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Re: When Should You Show Web Content Only To Screen Readers

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From: Jeremy Echols
Date: Oct 3, 2019 8:49AM

I feel like there are cases where I use screen-reader-only content because it's the lesser of two evils, such as when we have a text field that can't easily be labeled due to branding concerns (a sitewide search box comes to mind, though at least that's in a relevant "search" region), but I generally feel the same as Jonathan.

I don't think WCAG has this covered well, because as I understand it hidden headers and hidden field labels are indeed valid techniques, but I try to do these things very sparingly.

One risk is that some users won't "get" what your visual style is trying to imply - this could be cultural differences, cognitive issues, or simply your designers' biases at play ("it makes sense to *me*").

Another risk is that your screen-reader-only content gets out of sync from the page since devs are often rushing to fix things and not testing that the accessible page makes sense.

Then there's the risk that a sighted screen-reader user gets confused because what's read isn't the same as what's visible.

And of course there's always the risk that you're too "helpful", wasting a blind user's time with extremely verbose instructions (if those instructions are necessary for a blind person, why aren't they necessary for all users?).

Style and branding concerns sometimes trump everything, but there are legitimate issues you should carefully consider before using hidden text.