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Re: Applying 2.5.1 Pointer Gestures to tile sliders in nativeapps.

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From: Jim Homme
Date: Apr 14, 2023 4:59AM

Hi,
Where in the Amazon app is this behavior?

Thanks.

Jim

=========Jim Homme: He, Him, His
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-----Original Message-----
From: WebAIM-Forum < <EMAIL REMOVED> > On Behalf Of Detlev Fischer
Sent: Thursday, April 13, 2023 11:57 AM
To: <EMAIL REMOVED>
Subject: [WebAIM] Applying 2.5.1 Pointer Gestures to tile sliders in native apps.

This is about applying 2.5.1 Pointer Gestures to tile sliders in native apps.

Very frequently in apps, there is no way to reach tiles in horizontal sliders that are not in the viewport without what can be considered a swipe gesture following the 2.5.1 Understanding text (a gesture which requires an initial directional movement of the pointer). With these sliders, a (roughly) horizontal movement engages the slider while a vertical movement would scroll the page instead (vertically). Moving down-left or down-right would not make the slider follow the pointer - i.e the gesture has been consumed by the view and  has no effect on the slider.

This pattern is extremely common: native app examples are Zalando, Amazon, Ebay, ZDFtivi, and I guess many many more. Usually single pointer alternatives (like arrows) for activation are absent. Do all these apps really fail 2.5.1?

This issue is whether the gesture needed really falls into pointer gestures rather than being classed as a dragging movement (which incidentally would require similar alternatives for simple tap pointer input if WCAG 2.2 Success Criterion 2.5.7 Dragging Movements becomes part of WCAG 2.2).

Differentiating the required gesture from dragging movements is difficult here, because *any* dragging movement that is more horizontal than vertical (i.e., not just a movement in the desired direction) does not scroll the view vertically, but lets the slider follow the horizontal pointer position in the same way as in dragging movements.
Therefore it is unclear whether tappable controls like arrows are really required for such slider areas in order to meet 2.5.1 Pointer Gestures.

I'd be very keen to see how others auditing native apps treat this situation.

best,
Detlev

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Detlev Fischer
DIAS GmbH
(Testkreis is now part of DIAS GmbH)

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