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Tag: W3C

A11y 101 – 3.3.4 Error Preventionclose up shot of gold coins

A11y 101 – 3.3.4 Error Prevention

Published on August 3, 2026

Imagine buying a car. You sign a contract. Then you discover the dealership changed the interest rate after you clicked “Accept.” Or you transfer money to a bank account. You confirm the transaction. Then you realize you sent it to the wrong person—and the funds are gone.

These aren’t typos. These aren’t forgotten passwords. These are consequential actions with legal, financial, or irreversible data implications.

And if your interface doesn’t protect users from making these mistakes, you’re not just violating WCAG—you’re exposing yourself to liability.

That’s the core of WCAG 3.3.4: Error Prevention. Unlike 3.3.3, which is about helping users fix field-level validation errors, 3.3.4 is about preventing catastrophic mistakes before they happen.

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A11y 101 – 3.3.2 Labels or Instructionstools and paper instruction for furniture assembly

A11y 101 – 3.3.2 Labels or Instructions

Published on July 20, 2026

Before I Can Fill It, I Need to Know What You’re Asking 

There’s a form I encountered recently that had twelve fields. No labels. Just placeholder text inside each input that disappeared the moment you started typing. If you forgot what a field was asking for, you had to delete everything you’d entered just to see the hint again.

Twelve fields. Zero labels. Infinite frustration.

That’s not a design choice. That’s a barrier. And it’s exactly the kind of thing WCAG 3.3.2: Labels or Instructions exists to dismantle.

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A11y 101 – 3.2.1 On Focusmonochromatic abandoned hallway with graffiti

A11y 101 – 3.2.1 On Focus

Published on June 8, 2026

If I had a podcast, I would tell you to close your eyes and imagine the following. But this is a blog post…

You’re walking down a hallway, hand out, ready to turn a doorknob. Your hand lands on the knob… and suddenly the door slides open before you touch it. Or worse, the room you thought you were entering is actually a closet full of vacuum cleaners. Disorienting, right? Jarring? A little bit scary?

That’s how a user feels when they tab through a webpage and a piece of content jumps, moves, or redirects them without asking for permission first.

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A11y 101: 2.5.8 Target Sizered and brass dart pin on dartboard
A11y 101: 2.4.7 Focus Visibleround mirror

A11y 101: 2.4.7 Focus Visible

Published on November 17, 2025

Disabilities come in all sorts. So do users. Some users can manipulate a mouse. Some rely on keyboard alone. Others have assistive technology. When you use a mouse, where your mouse is located is visible. This lets the sighted mouse user know what they are clicking on and where the focus is. Keyboard only users need something else. Let’s get into the details of what is needed.

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