WebInclusiveby Giuseppe Stumbo

Examples of barriers and fixes

Buying with a keyboard, correcting a form, reading a document with a screen reader: three situations to understand who encounters a barrier and how to address it. These are illustrative examples, not client engagements or outcomes.

What you will find
Illustrative issues, evidence to gather and checks to perform after a fix.
Who it is for
Anyone who needs to understand an issue or prepare design, development and QA work.

Three demonstration examples

Hypothetical scenarios, not client results. Each separates the problem from tests that still need to be performed.

  • Shopping: a filter that cannot be used with a keyboard

    Problem
    The filter responds to a pointer but cannot be activated with a keyboard.
    Evidence to collect
    Record the page, browser, keys used, focus and results before and after filtering.
    Proposed fix
    Use a native control with an identifiable name, state and focus indicator.
    Check to perform
    Repeat filtering and selection with a keyboard and screen reader; check results and state announcements in the agreed configurations.

  • Booking: an error that does not guide correction

    Problem
    The form signals an error only visually, without identifying the field in the message.
    Evidence to collect
    Record the entered value, message, focus position and information exposed to assistive technologies.
    Proposed fix
    Explain how to correct the value and associate the message with the field; make the summary reachable.
    Check to perform
    Repeat invalid submission, reaching the field, correction and confirmation, including with a keyboard and screen reader.

  • Finding information: a document with no reading order

    Problem
    PDF headings, columns and tables lack a structure usable with assistive technology.
    Evidence to collect
    Identify the file and version; record reading order, tags, text alternatives and table relationships.
    Proposed fix
    Work on the source where available, then fix and check the exported PDF structure.
    Check to perform
    Read the document with assistive technology and assess sequence and understanding of the information; a scanner result alone is not enough.

Have you encountered a similar issue?

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