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Vernon Fowler

WebAIM: Keyboard Accessibility - 0 views

  • Long lists of links or other navigable items may pose a burden for keyboard-only users.
  • The following best practices can facilitate efficient keyboard navigation: Provide a "skip to main content" link on the page. Use a proper heading structure. Provide ARIA landmarks or HTML5 structural elements (<main>, <nav>, etc.)
  •  
    "when testing with a keyboard, you are not just trying to interact with the page successfully, you also want to ensure all interactions are predictable. This requires an understanding of common keyboard interactions."
Vernon Fowler

Understanding screen reader interaction modes - Tink - 0 views

  • the screen reader intercepts most keypresses before they reach the browser, triggering an interaction with the virtual document instead
  • up/down keys move focus to the previous/next line instead of scrolling the page
  • space key to select a checkbox
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  • enter key is used to activate a link
  • Not all keypresses are captured by the screen reader however. When the tab key is pressed it is automatically passed through to the browser where it causes keyboard focus to move to the next piece of interactive content
  • Although this mode switching may seem unintuitive to someone unused to Windows screen readers, it works well in practice and most screen reader users are unaware of what’s happening “under the hood”.
Sandra Earl

WebAIM: Accessibility of AJAX Applications - Accessibility Issues - 0 views

  • AJAX is
  • a smorgasbord of web technologies put together to allow dynamic client-server interactions to occur in web applications without requiring pages to reload or refresh.
  • AJAX uses the following:
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  • The XHTML and CSS elements can be dynamically modified to display new information or styling. These changes are typically done using the Document Object Model.
  • XHTML (or HTML) and CSS to create an interface and visually style information.
  • JavaScript is used to manipulate the interface elements and is also used to establish a communication with a web server through XMLHttpRequest. This allows data (typically in XML format) to be transmitted between the client and the web server without requiring page reloads or refreshes.
  • standard type of client-server interaction
  • A web page interface is presented. User information is collected (via forms, links, etc.). The user submits information (submits form, activates link, etc.). The server processes submitted information. A new web page interface is sent to the user.
  • With AJAX, all of these steps can be handled in one interface.
  • The types of web applications and interactions allowed by using AJAX has given rise to the term "Web 2.0"
  • AJAX allows feature-rich, dynamic web applications which use server-side processing without requiring the traditional "submit data — retrieve web page"
  • allows more streamlined applications that require less processing and data transmission
  • higher levels of interactivity
  • current solution to these problems is to either provide a non-AJAX alternative to your application or to allow your AJAX application to continue to function if JavaScript and XMLHttpRequest are not supported. Such a requirement may be very difficult to achieve
  • Another issue with AJAX is how the application interface is updated. When updates to the interface occur, it may not be visually apparent that a change has occurred. The problem is even more troublesome for screen reader users. Screen readers typically read in a linear fashion. When changes happen in the interface, the screen reader user may not be aware of the change and the new content will likely not be read.
  • to allow dynamic interface changes to be accessible, the application must alert the user that a change has occurred, allow direct access to the new content, and then allow continued functionality of the web application. This process, while difficult to achieve, especially for screen reader users, is possible to achieve in many AJAX applications.
Vernon Fowler

HTML5 Accessibility Chops: When to use an ARIA role | The Paciello Group Blog - 0 views

  • The situation for new HTML5 elements is different and likely to remain so for some time. It will be years before New HTML5 elements get robust accessibility support implemented across browsers and platforms. This is particularly so for non interactive elements such as the new HTML5 structural elements because  accessibility APIs in general do not have defined roles for many non interactive elements. In this case it is recommended to add the appropriate ARIA roles to elements that are meant to convey meaning but are effectively meaningless due to lack of implemented accessibility support. For example, adding role=navigation to a nav element fills the gaps in support for HTML5 semantics as ARIA  is more robustly  supported by most modern browsers and assistive technology:
  • <nav role=”navigation”>
  • Authors/developers can safely assume that any element that has been around since HTML 4.0 is already accessibility supported in browsers that support accessibility. So they do not need a default implicit role added.
Sandra Earl

Multiple form labels and screen readers | 456 Berea Street - 0 views

  • Well, it turns out you can do that. From The LABEL element in the HTML 4.01 specification: The LABEL element may be used to attach information to controls. Each LABEL element is associated with exactly one form control. The for attribute associates a label with another control explicitly: the value of the for attribute must be the same as the value of the id attribute of the associated control element. More than one LABEL may be associated with the same control by creating multiple references via the for attribute. Sounds great, doesn’t it? A quick check in graphical web browsers shows that they associate multiple labels with the input field (as evidenced by the input field gaining focus when either label is clicked). But what about screen readers? It would be so useful if this would work… Unfortunately, and perhaps unsurprisingly, it looks like it doesn’t quite work as well as you’d hope. I mentioned this briefly in Use the label element to make your HTML forms accessible, but I think it’s worth bringing up again since full support for multiple labels would help us make forms more accessible to screen reader users while keeping visual designers happy. I am far from an expert user when it comes to screen readers, but I’ve done some limited testing with mostly disappointing results. Apple VoiceOver does not recognise more than one label element associated with a form control and reads only the label that comes first in the document’s source order. JAWS and Window-Eyes both do the opposite and read only the last label when an input field gains focus. The only screen reader of those that I tested that does handle multiple labels is Fire Vox. The exact results may obviously depend on user configuration and reading modes, and there may be other screen readers that get it right, but these results indicate that screen reader behaviour is too inconsistent for multiple labels to be a reliable technique.
Sandra Earl

WebAIM: Accessibility of Rich Internet Applications - 0 views

  • WAI-ARIA (Accessible Rich Internet Applications or ARIA) is a W3C protocol for enhancing and supporting accessibility of scripted and dynamic content.
  • ARIA provides accessible interactive controls (such as tree menus, drag and drop, sliders, sort controls, etc.), content roles for identifying page structure (navigation, search, main content, etc.), areas that can be dynamically updated (called "live regions" in ARIA), better support for keyboard accessibility and interactivity, and much more.
  • WAI-ARIA provides the ability for developers to specify roles for document areas (and many other things).
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  • accessibility issues with rich internet applications can be characterized as: Providing the semantic structure of page areas and functionality (e.g., navigation, main content, search, etc.) Maintaining accessibility of content that is dynamic and may change within the page (e.g., AJAX content updates) Allowing certain non-focusable page elements to receive keyboard focus (e.g., setting focus to an error message within the page) Providing keyboard and screen reader accessibility with complex widgets and navigation elements (e.g., sliders, menu trees, etc.)
  • ARIA is being implemented into many scripting libraries (such as jQuery, Dojo, YUI, and GWT). While developers can certainly implement ARIA into their advanced widgets and applications, using ARIA-supported libraries greatly simplifies the process of providing this level of accessibility.
Sandra Earl

YUI Theater - Karo Caran and Victor Tsaran: "Introduction to Screen Magnifier... - 0 views

  • With the goal of better understanding how people interact with the Web via various types of Assistive Technology (AT) — and what that might mean for developers and designers — Karo Caran takes us on a 16 minute overview of screen magnification software (in this case ZoomText) and how it is used by partially-sighted users to interact with the Web. Karo shows you the basic toolkit and then applies those tools to some typical web sites to give you some perspective on how she uses magnification software while she browses the web.
Vernon Fowler

WebAIM: CSS in Action - Invisible Content Just for Screen Reader Users - 0 views

  • recommended styles for visually hiding content that will be read by a screen reader
  •  
    "There are occasional instances where content should be made available to screen reader users, but hidden from sighted users. In most cases, if content (particularly content that provides functionality or interactivity) is important enough to provide to screen reader users, it should probably be made available to all users. Cases where verbose cues or instructions are provided only for screen reader users are most likely a reflection of poor design and accessibility. However, there are a few cases where information is apparent visually, but may not be apparent to screen reader users. In these cases, it may be appropriate to mark-up content in a way that it is read by a screen reader, but invisible to sighted users. "
Vernon Fowler

WebAIM: Keyboard Accessibility - Tabindex - 0 views

  • tabindex="0" and tabindex="-1" have special meaning and provide distinct functionality in HTML. A value of 0 indicates that the element should be placed in the default navigation order. This allows elements that are not natively focusable (such as <div>, <span>, and <p>) to receive keyboard focus. Of course one should generally use links and form controls for all interactive elements, but this does allow other elements to be focusable and trigger interaction.
  • A value of 0 indicates that the element should be placed in the default navigation order. This allows elements that are not natively focusable (such as <div>, <span>, and <p>) to receive keyboard focus.
  • A tabindex="-1" value removes the element from the default navigation flow (i.e., a user cannot tab to it), but it allows it to receive programmatic focus, meaning focus can be set to it from a link or with scripting. This can be very useful for elements that should not be tabbed to, but that may need to have focus set to them. A good example is a modal dialog window - when opened, focus should be set to the dialog so a screen reader will begin reading and the keyboard will begin navigating within the dialog. Because the dialog (probably just a <div> element) is not focusable by default, assigning it tabindex="-1" allows focus to be set to it with scripting when it is presented.
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  • A value of -1 can also be useful in complex widgets and menus that utilize arrow keys or other shortcut keys to ensure that only one element within the widget is navigable with the tab key, but still allow focus to be set on other components within the widget.
Vernon Fowler

HTML5 Accessibility Chops: section elements | The Paciello Group Blog - 0 views

  • The following table illustrates support and interaction features for a number of structural HTML elements. The information is based on support for these elements by the JAWS screen reader.
  • Recommended ARIA role mappings for HTML5 section elements
  • <header role=”banner”>
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  • <nav role=”navigation”>
  •  
    "banner"
Sandra Earl

Web Content Accessibility and Mobile Web - 0 views

  • Users of mobile devices and people with disabilities experience similar barriers when interacting with Web content. For example, mobile phone users will have a hard time if a Web site's navigation requires the use of a mouse because they typically only have an alphanumeric keypad. Similarly, desktop computer users with a motor disability will have a hard time using a Web site if they can't use a mouse.
Sandra Earl

Introduction to screen readers and screen magnifiers | 456 Berea Street - 0 views

  • And that leads me to three great videos posted on the Yahoo! User Interface Blog: In Introduction to Screen Readers, Yahoo! engineer Victor Tsaran talks about who will be likely to use a screen reader, how screen readers work, and how they can be used to interact with the computer desktop and to browse web sites. In Introduction to Screen Magnifiers, Karo Caran shows how the screen magnifier ZoomText is used to make the computer desktop and web sites readable to people with reduced vision. And finally, in From the Mouth of a Screenreader, Doug Geoffray from GW Micro (Window-Eyes vendor) talks about the history of screen reading software and how they analyse what is displayed on the screen in order to speak it to the user.
Sandra Earl

WebAIM: Screen Reader Survey Results - 0 views

  • We received 1121 valid responses to the screen reader survey, which was conducted Dec. 2008 - Jan. 2009.
  • Skip to content22% Skip to main content28%
  • 33 respondents (2.9%) reported being both deaf and blind.
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  • Please rate your computer proficiency Response% of Respondents Expert22% Advanced44% Intermediate27% Beginner8%
  • Please rate your screen reader proficiency Response% of Respondents Expert17% Advanced41% Intermediate32% Beginner9%
  • Screen Reader Usage
  • Of the 1121 respondents, 74% use JAWS, 23% use Window-Eyes, 8% use NVDA, and 6% use VoiceOver. While several other screen readers were reported, these were the most prominently reported. Individual versions of screen readers are not yet computed, but generally the majority of users are using the most up-to-date version of their screen reader.
  • How soon do you update your screen reader after a new version is released? Upgrade Window% of Respondents Immediately41% First 6 months25% 6-12 months9% 1-2 years9% 2-3 years4% 3+ years6% No response6%
  • How customized are your screen reader settings? (e.g., changed verbosity, installed scripts, etc.) Response% of Respondents A lot29% Somewhat40% Slightly21% Not at all7% No response4%
  • a lot or some customization was reported by only 27.6% of respondents with no disability versus 71.4% for those that reported blindness.
  • 78% of respondents reported using a screen reader on a desktop computer, 54% use a screen reader on a laptop, and 12% use a screen reader on a mobile phone.
  • No respondents who use screen readers for evaluation reported using a screen reader on a mobile device.
  • Which web browser(s) do you currently use with a screen reader? Browser% of Respondents IE633% IE768% IE82% Firefox39% Safari6%
  • Respondents with no disability were nearly twice as likely to list Firefox as blind respondents - 66% to 37%.
  • The percentage of Safari users is over double that of the overall population - this may be due in part to the fact that some in the Mac community actively solicited survey participation and encouraged respondents to indicate their Safari use, perhaps partially due to feeling snubbed because we didn't list them with IE and Firefox as direct choices.
  • When first accessing a new, unfamiliar home page, I'm most likely to... Response% of Respondents Read through the home page46% Navigate through or listen to the links on the page35% Use the Search to find what I'm looking for13% Look for a site map or site index3% No Response2%
  • Interestingly, the more proficient screen reader users are more likely to read through the home page and use links less often than less proficient screen reader users. This may be due to faster reading speeds for more experienced users. The home page strategies used were very similar regardless of proficiency, disability, or amount of screen reader use.
  • I use "skip to content" or "skip navigation" links... Response% of Respondents Whenever they're available22% Often16% Sometimes28% Seldom19% Never10% No Response4%
  • Some questions were of a technical nature and we understand that many participants may not have been very technically savvy. Responses may also be based upon user experiences with web content that is generally inaccessible. We cannot help but wonder if responses may have been different if screen reader interactions with web content were typically very positive.
  • I use Access keys... Response% of Respondents Whenever they're available22% Often16% Sometimes28% Seldom19% Never10%
  • I navigate by headings... Response% of Respondents Whenever they're available52% Often24%
  • 76% always or often navigating by headings when they are available.
  • I use site search functionality... Response% of Respondents Whenever it's available26% Often25% Sometimes31%
  • Find the word "Search"18% Jump to the first text/edit field on the page25%
  • Jump to the first form element in a page36%
  • Proficient screen reader users were more than twice as likely to jump directly to the form or text/edit field than less proficient users. Less proficient users were nearly three times more likely to use more manual methods (reading, tabbing, or finding) than more proficient users.
  • a majority of respondents seldom or never use site maps. There was no marked difference in the use of site maps across screen reader proficiency or disability. In general, it appears that site maps may be beneficial, but are not commonly accessed by screen reader users.
  • Text-only versions are always used by many and never used by many. As such, it is very difficult to interpret the value they have for screen reader users. More proficient screen reader users were much less likely to use text-only versions than less proficient users. This may suggest that proficient users employ sufficient techniques to render the main version acceptable to them. Or, it may suggest that proficient users do not gain value in using text-only versions, which are often less than optimal.
  • If content is identified as being "for screen reader users", how often do you use it? Response% of Respondents Whenever it's available38% Often15% Sometimes25% Seldom13%
  • A closer analysis, however, reveals that pop-up windows are reported as very difficult twice as often by less proficient screen reader users than with higher proficiency. Alternatively, more proficient users were three times more likely to indicate that pop-up windows are not at all difficult. This shows that less proficient screen reader users (which represent 41% of respondents) have more difficult experiences with pop-up windows.
  • Firefox users were much more likely to give a favorable response, perhaps a reflection of Firefox support for ARIA, etc. Evaluators and those without disabilities were nearly twice as likely to indicate that these applications are not very or not at all accessible than those that always use screen readers or have disabilities. This may suggest that these applications are actually more accessible than evaluators believe them to be, or alternatively, that screen reader users with disabilities are less knowledgeable about the true inaccessibility of these technologies.
  • 66% of evaluators preferred that the image be ignored, compared to only 28% of those that always user a screen reader. Similarly, 65% of those with no disability preferred that the image be ignored, compared to 29% of those with disabilities.
  • If a web page contains a photo of the White House, I prefer that the image be identified as... Response% of Respondents Photo of the White House80%
  • 69.4% of evaluators found them difficult compared to only 42.6% of those that always use a screen reader. Those with higher screen reader proficiency naturally found these links easier.
  • 71.5% of screen reader users reported that Flash is difficult
  • While the majority (58%) of users reported that frames are easy, those that are blind were 3 1/2 times more likely to indicate that they are easy than those with no disability. Similarly, those that always use a screen reader reported frames as easy nearly 3 times more often than evaluators. This perhaps suggests a misconception among those that do not have disabilities that frames are very inaccessible when in fact those with disabilities find them easy.
Sandra Earl

Web 2.0: Understanding Web Accessibility - 0 views

  • As stated by renowned accessibility expert Shawn Lawton Hewitt, Web Accessibility simply means that people with disabilities can use the Web.  More specifically, Web Accessibility means that people with disabilities can perceive, understand, navigate and interact with the Web.
  • It is important to understand one aspect that most experts agree on – an individual web site can never be perfectly accessible to everybody. This has to do with the sheer diversity of disabilities as well as the potential overlap of multiple disabilities. But a systematic approach like implementing the WCAG guidelines can go long way in accommodating a very large number of people.
Vernon Fowler

Don't Use The Placeholder Attribute - Smashing Magazine - 0 views

  • To recap, the placeholder attribute: Can’t be automatically translated; Is oftentimes used in place of a label, locking out assistive technology; Can hide important information when content is entered; Can be too light-colored to be legible; Has limited styling options; May look like pre-filled information and be skipped over.
  • Move the placeholder content above the input, but below the label:
  • Development Here’s how to translate our designed example to code:
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  • aria-describedby ensures that the p content will be described last, after the label’s content and the kind of input it is associated with.
  • By using aria-describedby to programmatically associate the input with the p element, we are creating a priority of information for screen readers that has parity with what a person browsing without a screen reader would experience.
  • The floating label effect, a close cousin to this phenomenon, oftentimes utilizes the placeholder attribute in place of a label, as well.
  • Content hidden by an on-screen keyboard. 3rd party keyboards with larger heights may have a greater risk of blocking important content.
  •  
    Not only argues for not using the placeholder attribute but also describes an inclusive input hint and how to code it.
Vernon Fowler

Bruce Lawson's personal site  : The practical value of semantic HTML - 0 views

  • styles each header element differently depending on the value of its itemprop attribute. Using itemprop, we’re able to ensure that the author, publication date, title, and subheading are prominently featured.
  • If you plan to put things into microdata, please note that Apple, being Apple, go their own way, and don’t use a schema.org vocabulary here. Le sigh. See my article Content needs a publication date! for more. Or view source on this page to see how I’m using microdata on this article.
  • Apple WatchOS also optimises display of items wrapped in <figure> elements
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  • First, choose the appropriate type attribute and element tag for your form controls. WebKit supports a variety of form control types including passwords, numeric and telephone fields, date, time, and select menus. Choosing the most relevant type attribute allows WebKit to present the most appropriate interface to handle user input.
  • unlike iOS and macOS, input methods on watchOS require full-screen interaction. Label your form controls or specify aria label or placeholder attributes to provide additional context in the status bar when a full-screen input view is presented.
  • By choosing the right semantics now, a machine that I don’t know about yet can understand my content and display it in the best way for its users.
  • Semantic HTML will give usability benefits to many users, help to future-proof your work, potentially boost your search engine results, and help people with disabilities use your site.
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