Maven 3.6.0: Should the default color output be disabled for accessibility?

Answer

No – Maven should keep the default value of -Dmaven.color as true in future releases.

Why the default stays enabled

• Color output helps sighted developers quickly identify build phases, warnings and errors.
• Changing the default would break existing plugins, scripts and CI pipelines that rely on ANSI escape sequences being present.
• The accessibility gain can be achieved individually by users who need plain text, without affecting the broader ecosystem.

How to verify and change the setting

1. Check the current default:

   mvn help:system -Dexpression=maven.color

   should return true.
2. To disable color for a build:

   mvn clean install -Dmaven.color=false

3. To make the change permanent for a user, add the property to ~/.m2/settings.xml under or export MAVEN_OPTS="-Dmaven.color=false".
4. Confirm plain output by piping to cat -v or od -c and verifying the absence of ESC (033) characters.

Strategies for sighted users who still want visual cues

• Use Maven’s batch mode (-B) which already suppresses most color and provides clear line‑based logging.
• Rely on logging levels (-X for debug) or custom appenders that add timestamps and severity markers.
• IDE integrations (IntelliJ, Eclipse, VS Code) often render Maven output in their own consoles, where color can be toggled independently.

Guidance for plugin developers

• Consult the system property maven.color via System.getProperty("maven.color") and conditionally emit ANSI codes only when it is true.
• Utility classes such as org.apache.maven.shared.utils.io.AnsiOutput already respect this flag; reuse them instead of hard‑coding escape sequences.
• Provide a fallback plain‑text message when color is disabled, ensuring that essential information remains readable.

Missing diagnostic detail

Whether the Maven project has performed an accessibility impact survey or published an explicit policy on changing defaults would determine if a default‑false shift is advisable. Please confirm if such data exists.