Guideline 4.1 - Compatible

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Conformance Levels

Description

Maximize compatibility with current and future user agents, including assistive technologies.

Questions & Answers

How should list items be nested?

I am getting an automated scanner error that “<li> elements must be contained in a <ul> or <ol>”, but in my code the <li> elements are contained in <ul>. What’s going on?

  • accessibility tree
  • lists
  • scanner errors

Are there multiple ways to build an accessible widget?

I'm trying to build a widget that follows an example in the W3C ARIA Authoring Practices Guide, but I can't quite match it because of the way my site is built. Can my widget still be accessible?

  • aria
  • custom widgets

Should all status updates be an alert?

My site shows the text "Please wait" after the user clicks a button, but it's not very important and disappears quickly. Does it still need to be announced by assistive technology?

  • Assertive alert
  • polite alert
  • status messages

How do I make a word counter accessible?

My form has a comment field with a word count limit, and I want to provide a live counter so the user knows how close they are to the limit. How do I make the counter accessible?

  • forms
  • status message

How should I code elements with similar designs but different roles?

My footer has five buttons and one link, but they all look like buttons. I think users will expect all the elements to be the same type of element (all buttons or all links), and may be confused that they’re different. Which is more important,...

  • aria roles
  • user experience