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Re: Expanding awareness WVAG

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From: Guy Hickling
Date: Apr 9, 2021 12:40PM

SC1.3.1 applies to all content on screen. Put simply, it says that anything
that is presented visually must also be marked up in a way that allows
assistive technology to understand that visual presentation. So it covers
headings, lists, buttons, input fields, everything. That enables screen
readers and other devices to announce what is presented. (It's a rather
vague SC, since people can differ in their interpretation of what is being
presented, but that is the basic principle.)

In contrast, SC4.1.2 applies specifically to interactive components, not to
static content. But I would say that, yes, it basically says the same as
1.3.1. It just does so much more explicitly. It picks out the various
aspects of interactive components in more detail and reinforces the
requirement that all those aspects must be conveyed, in the markup, to
assistive technology.

So seeing a text label over an input field, for example, we could usually
deduce that it is the field's label. SC4.1.2 simply says we must go further
than rely on the visual presentation by adjacent position, it must be
linked in the markup to the field so screen readers can announce it as the
field name and label, and not just leave users to guess. It also says we
must provide such a name even if the visual presentation does not.

Again, if something can be revealed and hidden, we must say what the
current state is initially. And any changes to that state, and any other
changes to content, must also be passed programmatically to assistive
technology.

So I guess 4.1.2 doesn't say anything different from 1.3.1. It is merely
saying it much more clearly and explicitly for interactive components,
because they have a lot more properties than static content has!

I hope that helps. Others may explain it differently but that is my take on
it. The first place to look for more information on the two SCs, of course,
is in their "Understanding" documents, from the links in the WCAG itself.