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Re: React and screen reader accessibility?

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From: Brandon Keith Biggs
Date: Apr 27, 2017 10:30PM

Hello,
I posted an issue for the React team:
https://github.com/facebook/react/issues/9549
Please bring any thoughts to that discussion.

To be honest, Big frameworks are the ones who have the most influance on
web accessibility. If React is not enforcing accessibility, then 65000
people are not making their apps accessible. If one multiplies that 65000
times the number of apps one makes in their life, the number of
hit-and-miss apps with accessibility is astounding.

React is becoming massive and if there is no push to have React model what
a perfect app should be, then web accessibility will just become worse and
worse.
Whoever is on the WCAG2 team needs to be poking the react team and explain
to them that an accessibility API does NOT cut it! In fact it probably
makes things worse as developers will think they need to always use the
accessibility API to add screen reader accessibility into their apps. It is
just like Aria, a very last resort.
Thank you,


Brandon Keith Biggs <http://brandonkeithbiggs.com/>;

On Thu, Apr 27, 2017 at 8:20 PM, Brandon Keith Biggs <
<EMAIL REMOVED> > wrote:

> Hello,
>
> How does using a virtual DOM change the fact that using HTML in the
> finished product is better than using a thousand div elements styled with
> CSS?
>
> In fact, I think it would be easier to make sure the finished product is
> accessible. You don't have pesky programmers not following an official
> coding practice messing with the final result in React.
>
>
>
> I also think that there are sometimes when a user wants to be alerted and
> sometimes when alerts are just annoying. I personally dislike alerts
> telling me when the content changes, but in chat clients or normal alerts,
> I like my screen reader to read aloud what is going on.
>
>
>
> I think it is even worse that react has complete control over the
> rendering and it is not accessible out o of the box through extensive html
> usage and user testing. It is a shame that the data tables and intro
> tutorial are not accessible.
>
> I'm just wondering how there could be such a big divide between what FB
> says and what react does.
>
> Thanks,
>
>
>
> Brandon Keith Biggs <http://brandonkeithbiggs.com/>;
>
> On Thu, Apr 27, 2017 at 8:42 AM, Mark Smith < <EMAIL REMOVED> > wrote:
>
>> Hi Brandon,
>>
>> I have only been using React for less than a year, so I can't/won't claim
>> expert knowledge but...
>>
>> It probably because React uses a virtual DOM to create (mainly) single
>> page applications that render quickly vs creating a whole new page. It's
>> not using the tree based DOM a straight HTML page uses in the browser.
>>
>> While you will see the URL change as you use the app, behind the scenes
>> React takes a diff of the "page" you were on and compares it to the "new
>> page" and only updates the part that has changed. This makes the app appear
>> to load much faster but would leave you in a position where you need to
>> alert the screen reader that part of the page has changed.
>>
>> http://reactkungfu.com/2015/10/the-difference-between-virtua
>> l-dom-and-dom/
>>
>> HTH,
>> Mark
>>
>> Mark Smith
>> UI Developer Signet Jewelers
>>
>> 330.631.5409
>> <EMAIL REMOVED>
>> http://www.linkedin.com/in/mkultra
>>
>> > On Apr 26, 2017, at 9:49 PM, Brandon Keith Biggs <
>> <EMAIL REMOVED> > wrote:
>> >
>> > Hello,
>> >
>> > What is going on with React and screen reader accessibility? Apparently
>> it
>> > has all kinds of hooks for 'accessibility-. Why would someone do this?
>> Why
>> > can't react avoid using aria and use native widgets instead? Why is
>> > accessibility optional? Why is accessibility something that is more
>> complex
>> > that a developer needs to worry about?
>> >
>> > https://code.facebook.com/posts/435862739941212/making-react
>> -native-apps-accessible/
>> >
>> >
>> >
>> > https://github.com/necolas/react-native-web/blob/master/docs
>> /guides/accessibility.md
>> >
>> >
>> >
>> > This doesn't seem to work based off the few react examples I have seen:
>> >
>> > https://facebook.github.io/fixed-data-table/
>> >
>> >
>> >
>> > https://facebook.github.io/react/tutorial/tutorial.html
>> >
>> >
>> >
>> >
>> >
>> > These are done by Facebook itself as an example to other developers. As
>> a
>> > screen reader user, I find this very very insulting and disheartening. I
>> > hope I'm wrong and the examples I found from Facebook are not really
>> what
>> > they expect developers to learn from, but I greatly fear that they are.
>> >
>> > Does anyone know why there is such a disconnect between the
>> accessibility
>> > team and the people writing the examples?
>> >
>> > Accessibility is not something that can be added, it is something that
>> > happens when good UI practice is followed and all the myriad elements in
>> > UX, UI, screen reader, platform and user align in this very difficult
>> > dance. It is very unwise for a company to put any of those factors out
>> of
>> > line.
>> >
>> > Why is FB doing this? How can we communicate that this is a problem?
>> >
>> > There are so many apps now that are being made with react that I fear
>> soon
>> > many apps for work and socializing will not be accessible or easily
>> usable.
>> >
>> > Thank you,
>> >
>> >
>> >
>> >
>> > Brandon Keith Biggs <http://brandonkeithbiggs.com/>;
>> > >> > >> > >> > >> >> >> >> >>
>
>