Introduction
Thanks for your interest in the Abra kick-off training about the accessibility of apps. My name is Paul van Workum and I am working in the field of app accessibility.
Principle 4: Robust
Content must be robust enough to be interpreted reliably by a wide variety of devices and supportive technologies. There’s one guideline.
Guideline 4.1: Compatible
In general, you should apply the programming language properly. Also use proper semantics for interface elements.
It is important to provide a name, role and value for all interactive elements.
Name
Not adding a name accounts for 51% of the issues reported by users in our reporting app ‘Inaccessible’. Not adding a name results in the fact that users dependent on the screen reader hear: ‘Button,’ instead of: ‘Log in button,’ which indicates where the button takes the users.
Role
Ensure it’s clear for users of assistive technologies what actions can be performed. For example, a button reacts different than a tab or a link. Quite often grouping elements like ‘icons + text’ or ‘switch + text’ solve these issues already.
Value
Also notify users, who are using the screen reader, of changes and communicate status messages. The user that is blind cannot see if information changes on the screen. They should be notified by the screen reader.
