This document discusses lessons learned in making various web development frameworks like Drupal, WordPress, and jQuery accessible. It notes that while frameworks make building apps quicker, they can result in accessibility issues if not implemented properly. The document outlines strategies for planning accessibility into frameworks, such as listing all interactive elements, describing how they should work, prioritizing native interactions, validating code, and checking frameworks with keyboard and assistive technologies. Overall it emphasizes considering accessibility from the start when using frameworks to develop websites and applications.

1. SURVIVING DEV FRAMEWORKS:
LESSONS LEARNED WITH
DRUPAL, WORDPRESS, JQUERY, AND MORE
Kate Walser • CX Insights
kwalser@cxinsights.com • @kwalser
Slides @ https://www.slideshare.net/kwalser

2. CHALLENGE
Costly commercial software
› As the market crashed in the late 1990s and early
2000s and the recession hit, agencies and
businesses were finding ways to cut costs.
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Image credit: “Piggy Banks with savings chart,” by managementwritingsolutions
Flickr Creative Commons

3. TRENDING
Agile
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4. TRENDING
Frameworks & Open Source
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Logos and trademarks courtesy of Oracle, Microsoft, Drupal, and
WordPress.
All product and company names are trademarks™ or registered® trademarks
of their respective holders. Use of them does not imply any affiliation with or
endorsement by them.

5. THE PROMISE
Powerful, Quicker to build apps
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6. THE SIDE EFFECT
Black box accessibility
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7. » More Complex User Experiences
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8. Content Management
Publish, Edit, Approve
› WordPress, Drupal, Joomla, Grav, SharePoint and
other content management tools let organizations
build websites quickly and manage content easily.
The built-in options out of box for most of them
include the ability to tag content with headings, used
by assistive technologies.
› Content owners can also insert media, and in some
better designed tools like WordPress, add alternative
text.
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9. Forms
Cues, Formats, Feedback
› You can also quickly stand up forms to collect
information such as Contact Us, newsletter
subscription, registration, or application
information using Drupal’s Ctools and various
frameworks and plug-ins, like Contact Form 7.
› Many offer support to let you include required
indicators, date picker widgets, and informative
text near the fields to help users know what
format is needed.
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10. Dynamic Areas
Autocompletes, Data-dependent forms, Pop-ups
› Functionality like autocomplete, typeahead search
/ results, data-driven forms are popping up across
sites.
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11. Navigation
Drop-downs, Megamenus, Mobile menus
› Menu trends totally collapsed menus and that
drop-down menus that are only available on hover
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12. Search & Queries
Tables, Filter, Show X rows, Pagerlinks
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Example: https://datatables.net/

13. Big Data
Charts and Tables
New and easier to leverage chart libraries are giving
organizations quick and easy ways to show big data in
charts and scorecards.
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Source: https://cloud.google.com/blog/big-data/2017/04/how-to-build-a-bi-dashboard-using-google-
data-studio-and-bigquery

14. » Lessons Learned
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Photo credit: “Caution Falling Hardware,” fdecomite

15. It’s accessible if I can…
› Get there
› Know where I am
› Know what I can do
- Jim Thatcher
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ACCESSIBLE APPS
Overarching Principles

16. FOR FRAMEWORKS
Accessible content’s easy(er)…
› Content headings
› Labels for basic fields
› Table headings
› Skip to main content
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17. WHEN USING FRAMEWORKS
Richer content and interactions fell short
1. Title, not alt attribute, was default text
for media
2. Tables pasted in from Word lost
headings
3. Keyboard and speech recognition had
less support
4. Accessible rich Internet application
(ARIA) support to provide context, info
varied
› Good for menus
› Lacking for autocomplete and dynamic
widgets
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18. DEMO
Pop-ups, menus weren’t reachable
› Websites with pop-ups for tooltips, navigation
menus, and modals and dialogs weren’t always
reachable by keyboard.
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http://qtip2.com/demos

19. LESSONS LEARNED
Add key listeners, focus management
› Add keyboard alternative for click and hover events
– Use native <a href> and interactive elements (button, etc.) when possible
– Level 1 menu links sometimes removed href that provides keyboard support
– Add hover only after keyboard handled
› Verify that focus outline available
› Set focus when open pop-up
windows and dialogs
› Provide a11y info via Help,
offscreen text, or ARIA
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20. DEMO
Form labels, helper text, feedback weren’t accessible
Example: https://kwalser.wufoo.com/forms/applicant/
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21. LESSONS LEARNED
Adjust rendering of labels, helper text with ARIA, listeners
› Adjust out of box required field settings
– Change the symbol * to the word Required
– Add required attribute to field
$form[$key]['#attributes']['required'] =
'required';
› Assign field descriptions to fields
– $form['account']['mail']['#attributes'] = array(
'disabled' => 'disabled',
'aria-describedby' => 'email-helptext');
› Adjust code for custom items
– aria-haspopup or aria-controls when forms
and other options open in dialogs
– aria-live for things like character counts
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22. LESSONS LEARNED
Set focus to feedback area and add “aria-describedby” for
field-level errors
› Improve status messages
– Move focus to success / error messages after validation
– Include links to fields with problems
› Associate error message with field via ARIA
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Example: https://assets.cms.gov/resources/framework/3.4.1/Pages/#formvalidator

23. DEMO
Search, typeahead weren’t keyboard accessible or
didn’t announce result set
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Example: https://www.nps.gov , https://www.cdc.gov

24. • Where input fields offer
typeahead functionality, use
ARIA and event listeners if
needed to enable focus to
move to the list as soon as
it’s available.
• Include the empty div /
container in the code on
page load and position it
immediately after the
search box to minimize
extra work.
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LESSONS LEARNED
Test with keyboard and check ARIA attributes
Sample Code – USA.gov Code, but with *improvements*!
<input id="search-field-small" type="search" name="query" placeholder="Search All Government"
onfocus="this.placeholder = ''" class="text usagov-search-autocomplete ui-autocomplete-input"
autocomplete="off" aria-autocomplete="list" aria-haspopup="true" aria-describedby="number-
results">
<p id="number-results" role="status" aria-live="assertive" aria-relevant="additions"
class="ui-helper-hidden-accessible"
<ul class="show-on-results" id="search-results" role="">
<li><a href=“…”>benefits for kids under 18</a></li>
<li><a href="…">benefits for seniors in tennessee</a></li></ul>

25. LESSONS LEARNED
Extend typeahead functionality
› Add offscreen element (e.g., <span>) with
role=“status” and aria-live=“polite” to provide
feedback on # of results, navigation tips
› Add keydown listener on down arrow to show and
set focus on the first result
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26. DEMO
Table abilities, plugins varied in accessibility26

27. LESSONS LEARNED
Pick accessible libraries and tweak as needed
› Change filter option labels to
“Filter” to avoid Search hot
command collision in speech
recognition
› Set focus back to logical spot when
pager links used
– Previous, page #, and next caused page
refresh, focus set to top rather than
search results (or pager links)
› Associate text and map results for
location-aware searches (e.g., Near
you) to improve map a11y
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28. DEMO
Interactive charts still evolving
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Source: http://www.chartjs.org/samples/latest/charts/pie.html

29. LESSONS LEARNED
Use chart libraries that show labels or raw data
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30. LESSONS LEARNED
Use chart libraries that show labels or raw data
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31. GROUP EXERCISE #1
» Triage your site
› Look at menus, tables, interactive sliders, carousels, media,
search
› Watch for contact, registration, application forms
› How would you describe the items to a user who couldn’t see
the screen?
› If you had to tell Siri what to do, what would you say?
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32. A better strategy
» Planning A11y into Frameworks
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33. 1. List all major features
› Navigation
– Drop-downs, Jump links, Into / out of dialogs and auto-complete
› Search, faceted drill-down
– Results, Filtering, Pagination / pager links, Table headings
› Sliders, carousels, galleries, tabs
› Content sharing options, plugins
› Maps and data charts
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34. 2. Describe interactions, test criteria, examples
› If click triggers action,
keyboard will also…
› If hover triggers action,
keyboard alternative…
› If error returned…
› If many links / elements in
the widget...
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35. 3. Envision rendered code and review API
› How should the final code look to be accessible?
– <label for=“fieldID”>…
<input id=”fieldID” type…>
› Check the API to see how to generate that code
› Read HTML4 vs. HTML5 differences
– HTML4: Structure assistive technologies (AT) liked
<h2>A Heading</h2><div><p>…</p></div>
– HTML5: Anything goes – can sometimes break / do strange things with AT
<a href=“…”>…<h2><div>…</div></h2></a>
› Create standards for developers
– Unique ID – no duplicate IDs in rendered code
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36. … and model frameworks
› Check frameworks like Assets.CMS.gov for code
examples
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Assets.CMS.go
v

37. 4. Prioritize elements with native interactions
› Start with native interactions
– <a href…>, <button>…
› Find libraries, frameworks that emphasize keyboard
accessibility
› Only use mouse-related listeners for non-critical
interactions
› Try interacting from different devices
– Keyboard only
– Mobile
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38. 5. Choose tools with large communities
› Look at downloads, usage, active maintenance
› Check keyboard listener options, ARIA
› Find resources on StackOverflow, Quora, JSFiddle.net, CodePen.io
– site:codepen.io +aria +example +jquery/drupal/wp
– site:jsfiddle.net +aria +example +jquery/drupal/wp
– site:jsbin.com +aria +example +jquery/drupal/wp
› Google site:frameworkname +accessibility +…
– “How do I”
– Keyboard access
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39. WordPress Accessibility Site
https://make.wordpress.org/accessibility/
› WordPress’s accessibility site includes resources for
creating accessible plugins and themes.
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40. Drupal Groups Site
Accessibility (AX) Pledge Modules / Themes
› Drupal Group’s site lists modules and themes that
have pledge to be accessible and those that the
community wishes would take the pledge.
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Drupal has made a pledge to accessibility, to make both its core framework
accessible and challenge module and theme developers to take an accessibility
pledge. This means they will “try” to make their products accessible.
Accessibility pledge modules/themes
#D7AX, #D8AX

41. Check usage stats if available
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42. 6. Validate HTML and fix JavaScript errors
› HTML and JavaScript
errors:
– Break assistive technologies
– Cause unexpected and
“can’t reproduce” results
– Break event listeners
“downstream”
› Validate HTML using W3,
IDE, or other tools
› Use plugins and browser
console to catch JavaScript
errors
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43. 7. Do a quick check
› Can you navigate using the keyboard? (Tab key)
› Are any menus keyboard-accessible, either with Enter or
Spacebar key on parent? Can you reach any pop-ups?
› Do form elements wrap labels in <label> tags?
› Do any dynamic elements have aria-* attributes in the
code?
› Do dynamic elements that return information or results
relate the element with the results?
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44. 8. Use forums, API, examples
› Many JavaScript libraries document their APIs and
options
› Look for examples to see if and how you can
change things like labels, event listeners, and other
options
› Check forums like StackOverflow and others to see
if others experienced same issue
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45. › Look for accessibility frameworks that extend the
functionality or provide examples of how to make it
accessible
9. Apply (or create) a11y helpers
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Assets.CMS.gov
Standards.USA.gov

46. GROUP EXERCISE #2
» Go back to your site (or a site)
› How would you describe those items and test them?
› What would you want to add, look for to improve accessibility?
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47. Useful a11y resources
› Knowbility Developer Resources
– Includes links to browser add-ons and favelets –
https://air-rallies.org/developer-resources/
› Center for Medicare & Medicaid Services
– Assets.cms.gov – Accessibility framework
– Medicare.gov – Accessible website
› Browser add-ons
– Check Chrome, Firefox, IE plugins, extensions
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48. Exemplar Sites
› Knowbility.org
› WCAG
› Assets.CMS.gov
› WebAIM.org
› Playbook.CIO.gov
› Standards.USA.gov
› Bootstrap-vue.js.org/docs/components
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49. Summary
• Rich, interactive elements present greatest challenge
• “Quick check” of plugin, module, library accessibility helps
• Describe how interactions should work and find examples
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50. Contact
Kate Walser
kwalser@cxinsights.com • @kwalser
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