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Re: Definition Lists and Accessibility

for

From: Léonie Watson
Date: Aug 15, 2015 11:13AM

> From: WebAIM-Forum [mailto: <EMAIL REMOVED> ]
> On Behalf Of Dennis Deacon
> Sent: 15 August 2015 17:00
> Can someone point out specific information on how definition lists can
> confuse screen reader users, and the best alternative for paired lists?
>

Some screen readers do not differentiate definition lists from other types of list. Take the following example:

<dl>
<dt>Blanco</dt>
<dd>Blanco tequila is...</dd>
<dt>Reposado</dt>
<dd>Tequila reposado is...</dd>
</dl>

Jaws in Firefox reports it as "Definition list with 2 items", but NVDA in Firefox reports it as "List with 4 items". To an NVDA user, the list is therefore indistinguishable from a <ul> with four <li> children.

It's worth noting that a definition list is the correct way to mark up a list of paired items. Changing markup patterns to satisfy the vagaries of specific assistive technologies tends to be a slippery slope.

Léonie.

--
Senior accessibility engineer @PacielloGroup @LeonieWatson