We all navigate the internet and computers in different ways. Some use screen readers, others keyboard, and some people by voice. Success Criterion 2.5.3 was created to support these diverse methods. While it helps all users, it was created to address using voice control because typing is a struggle for the user. On the screen is a button that clearly says “Submit Order.” You speak the command: “Click Submit Order.”
Nothing happens.Or worse, it clicks the wrong thing.
Comments closedLast week I wrote about gestures and pointers. This week we look at the next criteria, Pointer Cancellation. I mentioned that we wanted events to fire on the “Up” or “release” action. And that’s what this criteria is all about. We need to make sure that if a user creates a down event on a control, we need to allow them to cancel. Let’s look at the methods used.
Comments closedIf you’ve been following my work or this blog for a while, you’ll know I’m always referencing that authors need to support both mouse users as well as keyboard users. What I haven’t mentioned much of is touch. Touch devices have given us a number of different modalities to interact with applications and the web. The problem arises when users don’t have the ability to touch the screen, or only have a single pointer when multiple are needed. Or perhaps they can’t perform the gesture. This is the point of this success criteria, providing an alternative for those users. Let’s check out how we do this.
Comments closedModern dynamic websites use layers of content on a page. We have tooltips, popups, dialogs, menus, navigation, and modals that bring more functionality by using these layers. But they can introduce a problem for keyboard-only users when focus can fall on content underneath. Let’s explore how this can resolved.
Comments closedHeadings and labels need to describe the content they are identifying in the content. This means when you have a H1 is should describe the page as a whole. Labels need to describe the data they are collecting. Seems simple. And usually it is. Let’s look at some examples of when it isn’t as clear.
Comments closedIn the physical world we understand that not everyone can climb 20 flights of stairs, so under the ADA we created rules to overcome these situations. Buildings now have commitments they need to make during construction to include ramps and elevators to access areas that someone might not be able to climb stairs. This is an example of multiple ways. Let’s review how that translates to digital spaces.
Comments closedIf you are anything like me, you don’t want your data sold to third parties. You probably run ad blockers. Maybe a VPN. Some governments are trying to help by requiring the site to declare what cookies are used and providing the user to opt out. But the current method of displaying this information tends to have some serious accessibility issues. I have another way of thinking about them I’d like to propose.
Leave a CommentI’ve been encountering a pattern lately of developers trying to do things right when it comes to live regions, but not understanding how they essentially work. This tip is to provide a super high level on how they function.
Leave a CommentLinks are what make the internet the world wide web. The original idea was that the internet is a set of digital documents. The link allows you to move between them. To make them as effective as they can be, we want to make them clear in what they do. Often though, the simple link doesn’t provide a clear purpose. Let’s look at what it takes to pass 2.4.4 Link Purpose (in Context).
Comments closedI’ve been doing accessibility work long enough that I can confidently say, you cannot avoid lawsuits about accessibility. What you can do is minimize your risk. If you do not have an accessibility effort going on in your company, start one. This guide will help you prioritize where you should be looking first. If you have a program going, this can help focus your efforts into where most lawsuits look first.
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