keyboard-inaccessible

Function cannot be performed by keyboard alone

Description

There is no way to perform the function using only the keyboard on the same screen or on a qualifying conforming alternate version.

Why is it important?

For people with impairments who are unable to use a mouse to navigate through a website, there must be a provision to navigate using a keyboard.

Examples

• Success: Using standard accessible controls like:
  • <a>
  • <button>
  • <input> (including, but not limited to: “text”, “checkbox”, “radio”)
  • <select>
  • <textarea>
• Failure: Using non-standard controls like:
  • Mousedown event handlers
  • Hover

How to fix?

Use standard accessible controls to ensure all components can also be accessed via keyboard.

If a custom version of a native HTML element is being used that does not have a native HTML equivalent, add keyboard focusability (via tabindex=”0”) and keyboard events via JavaScript as well as the relevant element role(s) using ARIA.

References

• WCAG 2.1.1: Keyboard
• WebAIM: Keyboard accessibility