour de Zoho Books – France

      Chers clients, Merci pour votre patience et votre soutien continu. Avec les évolutions réglementaires à venir en France nous introduisons de nouvelles fonctionnalités dans Zoho Books pour les clients français. Ces mises à jour ont été conçues pour répondre

    • CRM Developer Update: Mandatory field behavior changes in Zoho CRM APIs

      We are planning a few updates to Zoho CRM APIs that are expected to be rolled out by the end of October 2026. These changes are not live yet. We are sharing this early so developers and partners can review the impact and prepare in advance. What is changing?

    • Show Available Stock as a Column in Item Views (Including by Warehouse)

      It would be very useful to have Available Stock as a standard column in the Items list view. Currently Stock On Hand does not show the real picture for businesses managing orders and inventory. Example: Stock on Hand: 100 Committed to Sales Orders: 80

    • What's New in Zoho POS - July 2026

      Hello everyone, Welcome to Zoho POS’s monthly update, where we share our latest feature updates, enhancements, events, and more. Let’s take a look at how July went. Support for Saudi's ZATCA Phase 2 e-invoicing We have added support for ZATCA (Zakat,

    • How to make Contact a Help Center User

      I see a "IsPortalUser" checkbox on each of the Customer account, but I am unable to check the checkbox. How is this configured?

    • Introducing the new Fields API

      Hello everyone, Greetings from Zoho Desk's API corner! With the rising need for integrations to connect multiple tools in businesses, APIs need to be adaptive, reliable, consistent, and ready for dynamic operations. To support better performance, efficiency,

    • Service locations are tied to contacts?

      Trying the system out. And what I discovered is that it seems that the whole logic of the app is, I'd say, backwards. There is a Customer - a company. The company has contact persons and service locations can be associated with different contact persons.

    • Zoho ResearchStudio Shutdown Notice

      Hi ResearchStudio fam, We are writing to inform you that Zoho ResearchStudio will be discontinued from Oct 5, 2026. Thank you for being a part of our journey and for trusting us with your qualitative research work. What this means for your data: Your

    • SlideShare Downloader PDF not syncing in Zoho WorkDrive

      Hi everyone, I use SlideShare Downloader for save study PPT and PDF files. After download I upload files in Zoho WorkDrive, but sometimes PDF preview not showing or sync take very long time. Small files work okay but some bigger presentation files have

    • メモの保存場所、見直しませんか？― Zoho Notebookで始める情報管理

      ユーザーの皆様、こんにちは。ゾーホージャパンの朝香です。 AIを利用した業務が広がる中、AIによる情報漏洩対策を進めている組織も多いのではないでしょうか。 一方で、日常的に使っているメモの管理については、対策できていますか？ 業務中のメモには、重要な情報が含まれていることがあります。 そのため、AIへの入力だけでなく、メモの保存先についても是非確認をおすすめしたいと思います。 そこで今回は、使いやすさだけでなく、セキュリティにも配慮して設計されたZohoのノートアプリ「Zoho Notebook」をご紹介します！

    • Zoho Sheet offline is now live on iPhone

      Hello everyone, We've just rolled out offline support for Zoho Sheet on iOS—you can now create, edit, and analyze spreadsheets on your iPhone without an internet connection. Offline support has been a sustained priority for us. We're on the verge of bringing

    • You can now sync records from Custom Modules in Zoho CRM

      p.MsoNormal, li.MsoNormal, div.MsoNormal { margin: 0.0cm; font-size: 12.0pt; font-family: Cambria; } p.MsoListParagraph, li.MsoListParagraph, div.MsoListParagraph { margin-top: 0.0cm; margin-right: 0.0cm; margin-bottom: 0.0cm; margin-left: 36.0pt; font-size: 12.0pt; font-family: Cambria; } p.MsoListParagraphCxSpFirst, li.MsoListParagraphCxSpFirst, div.MsoListParagraphCxSpFirst { margin-top: 0.0cm; margin-right: 0.0cm; margin-bottom: 0.0cm; margin-left: 36.0pt; font-size: 12.0pt; font-family: Cambria;

    • Zoho ERP | Product updates | July 2026

      Hello users, We're back with another round of updates to help you streamline your operations. This month's release brings new features and enhancements designed to help you work more efficiently. Read on to discover everything that's new in Zoho ERP this

    • Fixed cost per task

      Is there any way to assign a fixed cost per task, but track time for internal reporting? Don't see a way to do this currently.

    • Please critique my CRM design

      I run a disability healthcare business with 2 business units. We run on Zoho One and are re-designing our CRM. We have developed the design concept ourselves, and I am hoping to get some critical feedback: 1) Noting that this is an early design of the

    • Set custom date creation for ticket using API in Desk

      Hi. all.. I want know if is possible to add ticket with custom creation date via API... This would to be great because we are moving from another platform to Zoho and we have need to keep all statistics for old tickets also. In api docs i didnt see nothing about custom date in ticket creation but i would prefer a confirm from comunity/support. Thank you P.S.: Sorry for bad english language

    • Allow Shopify / marketplace orders to be cloned

      Many businesses now use Shopify as a B2B ordering portal, not just a D2C ecommerce website. For B2B businesses, once these orders are imported into Zoho Inventory, Zoho often becomes the main system used to manage purchasing, stock, fulfilment and customer

    • How to Display a Logo Image on a Public Form?

      I would like to display a logo image in the header of a form. To achieve this, I added an Add Notes field to the form. The code below works perfectly for Zoho users accessing the form. However, when the form is made public, the image does not load properly:

    • Possible to define default font and size in Zoho Campaigns?

      Is it possible to define a default font (font, size and colour) for the text, H1 and H2 in Zoho Campaigns? For example: In a campaign, I add a text block, and the text is automatically century gothic, size 11, grey (6f6f6e) by default? Thank you!

    • Set Custom Colurs/Fonts/Style

      I know I can save blocks as books marks but it would be nice to be able to define a custom colour pallet, the style of the H1, H2 etc to save me having to copy a previous block and set them manually over and over again. Since the colour picker doesn't

    • Stop Zoho Projects From Automatically Adding Client Users

      I have a custom function that creates a Zoho Project for every Quote attached to a Deal when it moves to Closed Won. Everything works fine, except for the fact that connecting a Zoho Project to the CRM automatically takes the Contact associated with the

    • Zoho CRM - Kiosk Studio: Build Once, Execute Multiple Times with Loops

      Hello Everyone, Introducing Loop Functionality in Kiosk Studio. If you've ever built a Kiosk that needed to perform the same action multiple times like updating a list of contacts, scheduling calls for a batch of leads, or processing multiple products

    • Switching from Notebook to another product, too unreliable

      Not only is the spell check worse than useless, now there is a lag AFTER EVERY KEYSTROKE! This makes it impossible to use when there are innumerable products which provide this basic function. I made the mistake of relying on Notebook and have so many

    • Accidentally deleted a meeting recording -- can it be recovered?

      Hi, I accidentally deleted the recording for a meeting I had today. Is there a way I can recover it?

    • Zoho Desk: A Estruturação do Atendimento ao Cliente na era da IA

      O mercado de atendimento ao cliente vem passando por uma transformação que não é apenas tecnológica, é também comportamental. As empresas que antes mediam qualidade de suporte pelo tempo de resposta, hoje precisam medir pela experiência completa, unindo

    • API bookings/v1/json/appointment not adding additional fields he is returning this "customer_more_info": {"booking_form_type": "service"}

      Hi, I'm trying to add additional fields inside zoho booking appointment api and I'm passing same data as you told inside your documentation. He is returning following response "customer_more_info": { "booking_form_type": "service" } I'm using this parameter

    • Next Page