Accessibility

What the standard is, which version applies, and how the levels translate into design decisions.

A11Y·001Accessibility · Standards

Everything must be operable with a keyboard alone, which is the single most load-bearing accessibility requirement.

A11Y·002Accessibility · Operable

The visible marker showing where keyboard focus is, which must never be removed.

A11Y·003Accessibility · Operable

Deliberately moving focus when the interface changes, so keyboard and screen reader users are not stranded.

A11Y·004Accessibility · Operable

Software that reads the interface aloud, navigating by structure rather than by layout.

A11Y·005Accessibility · Perceivable

Headings are the table of contents screen reader users navigate by, so levels must follow structure rather than appearance.

A11Y·006Accessibility · Perceivable

The text equivalent of an image, which depends on the image's purpose in that specific context.

A11Y·007Accessibility · Perceivable

What assistive technology announces for a control, which must match what a user would call it.

A11Y·008Accessibility · Robust

Telling assistive technology that something changed, when focus did not move to say so.

A11Y·009Accessibility · Robust

Colour may reinforce meaning but must never be the only thing carrying it.

A11Y·010Accessibility · Perceivable

Interactive targets need to be large enough and spaced enough to hit reliably.

A11Y·011Accessibility · Operable

Large-scale motion can cause nausea and dizziness, so the system preference must be honoured.

A11Y·012Accessibility · Operable

Content must work at 400 percent zoom without horizontal scrolling, which is the same as working at 320 pixels wide.

A11Y·013Accessibility · Perceivable

Text must scale to 200 percent without breaking, which means never sizing type in absolute units.

A11Y·014Accessibility · Perceivable

Users must be able to increase spacing without content being clipped or lost.

A11Y·015Accessibility · Perceivable

Errors must be identified in text, described specifically, and accompanied by a suggested fix where one is known.

A11Y·016Accessibility · Understandable

Every input needs a persistent label, and format requirements must be stated before the user types.

A11Y·017Accessibility · Understandable

Content that appears on hover or focus must be dismissible, hoverable and persistent.

A11Y·018Accessibility · Perceivable

Single-character shortcuts must be switchable off, remappable, or active only on focus.

A11Y·019Accessibility · Operable

A structured assessment against WCAG, combining automated tooling with the manual testing that finds most real problems.

FLOW·012Workflow · Practice