The document outlines a workflow aimed at enhancing accessibility in front-end development through clear guidelines and patterns for microinteractions, such as buttons, modals, and menus. It details keyboard interactions, ARIA roles, and properties to ensure components are accessible and usable. The collaborative process involves accessibility specialists and developers to create a consistent, enjoyable user experience while addressing challenges in speed and prior accessibility knowledge.

1. Better user experience, happier developers
Accessibility
microinteractions
AIDAN TIERNEY
@AIDANA11Y
ɱ

2. A workflow for
accessibility specialist &
development team
ɱ

3. A front-end
development style
guide for accessibility

4. Microinteractions

5. Patterns that repeat
throughout the
application

6. Clear, testable
requirements

7. Consistent,
understandable &
enjoyable user
experience

8. Button
Modal
Navigation menu

9. • Description of pattern
• Screenshot
• Keyboard interactions
• ARIA roles, states, and properties
• Code snippets
• Examples
• Resources - blog posts, tutorials
Style Guide

10. WAI-ARIA
Authoring Practices
w3.org/TR/wai-aria-practices-1.1/

11. Button
w3.org/TR/wai-aria-practices-1.1/#button

12. Remember, today
is about a workflow
- don't sweat the
technical details in
the examples
ȶ

13. Description
A button is a widget that enables users to trigger an
action or event, such as submitting a form, opening a
dialog, canceling an action, or performing a delete
operation.
Button vs. link: a link navigates away from current
context; a button triggers new content in same context.
But there will be exceptions.
Note:
menu button and toggle button are unique patterns

14. Screenshot
Ƕ Add to cart
Subscribe

15. Keyboard Interactions
When the button has focus:
• Space activates the button.
• Enter: Activates the button.
Following button activation:
• If activating the button opens a dialog, the focus moves inside the
dialog.
(see dialog pattern)
• If activating the button closes a dialog, focus typically returns to
the button that opened the dialog unless the function performed
in the dialog context logically leads to a different element.
• If activating the button does not dismiss the current context, then
focus typically remains on the button after activation, e.g., an
Apply or Recalculate button.
• If the button action indicates a context change, such as move to
next step in a wizard or add another search criteria, then it is often
appropriate to move focus to the starting point for that action.
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16. WAI-ARIA Roles, States, and Properties
The button has role of button.
The button has an accessible label. By default, the
accessible name is computed from any text content inside
the button element. However, it can also be provided with
aria-labelledby or aria-label.
If a description of the button's function is present, the
button element has aria-describedby set to the ID of the
element containing the description.
When the action associated with a button is unavailable,
the button has aria-disabled set to true.
Also see: See menu button and toggle button
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17. Code Snippets
<div role="button" id="print">
Print Page
</div>
<a tabindex="0"
role="button"
id="alert1">
Show alert
</a>

18. Examples
Button Examples
w3.org/TR/wai-aria-practices-1.1/examples/
button/button.html

19. Resources
Links vs. Buttons in Modern Web Applications
- Marcy Sutton
marcysutton.com/links-vs-buttons-in-modern-
web-applications/
Links are not buttons. Neither are DIVs and SPANs
- Karl Groves
karlgroves.com/2013/05/14/links-are-not-buttons-
neither-are-divs-and-spans/

20. The microinteraction
workflow

21. Team identifies
what it will work on
- sprint planning

22. Accessibility
specialist
drafts guidance
(spec) for new
components or
patterns

23. Review spec early in sprint
Ȭ
Development feedback
Agree on behaviour

24. Accessibility
specialist
incorporates
feedback in
draft

25. Development
team starts
to build
components
to this spec

26. Review
components
together

27. Developers
demo using
keyboard and
screen reader

28. Rework spec & modify
code, if needed

29. Accessibility
specialist
reviews
build

30. Clarifications for
Development or Users
Update screen reader and other
content to better explain patterns
(e.g. hints, instructions, user
guides)

31. Share requirements/
expected behaviours
with QA

32. QA tests against
the detailed
behaviour for each
microinteraction

33. Modal
w3.org/TR/wai-aria-practices-1.1/
#dialog_modal

34. Description
A modal is a window overlayed on either the
primary window or another modal window
designed to prompt the user to enter information
or make a response.
Sometimes called a dialog, these windows take
and hold focus until closed or actioned. The
window under a modal dialog is typically inert;
users cannot interact with content outside the
dialog window.

35. Screenshot

36. Keyboard Interactions
Tab:
Moves focus to the next focusable element inside the dialog.
If focus is on the last element, moves focus to the first
focusable element inside the dialog.
Shift + Tab:
Moves focus to the previous focusable element inside the
dialog.
If focus is on the first element, moves focus to the last
focusable element inside the dialog.
Escape: Closes the dialog.
Note:
• When a dialog opens, focus is typically set on the first
focusable element.
• When a dialog closes, focus returns to the element that had
focus before the dialog was invoked. This is often the control
that opened the dialog.
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37. WAI-ARIA Roles, States, and Properties
The element that serves as the dialog container has a role of
dialog.
The dialog has either:
• The aria-labelledby property set to refer to the visible dialog
title.
• A label specified with aria-label.
The aria-describedby property can be set on the element with
the dialog role to indicate which element or elements in the
dialog contain content that describes the primary purpose or
message of the dialog.
Specifying descriptive elements enables screen readers to
announce the description along with the dialog title and initially
focused element when the dialog opens.
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38. Code Snippets
<div role="dialog"
aria-labelledby="dlgtitle">
<h1 id="dlgtitle">
Sign up to Newsletter</h1>
<div>
<label for="email">Email: </label>
<input type="text" id="email"
name="email">
<input type="button" value="Sign up">
</div>
</div>

39. Examples
Using ARIA role=dialog to implement a modal
dialog box - W3C WAI
w3.org/WAI/GL/wiki/
Using_ARIA_role%3Ddialog_to_implement_a_
modal_dialog_box

40. Resources
Custom-Built Dialogs - Gez Lemon
juicystudio.com/article/custom-built_dialogs.php
Using the dialog role - MDN
developer.mozilla.org/en-US/docs/Web/
Accessibility/ARIA/ARIA_Techniques/
Using_the_dialog_role

41. Let's try this out

42. Menu navigation - menubar
w3.org/TR/wai-aria-practices-1.1/#menu

43. Description
A menu that is visually persistent is a menubar.
A menubar is typically horizontal and is often
used to create a menu bar similar to those found
near the top of the window in many desktop
applications, offering the user quick access to a
consistent set of commands.

44. Screenshot

45. Keyboard Interactions
Enter:
When focus is on a menuitem that has a submenu, opens the submenu and places focus on its first item.
Otherwise, activates the item and closes the menu.
Space:
When focus is on a menuitemcheckbox, changes the state without closing the menu.
When focus is on a menuitemradio that is not checked, without closing the menu, checks the focused menuitemradio
and unchecks any other checked menuitemradio element in the same group.
(Optional): When focus is on a menuitem that has a submenu, opens the submenu and places focus on its first item.
(Optional): When focus is on a menuitem that does not have a submenu, activates the menuitem and closes the menu.
Down Arrow:
When focus is on a menuitem in a menubar, opens its submenu and places focus on the first item in the submenu.
When focus is in a menu, moves focus to the next item, optionally wrapping from the last to the first.
Up Arrow:
When focus is in a menu, moves focus to the previous item, optionally wrapping from the first to the last.
When focus is in a menubar, does nothing.
Right Arrow:
When focus is in a menubar, moves focus to the next item, optionally wrapping from the last to the first.
When focus is in a menu and on a menuitem that has a submenu, opens the submenu and places focus on its first item.
When focus is in a menu and on an item that does not have a submenu, performs the following 3 actions:
Closes the submenu and any parent menus.
Moves focus to the next menuitem in the menubar.
Either: (Recommended) opens the submenu of that menuitem without moving focus into the submenu, or opens the
submenu of that menuitem and places focus on the first item in the submenu.
Note that if the menubar were not present, e.g., the menus were opened from a menubutton, Right Arrow would not do
anything when focus is on an item that does not have a submenu.
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46. Keyboard Interactions
Left Arrow:
When focus is in a menubar, moves focus to the previous item, optionally wrapping from the last to the first.
When focus is in a submenu of an item in a menu, closes the submenu and returns focus to the parent menuitem.
When focus is in a submenu of an item in a menubar, performs the following 3 actions:
Closes the submenu.
Moves focus to the previous menuitem in the menubar.
Either: (Recommended) opens the submenu of that menuitem without moving focus into the submenu, or opens the
submenu of that menuitem and places focus on the first item in the submenu.
Home:
If arrow key wrapping is not supported, moves focus to the first item in the current menu or menubar.
End:
If arrow key wrapping is not supported, moves focus to the last item in the current menu or menubar.
Any key that corresponds to a printable character (Optional): Move focus to the next menu item in the current menu
whose label begins with that printable character.
Escape:
Close the menu that contains focus and return focus to the element or context, e.g., menu button or parent
menuitem, from which the menu was opened.
Tab:
Moves focus to the next element in the tab sequence, and if the item that had focus is not in a menubar, closes its
menu and all open parent menu containers.
Shift + Tab:
Moves focus to the previous element in the tab sequence, and if the item that had focus is not in a menubar, closes its
menu and all open parent menu containers.
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47. WAI-ARIA Roles, States, and Properties
A menu is a container of items that represent choices. The element serving as the menu has a
role of either menu or menubar.
The items contained in a menu are child elements of the containing menu or menubar and
have any of the following roles:
menuitem
menuitemcheckbox
menuitemradio
One of the following approaches is used to enable scripts to move focus among items in a
menu as described in 4.6 Keyboard Navigation Inside Components:
The menu container has tabindex set to -1 or 0 and aria-activedescendant set to the ID of the
focused item.
Each item in the menu has tabindex set to -1, except in a menubar, where the first item has
tabindex set to 0.
If activating a menuitem opens a submenu, the menuitem has aria-haspopup set to true.
When a menuitemcheckbox or menuitemradio is checked, aria-checked is set to true.
When a menu item is disabled, aria-disabled is set to true.
Items in a menu may be divided into groups by placing an element with a role of separator
between groups. For example, this technique should be used when a menu contains a set of
menuitemradio items.
All separators should have aria-orientation consistent with the separator's orientation.
NOTE
If aria-owns is set on the menu container to include elements that are not DOM children of
the container, those elements will appear in the reading order in the sequence they are
referenced and after any items that are DOM children. Scripts that manage focus need to
ensure the visual focus order matches this assistive technology reading order.
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48. Examples
Navigation Menubar Example
w3.org/TR/wai-aria-practices-1.1/examples/
menubar/menubar-1/menubar-1.html

49. Microinteration workflow
Collaboration:
Accessibility Specialist & Development team
Accessibility Pattern/Style Guide:
Detailed, testable and achievable requirements
Best suited to large iterative projects.
Developers demo they've met requirements:
Solve for problems together (it's not a test)

50. Benefits
Consistent user experience
Shift left - should reduce defects in builds
Subsequent projects can use or modify the specs
Teams like to know 'how its supposed to work'

51. Challenges
Speed:
Early sprints have a lot of new patterns.
Keeping ahead of the developers.
Best when UX and Design patterns clear.
Teams with no accessibility experience.
Workflow is for efficiency, not for teaching
Accessibility 101.
Screen reader logistics and skills.

52. “What questions or
comments do you have?”
ɳ

53. Better user experience, happier developers
Accessibility
microinteractions
AIDAN TIERNEY
@AIDANA11Y
ɱ