Building Accessible Web Components

Accessible WEB COMPONENTS

Who the hell is this guy?

Accessibility

Front end

Main roles:

Web Design

Designing & developing

UI Pattern libraries for applications

Working with developers to

build accessible applications

Passions:

This talk? Some things you can do to make applications more

accessible.

PART 1

ARIA misuse

Over the last few years there has been a growing trend to include ARIA attributes in all sorts of

areas in applications.

Unfortunately, ARIA attributes can be misused, and this can

lead to all sorts of problems for AT users.

Problem 1: Redundancy

This is where ARIA is used to provide additional context for assistive technologies, but the native elements already have accessibility APIs available.

<label for="a" aria-‐label="Add your email"> Add your email </label> <input type="text" name="a" id="a">

<button type="submit" role="button"> Submit </button>

This can lead to problems such as form controls being

announced more than once.

Problem 2: Overly verbose

This is where ARIA attributes and additional hidden

information is used extensively across an application.

This can sometimes lead to excessive amounts of

information being presented to AT users.

Problem 3: Copy-paste

This is where developers have copied and pasted components,

often from existing pattern libraries, without

understanding how the ARIA attributes work.

This can lead to problems such as aria-labels pointing to non-existent ID attributes, so the

ARIA does not work.

Solutions?

The simplest guideline is not to use ARIA unless you really

need to.

“If you can use a native HTML element [HTML5] or attribute with the semantics and behaviour you require already built

in, instead of re-purposing an element and adding an ARIA role, state or property to

make it accessible, then do so.”

Steve Faulkner: http://www.paciellogroup.com/blog/2014/10/aria-in-html-there-goes-the-

neighborhood/

Where possible, test applications yourself using a

variety of ATs.

This should include all major screen readers in different

browsers. And don’t forget to test with keyboard only!

If possible, work with a range of real AT users and get their

input/feedback. Make sure your audience selection includes

different levels of skill.

PART 2

Adding info for ATs

The problem

There may be times when you want to provide additional

information to a link or a button to provide extra context for

screen reader users.

Purchase

This “Purchase” link may be acceptable for sighted users who can see the link in context and

do not require additional information.

However, screen reader users may navigate to this link and

hear the word “Purchase” without any additional

context.

For these users only, we could provide additional

information to the link:

“Purchase Don Quixote by Miguel De Cervantes”

Similarly, there may be times when you want to provide

additional information on a button.

“Close and return to Account details”

Solutions for adding context to links

There are a range of different methods we could use, such as:

<a href="#" title="Purchase Don Quixote by Miguel De Cervantes"> Purchase </a>

Win/IE11

Win/IE8

Win/Chrome

Win/Firefox

OSX/Chrome

OSX/Firefox

OSX/Safari

Voiceover

<a href="#" aria-‐label="Purchase Don Quixote by Miguel De Cervantes"> Purchase </a>

Win/IE11

Win/IE8

Win/Chrome

Win/Firefox

OSX/Chrome

OSX/Firefox

OSX/Safari

Voiceover

<a href="#" aria-‐labelledby="info1"> Purchase </a> <p id="info1" class="hidden"> Don Quixote by Miguel De Cervantes </p>

Win/IE11

Win/IE8

Win/Chrome

Win/Firefox

OSX/Chrome

OSX/Firefox

OSX/Safari

Voiceover

<a href="#" aria-‐describedby="info1"> Purchase </a> <p id="info1" class="hidden"> Purchase Don Quixote by Miguel De Cervantes </p>

Win/IE11

Win/IE8

Win/Chrome

Win/Firefox

OSX/Chrome

OSX/Firefox

OSX/Safari

Voiceover

<a href="#"> Purchase <span class="hidden">Purchase Don Quixote by Miguel De Cervantes</span> </a>

Win/IE11

Win/IE8

Win/Chrome

Win/Firefox

OSX/Chrome

OSX/Firefox

OSX/Safari

Voiceover

The most robust solution involves using hidden content.

More information at “Adding information to links”:

http://maxdesign.com.au/jobs/sample-accessibility/06-context/05-adding-to-links.html

Solutions for adding context to buttons

There are a range of different methods we could use, such as:

<button title="and return to Account details"> Close </button>

Win/IE11

Win/IE8

Win/Chrome

Win/Firefox

OSX/Chrome

OSX/Firefox

OSX/Safari

Voiceover

<button aria-‐label="Close and return to Account details"> Close </button>

Win/IE11

Win/IE8

Win/Chrome

Win/Firefox

OSX/Chrome

OSX/Firefox

OSX/Safari

Voiceover

<a href="#" aria-‐labelledby="info1"> Close </a> <p id="info1" class="hidden"> and return to Account details </p>

Win/IE11

Win/IE8

Win/Chrome

Win/Firefox

OSX/Chrome

OSX/Firefox

OSX/Safari

Voiceover

<button aria-‐describedby="info1"> Close </button> <p id="info1" class="hidden"> and return to Account details </p>

Win/IE11

Win/IE8

Win/Chrome

Win/Firefox

OSX/Chrome

OSX/Firefox

OSX/Safari

Voiceover

<button> Close <span class="hidden"> and return to Account details</span> </button>

Win/IE11

Win/IE8

Win/Chrome

Win/Firefox

OSX/Chrome

OSX/Firefox

OSX/Safari

Voiceover

The most stable choices are using aria-label or hidden

content.

More information at “Adding information to buttons”:

http://maxdesign.com.au/jobs/sample-accessibility/06-context/06-adding-to-buttons.html

A caution

Providing additional content to screen readers should be used

with care.

If too much additional information is provided, it can

make web pages or web applications too verbose and

hard to use.

PART 3

Different info for ATs

The problem

There may be times when you want to provide different

content for screen readers to the content that is displayed on-screen - for links and buttons.

AED $10,640.00

For example, “AED” may be acceptable for sighted users but may not make sense for screen reader users - especially when

out of context.

In certain situation, you may want to announce different information to screen reader

users.

“United Arab Emirates Dirham $10,640.00”

Similarly, there may be times when you want to provide different content for screen

readers for buttons.

“Close and return to Account details”

A solution for different content for

<a href="#"> <span aria-‐hidden="true"> AED </span> <span class="sr-‐only"> United Arab Emirates Dirham </span> </a>

Win/IE11

Win/IE8

Win/Chrome

Win/Firefox

OSX/Chrome

OSX/Firefox

OSX/Safari

Voiceover

More information at “Display A, announce B - link content”:

http://maxdesign.com.au/jobs/sample-accessibility/06-context/03-different-content-link.html

A solution for different content for

buttons

Win/IE11

Win/IE8

Win/Chrome

Win/Firefox

OSX/Chrome

OSX/Firefox

OSX/Safari

Voiceover

More information at “Display A, announce B - button

content”:

http://maxdesign.com.au/jobs/sample-accessibility/06-context/04-different-content-button.html

A caution

Providing different content to screen readers should be used

with care.

In some situations, providing different information could

potentially confuse Assistive Technology users.

PART 4

Dynamic content

The problem

Well done! Your changes have been saved

Adding content after the initial page has loaded can cause potential issues for screen

readers.

Problem 1: Screen readers “buffer” pages as

they are loaded. Any content that is added after this time

many not be picked up by the screen reader.

Problem 2: Screen readers can only focus on one part of the page at a time. If something changes on another area of the page, screen readers

may not pick this up.

A solution

The aria-live attribute allows us to notify screen readers when content is updated in specific

areas of a page.

We can apply the aria-live attribute to any HTML element.

</div>

If we then use JavaScript to inject/hide/show content within this element, screen readers will

be made aware of any DOM changes within that element.

The aria-live attribute can be used for any page regions that are likely to get updates after

the initial page is loaded.

Success alerts! Your changes are saved

Info alerts! Some info to be aware of

Warning alerts! Something has changed

Error alerts! Fix the error and try again

Possible values

There are three possible values for aria-live: “off”, “polite” and

“assertive”.

</div>

Assistive Technologies should not announce updates unless

the assistive technology is currently focused on that region.

Should be used for information that is not critical for users to

know about immediately.

</div>

Assistive Technologies should announce updates at the next graceful opportunity (e.g. end

of current sentence).

Should be used for warning notifications that users may

need to know.

</div>

Assistive Technologies should announce updates

immediately.

Should only be used if the interruption is imperative for users to know immediately

such as error alerts.

Unfortunately, aria-live=“assertive” is not well

supported at this point, so the “polite” value may be preferred.

http://maxdesign.com.au/jobs/sample-accessibility/10-notifications/index.html

aria-relevant

aria-relevant This attribute gives a hint about

what types of changes are relevant and should be announced by Assistive

Technologies.

<!-‐-‐ Insertion of nodes into the live region should be considered relevant -‐-‐> <div aria-‐relevant="additions"> </div>

<!-‐-‐ Deletion of nodes should be considered relevant -‐-‐> <div aria-‐relevant="removals"> </div>

<!-‐-‐ Changes to the textual content of existing nodes should be considered relevant -‐-‐> <div aria-‐relevant="text"> </div>

<!-‐-‐ All changed nodes should be considered relevant -‐-‐> <div aria-‐relevant="all"> </div>

The default behaviour is equivalent to “additions text”.

aria-relevant values of “removals” or “all” should be

used sparingly.

role=alert

role=“alert” Defines a message with important information.

</div>

Elements with the role=“alert” have an implicit aria-live value

of “assertive”.

PART 5

Error messages

We’re going to look at two different aspects of client-side

form validation.

1. Form control validation Individual form fields are

validated as the user moves focus out of the form control.

2. On-submit form validation The entire form is validated as

the user submits the form - before the script sends the form

to the server.

The problem

Problem 1: Form Control Error messages

only appears after a control has lost focus. For this reason, it is not immediately presented to

Screen reader users often have to travel back through the form

to try and find invalid form controls. If invalid form controls are not effectively flagged, users may not be able to find them.

Problem 2: Screen reader users are often not informed that the overall

form contains errors.

In the worst cases, focus remains on the form submit

button, even after the form has been found to be invalid, and

screen reader users have no idea why the form won’t submit.

A solution for form control validation

1. When a form control is defined as invalid, the control and associated label should be “flagged” so that users can be made aware that there is an

error.

2. Flagging form controls and associated labels should not use colour alone to signify errors.

3. An error message should be displayed in close proximity to

the relevant form control.

Error: The phone number must include a 10 digit number

4. The error message should be informative - it should provide information that will help users

fill in the field correctly.

5. The error message should be programmatically associated

with the form control.

This means that the error message should be announced

along with the relevant label information.

There are a range of different methods to programmatically associate error messages with

form controls.

The simplest is to place the error message content inside

the label.

<div> <label for="email"> Email <input type="email" id="email"> <span class="error">Error</span> </label> </div>

A solution for on-submit

form validation

If there are one or more form validation errors:

1. An error message should appear at the top of the form alerting users that there are

errors.

2. Focus must be taken to the error message as soon as the

user has attempted to submit for form.

3. The error message should list all errors.

4. Each error should ideally be a link that takes the user to the

relevant form control.

The form has two errors that must be completed before it can be submitted.

1. Error: You must include your first name2. Error: Email address must include an "@" symbol

Optionally, error messages can be placed inside a hide/show function that allows users to

choose whether they see the list of errors or not.

The form has two errors that must be completed before it can be submitted.

View all errors

Markup for error messages

The error message container can exist on the page, even when non-active. However, it should not contain any content until

triggered.

This container should be set with role=“alert”. This is used

to communicate important information.

</div>

Optionally, the aria-live attribute can added with a value

of “assertive” or “polite”.

</div>

This container can be set with tabindex value of “-1” so that it

will not receive focus.

</div>

When the error message needs to be displayed (i.e. the user has

attempted to submit the form with invalid form controls) some

changes need to occur dynamically.

If present, the tabindex attribute value needs to be changed from “-1” to “0” so that the element will appear in normal tab order.

</div>

The container can be given a label so that it is announced to

</div>

PART 6

Modals

The problem

Problem 1: Keyboard-only users are often

able to TAB outside of the modal window while the modal is still

active. This can be very confusing and disconcerting.

Problem 2: Screen reader users are

sometimes not informed that an action will trigger a modal.

sometimes not made aware of the purpose of the modal or what actions they need to perform within the modal.

sometimes sent to the top of the parent page after a modal

window has been closed. This can be confusing.

A solution

When a modal is not in use, we need to hide it so that is not

seen by sighted users or announced to Screen Readers.

When a modal window is triggered, we need to change

the value.

When the modal window becomes active, all other

content should be hidden from Assistive Technologies.

<!-‐-‐ all other content -‐-‐> <div aria-‐hidden="true"> ... </div>

<!-‐-‐ modal window -‐-‐> <div style="display:block"> ... </div>

We need to set the initial focus to the modal window element itself rather than elements inside

the modal.

Initial focus

This is important because we are going to give the modal a

label.

If we set focus on an element inside the window, the label will not be announced to

Assistive Technologies.

We need to inform screen reader users that this modal window is

a “modal dialog”.

We need to provide a label for the modal dialog, so Assistive Technologies can announce its

purpose.

<h1 id="modal-‐label">Choose account</h1>

</div>

In some circumstances, we may need to provide a more

detailed description of the purpose of the modal dialog.

<h1 id="modal-‐label">Choose account</h1> <p id="modal-‐description"> Description here </p>

</div>

Keystrokes

SHIFT + TAB

Option 1 - applesARROW

Option 2 - pearsARROW

Option 3 - bananasARROW

Adding meaning to important actions

For some important actions inside the modal window,

Assistive Technologies should be given additional

information to let them know what will happen.

As screen reader users are submitting form data, they

should be informed that:

1. They will be taken back to the parent page.

2. Where this data will be submitted when they return to

the parent page.

“Submit and return to bank balance information. Your data will be added to the Balance table”

As screen reader users focus on the “Close” function, they should be informed that

closing will take them back to the parent page.

“Leave form and return to bank balance information”

After modal dialog closes

When the modal window is closed, if users are being taken

back to the parent page:

1. Focus should be placed on the relevant component of the parent page. The most common practice is to move focus back to

the element that invoked the dialog.

The user should not be thrown back to the top of the parent

page unless there is a good reason!

2. The user should be informed where they are and what change

has occurred.

Lorem ipsum dolor sit amet consect etuer adipi scing elit sed diam nonummy nibh euismod tinunt ut laoreet dolore magna aliquam erat volut. Ut wisi enim ad minim veniam, quis nostrud exerci tation ullamcorper suscipit lobortis nisl ut aliquip vel eum iriure dolor in hendrerit in vulputate.

Accumsan et iusto odio dignissim qui blandit praesent luptatum zzril delenit augue duis dolore te feugait nulla facilisi. Lorem ipsum dolor sit amet, consectetuer adipiscing elit, sed diam nonummy nibh euismod tincidunt ut laoreet dolore magna aliquam erat.

Heading here

Another thing here

Add your bank balance

Another heading

$1,200.34

“Bank balance $1200.34 added to bank information table”

PART 7

Where to start?

When is the best time to focus on

accessibility?

The best time to focus on accessibility is right at the beginning of development

process, when creating the individual components in your

pattern library.

Quick steps you can do yourself

Don’t be overwhelmed. Look for quick wins. You’ll be

surprised what you can do without too much effort.

Test with keyboard-only and make changes as needed. (Make sure you also check for visible focus).

/* avoid this! */ :focus { outline: none; }

Test with accessibility checking tools and make changes as needed.2

Tenon https://tenon.io/

Web Accessibility Toolbar https://www.paciellogroup.com/resources/wat/

Accessibility Viewer https://www.paciellogroup.com/resources/aviewer

Colour Contrast Analyser https://www.paciellogroup.com/resources/contrastanalyser/

Accessibility Evaluation Toolbar 1.5.7.1.1 https://addons.mozilla.org/en-US/firefox/addon/accessibility-evaluation-

toolb/

WAVE http://wave.webaim.org/

Total Validator http://www.totalvalidator.com/

CynthisSays http://www.cynthiasays.com/

Test with one or more screen readers and make changes as needed.3

Win/IE11

Win/IE8

Win/Chrome

Win/Firefox

OSX/Chrome

OSX/Firefox

OSX/Safari

PASS/FAIL

Voiceover

PASS/FAIL

Get expert assistance and conduct a formal accessibility audit of your website or web application and action as needed.

Russ Weakley Max Design

Site: maxdesign.com.auTwitter: twitter.com/russmaxdesignSlideshare: slideshare.net/maxdesignLinkedin: linkedin.com/in/russweakley

PART 1

Buttons vs links

https://www.flickr.com/photos/edanley/3246241416

The problem

Some developers use CSS button classes that allow them to make

any element appear like a button, even if it is a link.

This is a link

This is a button

<a class="btn btn-‐default" href="#" role="button"> Button using a link </a>

<button class="btn btn-‐default" type="button"> Button using a button </button>

The problem with this is that it can lead to some confusion

about when to use a link or a button.

When the incorrect element is used, this can confuse Assistive Technology users who expect links and buttons to behave in

specific ways.

The solution

Use a link when you want to send the user to a new

location - like a different page.

Use a button when you want the user to perform some sort of

action - like click a button, submit a form, open an

accordion.

Building Accessible Web Components

Education

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