Presets and locks for admins

Users find their options on Settings > Accessibility (see Accessibility). As an admin you can give every option a different starting value, for everyone or for some domains and groups. You can lock only three of them.

Defaults and locks

The settings policy has two tools, and accessibility options use both the same way as every other setting:

• A default is the value a user starts with. It applies to every user who hasn't changed that setting themselves. If you change the default later, those users get the new value; users who chose their own value keep it.
• A lock sets the value for everyone it applies to and greys out the setting, with "Set by your organisation" as the reason.

Every accessibility option can have a default. Only these can be locked:

Setting	Key	What a lock does
Single-key shortcuts	singleKeyShortcuts	Users keep the shortcuts on or off as you set them. Turning them off helps people who use speech input, where a dictated letter can delete or archive mail.
Confirm before sending	sendConfirmation	Users are always asked, or never asked, before a message goes out.
Notification duration	toastDuration	With a minimum, users can make notifications stay longer but not shorter. "Until I close them" always meets the minimum.

Why text size, contrast and motion can't be locked

A lock on text size, contrast, motion, fonts, spacing or any of the reading aids could leave someone unable to read or use the app at all. Someone with low vision needs larger text whatever the house style says, and someone with a vestibular disorder needs motion off. So Bulwark accepts these as defaults only.

A policy.json that locks one of them anyway is not rejected: the lock works as a default. Users who haven't chosen a value get yours, and they can still change it. Presets and Reset on the Accessibility page still leave such a setting alone, so put these values in defaults instead of restrictions.

In the admin console

Admin > User policy has two sections for this:

• Locked settings: the Accessibility category lists the three settings above. Tick Lock and pick the value next to Users get. Notification duration has a list instead, from No minimum to At least 60 seconds. Confirm before sending can also be hidden with Hide.
• Defaults: every setting you can preset, by category. Accessibility comes first and lists the Accessibility page's own options, under the page's headings and with the names users see. Settings the page shares with other pages, such as density or conversation view, are listed under their own category or can be set by key under Other settings. Change a value and it gets a set badge; the round arrow next to it (Remove the default) takes it away again. Other settings at the end takes any other setting by its key, as it appears in a settings export.

A lock set before Bulwark 1.19.0, or one in policy.json without a value, shows "No value: each user keeps the value they had" and a button to lock it to the value shown.

To give some users different values, add an entry for their domain or group on Admin > Organisation > Domains and groups and pick it in Applies to at the top of either section. See Domains and groups.

In policy.json

Defaults go in defaults, locks and the minimum in restrictions, both keyed by the setting's key. This file presets larger text, more contrast and Atkinson Hyperlegible for everyone, keeps single-key shortcuts off, asks before sending, and keeps notifications at least 10 seconds. The low-vision entry gives one group the values of the Low vision preset as its defaults:

{
  "defaults": {
    "fontSize": "large",
    "contrast": "more",
    "appFont": "atkinson"
  },
  "restrictions": {
    "singleKeyShortcuts": { "locked": true, "value": false },
    "sendConfirmation": { "locked": true, "value": true },
    "toastDuration": { "min": 10 }
  },
  "scopes": [
    {
      "id": "low-vision",
      "label": "Low vision support",
      "match": { "groups": ["low-vision@example.com"] },
      "policy": {
        "defaults": {
          "fontSize": "xx-large",
          "contrast": "more",
          "focusRing": "thick",
          "underlineLinks": true,
          "largeCursor": true,
          "mailMinFontSize": 16,
          "mailOverrideStyles": "high-contrast",
          "mailFitWidth": true,
          "showToolbarLabels": true
        }
      }
    }
  ]
}

A lock without value uses the value from defaults. toastDuration also takes "locked": true with a value, if you want one fixed duration instead of a minimum.

Bulwark checks each value against the list below. A value that isn't on it, such as a misspelled font name for appFont, is ignored, as if the file didn't set it. The two settings for new messages are the exception: composeFontFamily takes any font family list and composeFontSize any CSS size such as 15px.

The user-facing presets (Screen reader, Low vision and so on) are not keys of their own. A preset is a list of values applied once, so to "preset a preset", put its values in defaults as in the example above. When a user applies a preset, Bulwark skips the settings you locked. Notifications never stay shorter than your minimum, whatever a preset sets.

Keys and values

Setting	Key	Values	Built-in default
Text size	fontSize	small (87.5%), medium (100%), large (112.5%), x-large (125%), xx-large (150%), xxx-large (175%), huge (200%)	medium
Font	appFont	default, atkinson, lexend, opendyslexic	default
Line spacing	lineSpacing	normal, relaxed, loose	normal
Letter spacing	letterSpacing	normal, wide, wider	normal
Word spacing	wordSpacing	normal, wide	normal
Paragraph spacing	paragraphSpacing	normal, wide	normal
Reading width	readingWidth	full, comfortable	full
Reading mask	readingMask	true, false	false
Plain language	plainLanguage	true, false	false
Contrast	contrast	system, more, normal	system
Reduce transparency	reduceTransparency	system, on, off	system
Underline links	underlineLinks	true, false	false
Show names next to colours	showColorNames	true, false	false
Colour-blind-safe colours	colorBlindPalette	true, false	false
Reduce motion	reduceMotion	system, on, off	system
Pause animated images	pauseAnimatedImages	system, on, off	system
Single-key shortcuts	singleKeyShortcuts	true, false	true
Focus outline	focusRing	normal, thick, extra	normal
Always show focus	focusAlwaysVisible	true, false	false
Large targets	largeTargets	system, on, off	system
Large mouse pointer	largeCursor	true, false	false
Open on hover	openOnHover	true, false	true
Actions button on each message	showRowActionButton	true, false	false
Wider scrollbars	nativeScrollbars	true, false	false
Show messages as	mailViewMode	html, plain	html
Message text size	mailTextScale	0 (same as the app), 0.875, 1, 1.125, 1.25, 1.5, 1.75, 2	0
Smallest text in messages	mailMinFontSize	0 (no minimum), 12, 14, 16, 18	0
Use my font and colours in messages	mailOverrideStyles	never, high-contrast, always	never
Fit wide messages to the window	mailFitWidth	true, false	false
Read aloud speed	readAloudRate	0.75, 1, 1.25, 1.5	1
Read aloud voice	readAloudVoice	"" (browser default) or a voice URI as the browser reports it	""
Font for new messages	composeFontFamily	"" (default), sans-serif, serif, monospace, or a font family list	""
Text size for new messages	composeFontSize	"" (default) or a CSS size (the page offers 14px, 16px, 18px, 20px, 24px, 32px)	""
Notification duration	toastDuration	5, 10, 20, 60, 0 (until closed)	5
Confirm before sending	sendConfirmation	true, false	false
Confirm before deleting	confirmDelete	true, false	false
Confirm before archiving	confirmArchive	true, false	false
Visual alerts	visualAlerts	true, false	false
Unread counts	unreadCountStyle	count, dot, hidden	count
Do not disturb	doNotDisturb	true, false	false
Announce new mail	announceNewMail	true, false	true
Read the preview in the list	announceRowPreview	true, false	false
Simple mode	simpleMode	true, false	false
Page through the message list (needs simpleMode)	simpleModePagedList	true, false	false
Accessibility button in the navigation bar	showAccessibilityButton	true, false	false

The other settings shown on the Accessibility page, such as density, toolbar labels, always-light mail or conversation view, keep the keys they have on their own pages. Plain text mail font (plainTextFont: sans or mono) is only on the Accessibility page; preset it under Other settings.

Older files keep working. small, medium and large for fontSize are still valid; they now scale the browser's text size instead of setting a fixed pixel size. A file that presets or locks the old animationsEnabled is read as reduceMotion: false becomes on, true becomes system.

Accessibility links

Public bodies have to link an accessibility statement, a way to report barriers ("Barriere melden"), and in Germany explanations in Leichte Sprache and German Sign Language (DGS) on their entry page. Since 1.19.0 there are admin settings for these links: an accessibility statement, a feedback link (a URL or an email address), a help page, a Leichte Sprache page and a DGS page. Bulwark shows them in the same place on every page, including the sign-in page. See accessibility law for operators for what goes behind them.

Set them on Admin > Branding under Accessibility and help links, with an environment variable, or in Lite's config.json. A link you leave empty doesn't show. Each one can also be set per domain in the Branding page's scope, like the imprint and privacy links.

Link	Admin > Branding field	Environment variable	config.json and domain branding key
Accessibility statement	Accessibility statement URL	ACCESSIBILITY_STATEMENT_URL	accessibilityStatementUrl
Report a barrier	Report a barrier (URL or email)	ACCESSIBILITY_FEEDBACK_URL	accessibilityFeedbackUrl
Help	Help URL	HELP_URL	helpUrl
Easy Read (Leichte Sprache)	Easy Read (Leichte Sprache) URL	EASY_READ_URL	easyReadUrl
Sign language (DGS)	Sign language (DGS) URL	SIGN_LANGUAGE_URL	signLanguageUrl

Only http and https links are used. The barrier report also takes an email address, which becomes a mailto: link. Users see the links in this order in the sign-in page footer, at the bottom of the settings sidebar and in the account menu, labelled in their language ("Barriere melden", "Leichte Sprache" and "Gebärdensprache" in German).

Bulwark Lite

Lite has no admin console, but it reads the same policy. Put defaults and restrictions in the policy.json next to index.html; scopes work too. See static hosting.