WebAIM - Web Accessibility In Mind

E-mail List Archives

Re: Live Chat - ARIA recommendations and/or good examples?

for

From: Bryan Garaventa
Date: Nov 13, 2014 2:38PM

The technique for implementing live chat with custom messages is actually very easy.

All you really need is an offscreen container element at the end of the page that innerHTML can be used to write custom strings to,
and include aria-live='polite' within the offscreen tag.

This automatically works across desktop and mobile.

Live demo:
http://whatsock.com/tsg/Coding%20Arena/Web%20Chat%20and%20Dynamic%20Message%20Announcement/Web%20Chat%20(Static)/demo.htm


-----Original Message-----
From: <EMAIL REMOVED> [mailto: <EMAIL REMOVED> ] On Behalf Of
<EMAIL REMOVED>
Sent: Thursday, November 13, 2014 12:45 PM
To: <EMAIL REMOVED>
Subject: [WebAIM] Live Chat - ARIA recommendations and/or good examples?

I'm being asked to review, for accessibility considerations, the design requirements for a pretty standard live chat interface on
desktop. Tablet and smartphone are not in scope at this time.

I'm clear about specifying the need for focus when the chat initially opens, the form fields, etc.

My concerns are around how a blind customer using a screen reader would interact with the input field for their message, how this
person would know that the service representative is responding, and then when the rep responds. So, it seems like there is a need
to inform the customer when these events happen in a way that is clear, not confusing.

(This could also be reversed, saying that the service representative would be the screen reader user, however the interface I'm
reviewing is customer-facing.)

Is this a good use of aria live regions?

Also, I'd appreciate any examples of where this has been delivered successfully with accessibility in mind.


Thanks,


Judith Blankman

Accessibility Strategist
Customer Experience



Wells Fargo Digital Channels Group | 550 California Street, 2nd floor | San Francisco, CA 94104

MAC A0122-020

Tel 415-947-6583 | Cell 415-601-1114 | Fax 415-974-7452


<EMAIL REMOVED>