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Re: Search result notifications - Screen readers

for

From: glen walker
Date: Feb 18, 2022 12:30PM

From a UX perspective, I think it's a great idea to update the page with a
notification about updated results. If that's done, then it absolutely has
to be available to assistive technology via WCAG 4.1.3.

However, if there is not an update, then there's nothing to announce to
assistive technology either. A sighted user might notice that the page
updates (if the update is within view) so they have a little advantage in
that situation. It would be nice if that same visual cue was conveyed to
all users, but even sighted users might miss it. If they're not watching
the page, they might not see the update. If the page is scrolled and the
update happens elsewhere, they might not see it. I would consider that a
bad UX design and not a WCAG failure.

Typically, if you have a page where you can filter items, whether by
checking boxes or typing in fields, the page usually updates and there's a
message telling you how many results there are. That's an easy situation
that the updated results number must be announced. But if the page updates
and no result count is updated, is that a failure? It kind of depends on
your definition of failure. It might not be a WCAG failure (there isn't a
status message to announce) but it feels like a UX failure. But you could
also argue that the structure and relationships on the page updated as a
result of filtering and that new information was not conveyed and thus a
1.3.1 failure.

If I were testing a page in the latter category, I might note a UX issue
saying it'd be nice if there was a message noting a count of the filtered
results and that that message should be available to assistive technology.


On Fri, Feb 18, 2022 at 11:58 AM Don Mauck < <EMAIL REMOVED> > wrote:

> Hello -
> I've a question for Screen reader users of which I am one myself, I would
> like other users perspective.
> When searches are done and results appear underneath the filed, that
> suggestions, records or values, (These searches will populate as you type),
> would you expect to get a notification that records were found? Conversely,
> a notification of "nothing found"?
> > > > >