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Re: Marking up a countdown timer

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From: Mitchell Evan
Date: Sep 9, 2020 2:25AM

Hi Romaric,

Many people with ADHD use the "pomodoro method" to help with time
management. Yet as a person with ADHD myself, I've seen some countdown
timers which distracted me from tasks and sometimes even caused me intense
stress.

Visual countdowns updating every second are common but they are not
actually an essential feature of time management. Feel free to contact me
off-list if you would like to explore other design options, such as
adjustable frequency of alerts, which could benefit all users.

Thank you for your inclusive design approach and your thoughtful questions!

Mitchell Evan, CPWA
linkedin.com/in/mitchellrevan <https://www.linkedin.com/in/mitchellrevan>
Twitter @mitchellrevan <https://twitter.com/mitchellrevan>
+49 1525 8950540
+1 510 375 6104

---------- Forwarded message ----------
> From: Romaric Pascal < <EMAIL REMOVED> >
> To: " <EMAIL REMOVED> " < <EMAIL REMOVED> >
> Cc:
> Bcc:
> Date: Tue, 08 Sep 2020 13:44:09 +0000
> Subject: [WebAIM] Marking up a countdown timer
> Hello all,
>
> I'm trying to implement a pomodoro timer accessibly. I'm a bit stuck when
> it comes to marking up the time countdown in HTML to provide a good
> experience to screen-reader users.
>
> Especially, I'm thinking of how sighted users can glance at the remaining
> time to quickly get how long is left. I'm wondering how to make it easy for
> screen-reader users too.
>
> So far I've identified two options (discarding an `aria-live` region, as
> the aim is to focus, not be spammed of every second passing):
> - using a read-only input to display the time. This would make the element
> holding the time focusable and I'm hoping screen-readers have a way to
> re-announce the element being focused on demand.
> - adding an "How much time left" button that would trigger an
> announcement. Users could keep the focus on it and trigger as needed. I
> could add a visual emphasis on the time so something happens for sighted
> users
>
> Is there a "better" option among those? But maybe I'm overthinking things
> and simply marking it up as text would be enough.
>
> Thanks!
>
> --
> Romaric Pascal
> [http://romaricpascal.is](http://romaricpascal.is/)
>
>