Accessibility as a Service

Human Resources Concerns: Accessibility of Job Sites

By Karl Groves |

One of the most impactful ways that we can work towards achieving total accessibility on the Web is by improving employment opportunities for people with disabilities. The online job application process should ensure ease of use and comprehension for all of your applicants. Website accessibility policies should always extend to your career pages, application forms, and the like.

If your job applicants experience any accessibility barriers during the online application process, you run the risk of violating Title I of the Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA), which:

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Mortise Test Per Week: Do not open new windows, switch user agents, or move focus, without user notice.

By Karl Groves |

NAVIGATION-10: Do not open new windows, switch user agents, or move focus, without user notice.

How to test

  • Identify any instances of new windows which are opened without user notice.
  • Identify any instances of external applications which are opened without user notice.
  • Identify any instances of programmatic focus management, and assess whether this is necessary, expected, and obvious.

Exceptions

  • Where programmatic focus changes are necessary and expected within an interactive context, and it’s clear to the user that this has happened (e.g. a button to open a datepicker moves focus to the datepicker, and this focus change is visually obvious and announced to assistive technologies).
  • Changes of content are not necessarily changes of context (e.g. opening a dropdown menu changes the content but does not change the context).

How to fix

Links or buttons which open new windows or external applications should pre-warn the user that this will happen. Links which open new windows, for example, can have an icon which visually denotes this behaviour, accompanied by accessible text which says “link opens in a new window” or similar. However ideally, it’s best not to open new windows at all. Programmatic focus changes should only be performed when they are necessary (for usability) and expected, and it’s obvious to users that this has occurred (e.g. a button to open a datepicker moves focus to the datepicker, and this focus change is visually obvious and announced to assistive technologies).

Related Standard: 3.2.2 A and 3.2.5 AAA

This is one in a series of posts highlighting one of more than 270 accessibility tests in Mortise.io. Come back next week for more!

Mortise Test Per Week: Ensure custom dialogs or lightboxes (including the control that opens them) follow the defined interaction pattern(s).

By Karl Groves |

ARIA-09: Ensure custom dialogs or lightboxes (including the control that opens them) follow the defined interaction pattern(s).

How to test

  • Identify instances of dialogs or lightboxes (apart from alert or message dialogs).
  • Assess their semantics and interactions and confirm that they follow the applicable Dialog (Modal) pattern (https://www.w3.org/TR/wai-aria-practices/#dialog_modal).
  • Assess whether the expectations conveyed by their design match the pattern they use (i.e. that they look like what they are).
  • Identify instances of alert or message dialogs.
  • Assess their semantics and interactions and confirm that they follow the applicable Alert and Message Dialogs pattern (https://www.w3.org/TR/wai-aria-practices/#alertdialog).
  • Assess whether the expectations conveyed by their design match the pattern they use (i.e. that they look like what they are).

Exceptions

None

How to fix

Re-implement this widget to follow either the Dialog (Modal) pattern (https://www.w3.org/TR/wai-aria-practices/#dialog_modal) or the Alert and Message Dialogs pattern (https://www.w3.org/TR/wai-aria-practices/#alertdialog) that’s applicable to the design and functionality.

Related Standard: 1.3.1 A and 4.1.2 A

This is one in a series of posts highlighting one of more than 270 accessibility tests in Mortise.io. Come back next week for more!

Mortise Test Per Week: Ensure that charts and graphs do not rely on a single sensory characteristic.

By Karl Groves |

NON-TEXT-CONTENT-13: Ensure that charts and graphs do not rely on a single sensory characteristic.

How to test

  • Identify instances of charts or graphs and confirm that each area of the graph or chart has more than one way to differentiate their information (e.g. combinations of color, pattern, or text).

Exceptions

  • Where the graph or chart is purely decorative.

How to fix

Use more than one sensory characteristic to differentiate different areas of graphs and charts. For example, use both color and and patterns/texture (hash, lines, crosses, dots, etc).

Related Standard: 1.3.3 A and1.4.1 A

This is one in a series of posts highlighting one of more than 270 accessibility tests in Mortise.io. Come back next week for more!

Mortise Test Per Week: Provide audio descriptions for all prerecorded video content, which are complete and do not skip important content.

By Karl Groves |

MEDIA-05: Provide audio descriptions for all prerecorded video content, which are complete and do not skip important content.

How to test

  • Review any pre-recorded video content and assess whether the visual information in the video is available in the audio track (including on-screen text and important visual details).
  • If not, confirm that an audio description track is available which provides this information.

Exceptions

  • Where all the visual information in the video track is already available in the audio track.

How to fix

Provide audio descriptions for the video. This may mean providing an alternative version which has audio descriptions built-in to the audio track, or use a video player which supports switchable audio descriptions.

Related Standard: 1.2.5 AA

This is one in a series of posts highlighting one of more than 270 accessibility tests in Mortise.io. Come back next week for more!

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