Core Concepts

Explore Accessibility and Inclusive Design Principles

Mobile and Touch Accessibility

Optimize for all devices with orientation flexibility and no horizontal scrolling. Ensure buttons and icons are easily tappable with sufficient spacing between interactive elements. Learn about orientation requirements.

Focus States

Design clear visual focus indicators with high contrast to help users track their location. Never remove focus indicators without replacement. Learn about focus visibility.

Skip Links

Implement skip links as the first interactive element, allowing users to bypass repetitive content. These should be hidden until focused.

Landmarks

Use ARIA landmarks or semantic HTML elements, such as <header>, <main>, and <footer>, to help assistive technologies navigate your site.

Focus Control

Avoid unexpected focus shifts and use autofocus sparingly. Consider diverse user needs when implementing focus management.

Links

Always include href attributes, make links recognizable with underlines, and maintain consistent styling. Don't rely on color alone.

Appearance

Test content in specialized modes like High Contrast. Ensure good spacing and avoid conveying information by color alone. Learn about color use.

Specialized Browsing Modes

Verify content remains legible in high contrast and inverted color modes. Ensure icons and form fields are clear against backgrounds.

Text Resizing

Test content at 200% zoom to ensure readability without overlap. Maintain clarity when text is enlarged.

Animation Control

Limit flashing content and respect prefers-reduced-motion settings. Ensure animations are subtle to prevent triggering seizures. Learn about animation guidelines.

Audio Controls

Never autoplay audio without user consent. Provide clear controls for volume adjustment and transcripts for all audio content. Learn about audio controls.

Video Content

Include captions and descriptive transcripts for all videos. Remove any strobing effects that could trigger seizures. Learn about video accessibility.

Media Controls

Provide keyboard-accessible controls for all media. Include a global pause function using the Space key without disrupting page scrolling.

Form Inputs

Use proper input types and ensure labels are properly associated. Enable autocomplete for common fields like name and address. Learn about input purpose.

Form Groups

Group related fields using fieldset and legend elements. Keep descriptions concise and informative. Learn about form relationships.

Error Handling

Provide clear error messages using aria-describedby. Use aria-invalid to indicate error states. Learn about error messaging.

HTML Validation

Ensure valid HTML for consistent experience across browsers and assistive technologies. Use the lang attribute in the html element. Validate your HTML.

Page Titles

Create unique, descriptive titles for each page to guide users instantly and enhance navigation with many open tabs. Learn about page titles.

Linear Flow

Remove unnecessary tabindex values and let focusable elements shine naturally. Reserve tabindex="0" and "-1" for special cases.

Logical Flow

Match focus order with visual layout and ensure seamless movement from top to bottom without unexpected jumps.

Accessibility Validation

Use WAVE tool for identifying accessibility issues and ensuring content usability across different devices and environments. Test your accessibility.

Heading Structure

Use proper heading hierarchy (h1-h6) to break content into logical chunks. Ensure one unique h1 per page that reflects specific content.

This is not a comprehensive guide on accessibility, for more in-depth information and resources, we encourage you to read further.