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Re: Reconciling WCAG 2.4.7 & 1.4.11

for

From: John Foliot
Date: Sep 4, 2018 3:28PM

Hi Peter,

*But the guideline goes on to say "except where the appearance of the
component is determined by the user agent and not modified by the author."
I read this to say the guideline only applies to sites that add any focus
styles. If the site just doesn't do anything to the outline or the focus,
they can avoid 1.4.11 altogether.*


Along with Patrick's comment, I'll also add that this is under the
assumption that the content author has not modified the background either.
If they do, then SC 2.4.7 still applies (albeit still without a defined
contrast ratio in that SC - but we can *infer* it to be 3:1 based upon SC
1.4.11). Additionally, the exception language singles out un-styled native
components, but excludes "state" (i.e. focused versus non-focused)

So, for example, in Chrome, the native focus indication today is a shade of
blue (on a white background) which still fails the required 3:1 contrast
ratio (native Chrome Focus Outline:#9BBFFD, Background:#FFFFFF = The
contrast ratio is: 1.9:1), but according to the wording of SC 1.4.11, it
passes that SC when used on the native background (white), because the
component, background, and focus state are all "not modified". However,
some folks are combining component and state as a singular item (I disagree
with that perspective, as both components and states can be styled
independently), and under that interpretation, yes, lots of things may
potentially fail the end user.

I knocked together the following which further explains (with examples) the
concern: http://john.foliot.ca/demos/focuscolor.html

Based upon my past experiences, the majority of developers who are striving
to meet SC 2.4.7 today already know that different browsers have different
native focus indication, and with a "same in every browser" design
mentality, are already declaring the focus indication explicitly in their
CSS, in which case the 3:1 ratio specified in SC 1.4.11 would then come
into play.

I do agree that it is an odd and circuitous route, and still leaves
something of a gap, but this is how I would explain it to the developers
going forward.

JF

On Tue, Sep 4, 2018 at 3:45 PM, Patrick H. Lauke < <EMAIL REMOVED> >
wrote:

> On 04/09/2018 21:33, Peter Quale wrote:
> [...]
>
>> Now, with guideline 1.4.11 requiring a 3:1 contrast for focus indicators,
>> we finally don't have to fight anyone on the question of "how visible is
>> visible" since the guideline states" the visual focus indicator for a
>> component must have sufficient (3:1) contrast against the adjacent
>> background when the component is focused". But the guideline goes on to
>> say
>> "except where the appearance of the component is determined by the user
>> agent and not modified by the author." I read this to say the guideline
>> only applies to sites that add any focus styles. If the site just doesn't
>> do anything to the outline or the focus, they can avoid 1.4.11 altogether.
>>
>
> From memory/paraphrasing, I believe the intention here was to make sure
> that a site wouldn't be failed for things outside of its control. For
> instance, if your site brings up a native alert() or similar - which is
> completely outside of author control in terms of styling - then you're
> exempted if the browser for some reason does a crappy job with the focus
> indication.
>
> Arguably, it's the browsers' responsibility to ensure their default (not
> styled by authors) focus indication is sufficiently visible - but you're
> right, this doesn't help the actual end users who struggle with certain
> browsers' defaults.
>
> This is indeed a loophole at present. I'd make it clear to clients that
> they may be following the letter, but not the spirit, of the SC...for what
> it's worth.
>
> P
> --
> Patrick H. Lauke
>
> www.splintered.co.uk | https://github.com/patrickhlauke
> http://flickr.com/photos/redux/ | http://redux.deviantart.com
> twitter: @patrick_h_lauke | skype: patrick_h_lauke
>
> > > > >



--
*John Foliot* | Principal Accessibility Strategist

Deque Systems - Accessibility for Good

deque.com