Not relying on path or multipoint gestures for operation

Metadata

ID: W##

Technology: General

Type: Technique

When to use

This Technique applies to all technologies that contain interactive elements. It can be especially helpful when evaluating the accessibility of third-party extensions, plugins, or developer frameworks to be used embedded in content.

Description

The objective of this technique is to ensure that all interactive elements can be operated with a pointer using single-point activation (i.e, without path-based or multipoint gestures). When all functions can be triggered by clicks or taps at the same point (this may include right-click, double click or tap, or long presses), they are more accessible to motor-impaired pointer users.

Developers frequently choose third-party frameworks and plugins to implement specific functionality or data types such as maps or videos to reduce development time. Third-party functions implemented in this way may fail 2.5.1 Pointer gestures because they may require operation via path-based or multipoint gestures. For example:

• A plugin to embed maps in web content may support zooming in with a multipoint pinch gesture and also with buttons, but fail to offer buttons for moving the visible map area (or fail to support resetting the map center to whatever point is activated with a single tap or click).
• A video player may have a vertical slider to turn up the volume that can only be operated by dragging.
• A carousel widget taken from some JavaScript framework may support swiping with touch or mouse pointer but fail to offer stastic buttons to advance to the next slide.

Note that many of these third-party functions may also fail other Success Criteria sich as 2.1.1 Keyboard or 4.1.2 Name, Role, Value.

Examples

• A website for calculating credit has input fields to specify the amount of credit, needed and a native select element to specify the payback period.
• A carousel can be switched to next and previous slide by activating arrow buttons.
• A map view has a zoom in and a zoom out button ([+] [-]) to change the zoom factor of the map, and arroe buttons in four directions to move the visible section to the sideward sor up / down
• A website showing the narrow design triggered when viewed on a mobile phone has a pointer-operable button to show a drawer menu sliding in form the left.

Note that making all functionality available to single point activation does not rule out the additional support of complex pointer gestures for operation.

Tests

Related Techniques

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