This document discusses infinite scrolling and its accessibility issues. It begins by defining infinite scrolling as continuously loading content as the user scrolls. While this is good for live content, it poses problems for many users including keyboard-only, screen reader, switch control, speech input, and cognitively limited users who have difficulty navigating endless content. The document proposes using the ARIA role="feed" to help screen readers but notes it does not fully solve issues for other groups. It suggests reimagining designs with pagination buttons or skip links to make infinite scrolling more inclusive.

1. Infinite Scrolling and Infinite
Problems
By Sathish Kumar

2. Presenter’s Intro
2
Sathish Kumar S
Senior Accessibility consultant
Deque Systems Inc
Speaker at International Conferences
Loves reading, music, blogging nd beat-boxing.

3. Story of the four friends

4. Agenda
• What is Infinite Scrolling?
• Good, bad and ugly
• Affected user groups
• Is (role=“eed”( a solution?
• Alternate design patterns
• Prototype demo
• Take Away

5. Infinite Scrolling
• Content Loads continuously as the user scrolls
• Eliminates pagination
• Social media sites like Twitter has made this
popular.

6. Good
• For live loading content
• For Contents that have same level of effect on
users
• For e-commerce pages where users just want
to browse

7. Bad
• Users cannot locate specific content
• Causes psychological exertion
• Does not provide sense of completion

8. Ugly
• Leaves out many user groups such as:
o Keyboard—only users
o Speech input users
o Switch control users
o Users with limited cognitive abilities
o Screen reader users

9. How are Keyboard users affected
Copious tabbing
Unable to move out of the scroll in the middle to
footer or any other section
Consume time

10. How are Switch Control users affected
• Need a lot oeffort in navigating and
completing the task
• Consume time
• Copious tabbing

11. How are Speech input users Affected
• Canonot view all the content
• Speech control software may not activate
invisible content
• Cannot remember the scroled content

12. Making Infinite Scrolling Accessible
• ARIA introduces “role=“feed”
• Most of the screen readers support them
• Users can browse the content in browse/read
mode
• Users can skip using landmark shortcut

13. How are cognitively limited users
Affected
• Cannot be attentive on continuously loading
content
• Cannot remember allt he scrolled content
• May find it overloading

14. How are screen reader users Affected
• May find it unpredictive
• Copious tabbing
• May not be able to skip the scrolling content

15. Making Infinite Scrolling Accessible
• ARIA introduces “role=“feed”
• Most of the screen readers support them
• Users can browse the content in browse/read
mode
• Users can skip using landmark shortcut

16. Challenges with (role=“feed”)
• Only screen readers support
• No other Ats support
• Keyboard users and motor disabled users
won’t benefit
• Cognitively limited users are not considered
by this solution

17. Reimagine the design pattern of
Infinite Scrolling
• Tweeking the design for alternate user
experience
• Toggle that provides pagination or “Load
More” button
• Skip link that skips to the end scroll
• Design that accommadates all.

18. Demo of prototype

19. Take Away
• No design fits for all
• Reinvent the design that suits everyone
• Let the users personalize based on their
requirements
• Never use a design that does not suit the
purpose

20. References
• Examples of (role="feed")
• (role="feed" and Infinite Scrolling
• (role="feed" is Here and not ready for Prime
Time
• Infinite Scrolling is Not for Every Web Site

21. Q&A

22. Contact
• Email: skaref.ac@gmail.com
• Twitter: @skarefac

23. Thank You