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Re: WCAG 2.0 Success Criteria for Important Messages

for

From: Birkir R. Gunnarsson
Date: Jun 17, 2015 12:20PM

Brian

For content that auto updates (via AJAX) I would call it under 4.1.2
(since live regions or live region roles have to be used to
communicate that update to users, in your case it sounds like
role="alert" on the message container is what you want).

For static alerts that are made prominent through formatting or
graphics as the page loads:
- If an image is used it is SC 1.1.1 that you want. Say an icon needs
alt text "alert" or "important" or an error icon needs an alt text
such as "error!".

- If we are talking about how visual formatting of text (using CSS)
presents meaning or information, we are definitely in WCAG SC 1.3.1
territory, see e.g. technique h49:
http://www.w3.org/TR/2015/NOTE-WCAG20-TECHS-20150226/H49

A note on that: Scrreen readers do not do well with valid emphasis
elements such as the <em> tag, they do little with that information,
unles you select one of a specialized speech scheme (see list of
review speech schemes in Jaws). This is unfortunately a challenge I
hope CSS3 could help resolve going forward.
I would recommend using role="heading" and aria-level="1" or "2" on
short messages with special formatting containing very important
alerts.
Sure, they may not represent document structure necessarily, as they
do not mark the beginning of a section or subsection, but that is the
most reliable way to indicate the relative importance of a message to
the widest array of assistive technologies, especially screen readers
(and, after all, screen reader users are the ones most unable to pick
up on visual presentation).
-B


On 6/17/15, Brian Lovely < <EMAIL REMOVED> > wrote:
> We have important messages that may appear on our pages. They are HTML
> elements styled to catch the attention of the visually oriented user, not
> window alerts. In recommending that we expose these alert messages to
> assistive technology, I am asked to refer to the pertinent level A and/or
> level AA success critera (for instance, 1.1.1 Non-text Content [Level A]).
> What success criteria should I cite for this? Some of these alerts will be
> there on page load (for instance, if a user's account is overdrawn), and
> some will appear based on user actions (for instance, if they attempt to
> make a payment from a locked account).
>
> Brian Lovely
> <EMAIL REMOVED>
> > > > >


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