8 · Page Functionality with Keyboard and Touch Screen
It is important that all functions can be accessed through keyboard tabbing and using enter or space to activate elements. If the site makes use of access keys (keyboard shortcuts), it should be possible to discover these through site documentation. Screen readers depend on navigational elements on touch screens being voiced. The gestures tend to change when a screen reader is used with double tap to activate elements and a different number of fingers being used to flip pages.
Parts of the web pages that receive keyboard focus must be "in an order that preserves meaning and operability" as well as being visible. Any media moving, scrolling or auto updating, whether visual or audio content, must be keyboard accessible so that the motion or sound can paused, stopped or hidden.
Outcomes and Scores
This test has 4 possible outcomes.
| Outcome | Score |
|---|---|
| Fully navigable with total keyboard functionality which does not preclude other input devices - touch screen. Additional information disappears/appears on hover. Allows turning off & changing character key shortcuts. Alternatives for complex gestures. | 100% |
| Non-critical features on the page require mouse use and do not respond to screen reader use when reached. Allows pause, stop and hide for moving visual and audio events and provides conventional input/function alternatives. | 67% |
| Full navigation but inaccessible controls for accessing embedded content - media players etc. Lacks pause, stop and hide for moving and auto visual and audio events. | 33% |
| Critical features on page require mouse use or fail to respond to screen reader use on a touch screen. Content shown on hover is not hoverable. No control for users to switch off character shortcuts. No single pointer alternative for path-based gesture. | 0% |
Disabilities
The results of this test are taken into account when calculating accessibility scores for the following disabilities.
Techniques
The following techniques may come in handy when running this test.
References
This test aims to cover the following sections of best practice.
| Document | Section | Heading | |
|---|---|---|---|
| WCAG 2.1 | 1.4.13 | Content on Hover or Focus | More Info |
| WCAG 2.1 | 2.1.1 | Keyboard | More Info |
| WCAG 2.1 | 2.1.2 | No Keyboard Trap | More Info |
| WCAG 2.1 | 2.1.4 | Character Key Shortcuts | More Info |
| WCAG 2.1 | 2.2.2 | Pause, Stop, Hide | More Info |
| WCAG 2.1 | 2.4.3 | Focus Order | More Info |
| WCAG 2.1 | 2.4.7 | Focus Visible | More Info |
| WCAG 2.1 | 2.5.1 | Pointer Gestures | More Info |
| WCAG 2.1 | 2.5.2 | Pointer Cancellation | More Info |