| Accessibility Guideline | Main Beneficiary |
|---|---|
| Do not need to scroll to see navigation menu | Visually impaired |
| Link text does not go beyond viewport width | Visually impaired |
| Form fields are below (not beside) labels | Visually impaired |
| Images have an alternate text description | Visually impaired |
| UI elements (buttons, divs, etc) have descriptive labeling | Visually impaired |
| Prerecorded videos have captions | Deaf |
| Videos have either text transcript or audio description | Visually impaired |
| Live videos have captions | Deaf |
| Prerecorded videos have audio description | Visually impaired |
| Prerecorded audio content has sign language interpretation | Deaf |
| Videos have extended audio description that gives the narrator adequate time to describe what is happening in the video | Visually impaired |
| Videos have a full text transcript and audio description that is linked to from the original content | Visually impaired |
| Live Audio has text transcript (either real-time closed captioning or a prepared script that is linked to from the Audio content | Deaf |
| Uses more than one sensory characteristic for instructions | Everyone |
| User is notified of state changes | Everyone |
| On-screen way to manipulate volume control for audio content | Mobile impairment |
| On-page controls for changing text size | Visually impaired |
| Uses clear, sensible fonts | Visually impaired |
| Information conveyed by color must also be available by other means | Visually impaired |
| Text is a reasonable default size (14pt) | Visually impaired |
| Audio is not played automatically for more than 3 seconds, users are able to pause or prevent audio | Deaf |
| Normal-size (<18pt / 14pt bold) text: Contrast ratio of 4.5:1 | Visually impaired |
| Large text ( >18pt / 14pt bold): Contrast ratio of 3:1 | Visually impaired |
| Text can be resized to 200% | Visually impaired |
| Content resizes and reflows for the magnified viewport size | Visually impaired |
| Images of text are not used | Visually impaired |
| Contrast ratio between background and text is at least 7:1 | Visually impaired |
| Low or no background audio. Background audio can be turned off or must be 20 decibels lower (~4 times quieter) than foreground | Deaf |
| Users are offered a range of presentation options. Users can select from foreground and background colors | Everyone |
| Width is no more than 80 characters or glyphs (40 if CJK) | Visually impaired |
| Text is not justified (aligned to both the left and the right margins) | Visually impaired |
| Line spacing (leading) is at least space-and-a-half within paragraphs, and paragraph spacing is at least 1.5 times larger than the line spacing. | Visually impaired |
| Text can be resized without assistive technology up to 200 percent in a way that does not require the user to scroll horizontally to read a line of text on a full-screen window. | Visually impaired |
| Touch targets are 9mm high and 9 mm wide | Visually impaired, mobile impairment |
| Touch targets close to minimum size are surrounded by inactive space | Visually impaired, mobile impairment |
| Gestures can be replaced by focusing and activating elements | Visually impaired, mobile impairment |
| Two-finger gestures can be replaced with a single stylus or by focusing and activating elements | Visually impaired, mobile impairment |
| Events are triggered only when touchend event is fired | Visually impaired, mobile impairment |
| Device manipulation (shaking, tilting) can be replaced by touch / keyboard options | Visually impaired, mobile impairment |
| Does not require extensive thumb range of motion | Visually impaired, mobile impairment |
| Natural and comfortable left-handed use | |
| An external keyboard is able to be used to navigate the site | Mobile impairment |
| User is able to move focus between all elements using only the external keyboard | Mobile impairment |
| All functionality can be accessed through the external keyboard | Mobile impairment |
| Users are able to turn off, adjust, or extend the time limit for actions or displaying content | Everyone |
| Moving, blinking, scrolling content has an option to stop the motion | Everyone |
| Users are able to delay frequency of auto-updating content | Everyone |
| No time limits or time-controlled content | Everyone |
| Does not use an automatic refresh or redirect that interrupts users’ focus | Everyone |
| User data is maintained when the user is asked to reauthenticate (shopping cart content, form / survey answers, etc) | Everyone |
| Link does not violate general flash threshold | Cognitive impairment |
| Content does not flash more than 3 times in any 1 second period | Cognitive impairment |
| Discernable home button | Everyone |
| Screen has title that describes the purpose | Everyone |
| Elements are focused in an understandable and meaningful order | Visually impaired |
| Purpose of links / buttons can be determined from link / button text and context | Everyone |
| Screen has multiple ways to reach it (search function, sitemap, navigation menu) | Everyone |
| Headings and labels describe topic / purpose | Visually impaired |
| Focus/currently selected element is clearly visible | Everyone |
| App uses breadcrumbs to aid in navigation and displays where the user is within the app | Everyone |
| Link / button purpose can be determined from link / button text only | |
| Content is broken up by headings | Everyone |
| Screen reader is able to detect change in orientation | Visually impaired |
| Both landscape and portrait orientation are supported | Everyone |
| Important information can be viewed without scrolling | Everyone |
| Default language of screen can be programmatically determined | Visually impaired |
| Use of jargon / technical terms is minimal and is explained when it is used | Everyone |
| Abbreviations are explained / defined | Everyone |
| Content is at an 8th grade reading level | Everyone |
| Words that are difficult to pronounce have links to a pronunciation guide | Everyone |
| Context of focus does not change when an element is focused | Visually impaired |
| Forms do not automatically submit when all fields are filled | Everyone |
| Content at the top of the page is consistent across the app | Everyone |
| Elements that trigger changes (buttons, links, etc) are clearly indicated | Visually impaired |
| Items that perform the same action are contained in the same element | Visually impaired |
| Elements use conventional positioning (upper left for back, menus are left-aligned, etc) | Everyone |
| Elements are not changed until users request a change | Everyone |
| Identify and explain any errors that can be automatically detected | Everyone |
| Save correct information and allow user to correct the error and continue | Everyone |
| Labels or instructions are provided when content requires input | Everyone |
| Instructions for how to use gestures are readily available | Everyone |
| Error suggestion for formatted input shows the correct format | Everyone |
| Legal, financial, changes to user controlled data are checked for input errors and the user is asked to confirm or these changes are made reversible | Everyone |
| Onscreen indiactor for how to use gestures | Everyone |
| Context-sensitive help is given to users | Everyone |
| Content is ordered so that screen reader reads it in an order that makes sense | Visually impaired |
| The amount of text entry is reduced thorough the use of select menus, radio buttons, checkboxes, etc | Mobile impairment |
| Application complies with OS-level changes to font | Visually impaired |
| Application complies with OS-level changes to text color | Visually impaired |
| Information is exposed in a standard and expected way that screen reader can recognize and interact with | Visually impaired |
| All text elements are visible to screen reader | Visually impaired |