From jQuery San Diego, held Feb 12-13 2014, my talk on web accessibility for web developers. I cover basic techniques, introduce screen readers and ARIA, and go over testing. The goal is to demystify accessibility so we can weave it in to applications today.

1. Accessibility (a11y)
A feature you can build
jQuery San Diego 2014
Monika Piotrowicz (@monsika)

2. Monika
Piotrowicz
Front End Web Developer
Shopify
@monsika
@shopify

3. I’m just...
A regular Front End Developer...

4. So how’d I get here?
A short story, starring WCAG 2.0 AA

5. Today
• Introduction to accessibility
• Techniques you can implement today
• Introduction to screen readers & ARIA
• Testing tips

6. Web Accessibility
•
“When sites are correctly designed,
developed and edited, all users can have
equal access to information and
functionality” - Wikipedia
•
•
•
“Able to be easily obtained or used; easily
understood or appreciated” - Oxford Dictionary
Accessibility ~ Usability
All people can use an application, and it
should be easy to use for all people;

7. rough
Accessibility by the #’s
Group
Population
Vision Problems1
3-10%
Colorblindness2
4-8%
Physical Functioning1
8%
Cognitive Difficulty1
6%
Hearing Difficulty
3-11%
Assistive Tools
•
•
•
•
•
screen readers
screen magnifiers
keyboard-only
braille display
bumped font size
1 - CDC Summary Health Statistics for U.S. Adults: National Health Interview Survey, 2011
http://1.usa.gov/M6tObC (under 65/over 65)
2 - Range worldwide prevalence of red-green color deficiency among men, 2012
http://1.usa.gov/M6tKsz

8. Me last year...

9. Go!

10. WCAG
The standard
http://www.w3.org/TR/WCAG20/
Understanding WCAG
http://www.w3.org/TR/UNDERSTANDING-WCAG20/
Techniques
http://www.w3.org/TR/WCAG20-TECHS/
Quick Reference
http://www.w3.org/WAI/WCAG20/quickref/
FAQ
http://www.w3.org/WAI/WCAG20/wcag2faq.html

12. Accessibility
!=
just a checklist

13. Starting out
Early accessibility considerations

14. First Steps
• functional keyboard-only
• fallbacks for visual information
• well-functioning forms

16. Keyboard Strategy
•
obvious focus states (keep those outlines!)

17. a,
a:focus {
outline: none;
outline: 0;
}

18. Keyboard Strategy
✓ obvious focus states (keep those outlines!)
•
fallbacks for :hover & click()
↳ :focus & keydown()

19. Keyboard Strategy
✓ obvious focus states (keep those outlines!)
✓ fallbacks for :hover & click()
↳ :focus & keydown()
•
add tabIndex=0 & key events to non-focusable
elements

20. Keyboard Strategy
✓ obvious focus states (keep those outlines!)
✓ fallbacks for :hover & click()
↳ :focus & keydown()
✓ add tabIndex=0 & key events to non-focusable
elements
•
avoid keyboard traps & wasting time

21. Keyboard Strategy
✓ obvious focus states (keep those outlines!)
✓ fallbacks for :hover & click()
↳ :focus & keydown()
✓ add tabIndex=0 & key events to non-focusable
elements
✓ avoid keyboard traps & wasting time
• HTML can get you there, FREE!
WebAIM http://bit.ly/M24Da2
Keyboard Events http://bit.ly/M241Br

22. Wanted: Free Events!
<span class="btn-style toggle-trigger">Click to Toggle</span>
<a href="#" class="btn-style toggle-trigger">Click to Toggle</a>
<button type="button" class="toggle-trigger">Click to Toggle</
button>
Use the button element http://bit.ly/1efaOO1
Links aren’t buttons http://bit.ly/1efaT4o

24. Visual Considerations
• start with a good font size & high contrast
•
•
•
WCAG Contrast Checker (FF) http://mzl.la/1eeYiyf
Contrast Checker - http://bit.ly/1eeYZYh (by a fellow Shopify-er)
NoCoffee (Chrome) http://bit.ly/1ljQvFF

25. Visual Considerations
✓ start with a good font size & high contrast
•
•
•
WCAG Contrast Checker (FF) http://mzl.la/1eeYiyf
Contrast Checker - http://bit.ly/1eeYZYh (by a fellow Shopify-er)
NoCoffee (Chrome) http://bit.ly/1ljQvFF
• don’t rely on color alone
•
add legends and texture or symbols

26. Red-Green Colorblind
(Deuteranopia)

27. Visual Considerations
✓ start with a good font size & high contrast
•
•
•
WCAG Contrast Checker (FF) http://mzl.la/1eeYiyf
Contrast Checker - http://bit.ly/1eeYZYh (by a fellow Shopify-er)
NoCoffee (Chrome) http://bit.ly/1ljQvFF
✓ don’t rely on color alone
•
•
add legends and texture or symbols
all images have a meaningful alt attribute
• W3C How to write Alt Text http://bit.ly/1aKwIOg
• More from A List Apart http://bit.ly/1aKwRkI

29. Forms
•
Every form field includes a real label
<label for="[INPUT ID]">

30. Forms
✓ Every form field includes a real label
<label for="[INPUT ID]">
•
Labels can include help, required, error text

31. Forms
✓ Every form field includes a real label
<label for="[INPUT ID]">
✓ Labels can include help, required, error text
• Provide meaningful message on form error
WebAIM Forms http://bit.ly/1aKw2bM
WebAIM Validation http://bit.ly/1aKw6bB
Accessible Form Labeling http://bit.ly/1aKw83b

33. boldly go...
The SCREEN READER

34. VoiceOver
TalkBack
TRY ONE!!
How else can you expect to build for one?
NVDA
JAWS

35. How do they work?
• announce generated HTML in source
order

36. Screen reader 101
•
•
Use keyboard to navigate and find content
98.6% of screen reader users have JS
enabled!1
• Highly customizable
1 - WebAIM Survey http://bit.ly/1aKvVgp

37. HTML COUNTS!
headings,
• Shortcuts drill down toetc
landmarks, lists, links,

38. Headings
•
•
•
•
Main way screen reader users navigate
Do your main content areas have headings?
Are they descriptive?
Do they follow a hierarchy? (h1 >> h6)
H1 Blog
H2 Recent Articles
H3 Article Title
H3 Article Title
H3 Article Title
H2 About Me
H3 Contact Me
H3 Footer Title
Document Outline http://bit.ly/1ef9ScA
The Section Element http://bit.ly/1ef9TNN
Accessible Headings http://bit.ly/1ef9QBr Using Sections http://bit.ly/1ef9Ykx

39. SR’s ignore...
• img with empty alt attribute alt=""
• display: none;
• visibility: hidden;
• :before content, :after content* (sort of)
•
keep in mind for icons and icon fonts!
.icon-star:before {
content: “★”;
}
* in most cases, so assume it won’t be announced
Accessible Icon Fonts http://bit.ly/1efabUP

40. SR’s won’t ignore
•
•
•
content “hidden” with opacity, z-index, height
off-screen positioning (text-indent, top, left)
CSS clipping*
.sr-only,
.visuallyhidden {
border: 0;
clip: rect(0 0 0 0);
height: 1px;
margin: -1px;
overflow: hidden;
padding: 0;
position: absolute;
width: 1px;
}
* as seen in HTML5 BP, Twitter Bootstrap, etc.
WebAIM Invisible Content http://bit.ly/1efaij8

41. Beyond the basics
There’s gotta be more to screen readers than just
that, right?

43. ARIA
• Semantic information and better
interactions for screen readers
• Applied directly to HTML
•
•
Part of HTML5 spec
•
Roles, states & properties
Does not affect styles or
non-SR behavior
HTML5 Spec (W3C) http://bit.ly/1aKxXx5
ARIA Spec (W3C) http://bit.ly/1aKya3f

44. Roles
• Create new semantic meaning for
elements via “role-” attribute
• Once set, they don’t change
<nav role="navigation">
<article role="article">
<div role="tablist">
<div role="combobox">

45. Landmark Roles
Define top-level page sections for easy navigation
Role
•main
•banner
•navigation
•search
•complimentary
•contentinfo
•form
Using Landmarks http://bit.ly/1aKyuyQ
WebAIM Landmarks http://bit.ly/1aKytem
HTML 5
........
<main>
........
<header>
........
<nav>
........
<form> (search form)
........
<aside>
........
<footer>

46. wrapper elements with
role="landmark"
Include all content
in a landmark

47. Widget Roles
Semantic meaning to your custom components
• tooltip
• slider
• dialog
• tab
• progressbar
• combobox
• menu
• alert
.. and many more!

48. <ul class="tab-controls">
<li>
<a href="#first-tab" class="current-item">Panel 1</a>
</li>
<li>
<a href="#second-tab" class="current-item">Panel 2</a>
</li>
<li>
<a href="#third-tab" class="current-item">Panel 3</a>
</li>
</ul>
<div id="tab-container">
<div class="tab-panel" id="first-tab">
<ul class="tab-controls" role="tablist">
<div class="tab-contents">
<li>
<p>Tab Contents</p>
</div>
<a href="#first-tab" class="current</div>
item" role="tab">Panel 1</a>
<div class="tab-panel" id="second-tab">
<div class="tab-contents">
<div id="tab-container">
<p>Tab Contents</p>
</div>
<div class="tab-panel" id="first-tab"
</div>
role="tab-panel">
<div class="tab-panel" id="third-tab">
<div class="tab-contents">
<p>Tab Contents</p>
</div>
</div>
</div>
???

49. States & Properties
• Describe relationships - between content
& between user interactions
• updated via JS on UI changes
• attribute starts with “aria-” prefix
<section aria-labelledby="MainHeading">
<input aria-label="first 3 digits" ariadescribed="PhoneHelpText" aria-invalid="true">
<div aria-expanded="true">
<button aria-controls="ToggledContent">

50. Content Relationships
• Semantically link labels to content or add
them when missing
•
aria-labelledby, aria-label
<section aria-labelledby="HeadingAbout">
<h1 id="HeadingAbout">About Potato Chips</h1>
<p>....
Make the most of landmarks http://bit.ly/M1TFSb

51. Content Relationships
• Semantically link labels to content or add
them when missing
•
aria-labelledby, aria-label
<nav role="navigation" aria-label="Chip Section Navigation">
<ul>
<li>
<a href="/types">Flavors</a>
</li>

52. The more you know
It's just HTML!
.elem[aria-hidden = "false"] {
display: block;
}
.elem[aria-invalid ="false"] {
background: #999;
}
.elem[aria-expanded = "true"] {
height: 100%;
background-image: url("sprite/down-arrows.jpg");
}

54. Putting it all together
•
•
•
•
•
jQueryUI https://jqueryui.com/
Practical ARIA Examples http://bit.ly/1bhMqBg
HTML5 & ARIA Design Patterns http://bit.ly/1bhMlNZ
Accessible Forms with ARIA http://bit.ly/1bhMv7M
Bootstrap Accessibility Plugin (PayPal) http://bit.ly/1bhM8dy

55. Using ARIA Wisely
•
•
•
ARIA is a bridge, not a replacement.
•
USE plain HTML if you can
Not magic and makes no promises
•
Events, focus management, keyboard support, and
meaningful structure is still up to you
Only way to know for sure... TEST

56. ARIA Resources
W3C Intro
http://www.w3.org/TR/wai-aria-primer/
W3C How-to with design patterns
http://www.w3.org/TR/wai-aria-practices/
W3C Supporting Info for developers
http://www.w3.org/TR/aria-in-html/
WEBAIM Introduction
http://webaim.org/techniques/aria/
Warnings and Perspectives
http://alistapart.com/article/the-accessibility-of-wai-aria
General Information
https://developer.mozilla.org/en-US/docs/Web/Accessibility/ARIA
ARIA Validation
http://validator.nu

57. Testing

58. Automated Tools
•
•
•
•
WebAIM WAVE (FF) http://wave.webaim.org/toolbar/
Accessibility Developer Tools (Chrome) http://bit.ly/1fW0W0A
Web Developer Toolbar (Chrome & FF) http://bit.ly/1dA2JmY
Quail Project quailjs.org
http://quailjs.org/sprint/

60. Manual Testing
• disable all images
• test with just a keyboard
• load it in a screen reader
• load it in another screen reader
Does your page make sense?
Is it usable ?
10 Tips anyone can use http://bit.ly/1efaA9N
6 Tests anyone can do http://bit.ly/1efaC1c

61. Unsolicited Advice
• Start small, there’s still a big impact
• Prioritize areas/pages
•
•
•
main navigation?
contact us form?
homepage?
• Document as you go

62. Final Thoughts

63. What I’ve learned
• Bake it in, don’t tack it on
• Awesome and helpful community
• You may find it hard to stop...

64. Behind all these checklists, rules, and
regulations, there are people just trying
to use your site.
So make it useable, for everybody.

65. Thanks!
@monsika
@shopify

66. More Resources

67. General
HTML5 Accessibility http://bit.ly/LVR8YX
Accessibility Evaluation Quick Reference http://bit.ly/M6tgCF
Mozilla Dev Network ARIA http://mzl.la/M6u9ez
Apple Accessibility Resources http://bit.ly/M6tkSL
Screen Readers
WebAIM Screen Reader Testing http://bit.ly/M6sLIH
Videos of Screen Readers In Use http://bit.ly/M6sR39
How browsers interact with screen readers http://bit.ly/M6sUfi
NVDA resources
WebAIM NVDA http://bit.ly/M6sZj5
WebAIM NVDA Shortcuts http://bit.ly/M6t0n2
Using NVDA and FF to test pages http://bit.ly/M6t6Lu
Installing NVDA in a VM http://bit.ly/M6t8D4
VoiceOver resources
WebAIM VoiceOver http://bit.ly/M6tbyS
Apple VoiceOver User Guide http://bit.ly/M6tolE
Apple Developer Accessibility Guide http://bit.ly/M6ttpe
JAWS resources
WebAIM JAWS http://bit.ly/M6tw4D
WebAIM JAWS Shortcuts http://bit.ly/M6sBRM

68. Community & Blogs
@webaim
@paciellogroup
@stevefaulkner
@dequesystems
www.webaim.org
www.a11yproject.com
www.accessibleculture.org
www.webaxe.org
www.simplyaccessible.com/archives
an `a11y` meetup near you! http://bit.ly/1bhN3dW