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Thread: what's the expected way to close a modal dialog in a web page using a mobile device with screen reader?
Number of posts in this thread: 8 (In chronological order)
From: Mike Warner
Date: Thu, Apr 03 2025 1:37PM
Subject: what's the expected way to close a modal dialog in a web page using a mobile device with screen reader?
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Hi all,
this question came to me today and Professor Google's answer didn't work on
my android phone. For Talkback and Voiceover, what's the gesture that is
expected to close the modal dialog when the close button is not activated?
Thanks,
Mike
Mike Warner
Director of IT Services
MindEdge Learning
From: Steve Green
Date: Thu, Apr 03 2025 3:01PM
Subject: Re: what's the expected way to close a modal dialog in a web page using a mobile device with screen reader?
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What do you mean by "when the close button is not activated"? Are you asking if there is a way to close a dialog without using the Close button? If so, I'm pretty certain the answer is no.
Steve Green
Managing Director
Test Partners Ltd
From: Mike Warner
Date: Thu, Apr 03 2025 3:05PM
Subject: Re: what's the expected way to close a modal dialog in a web page using a mobile device with screen reader?
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Hi Steve,
I mean that the user does not tap to activate the close button, but uses a
gesture of some sort. A few searches said that a back gesture (in talkback)
and a two-finger scrub gesture in Voiceover are supposed to do the trick,
but I was unable to reproduce that. Of course, I don't use talkback unless
I'm testing a specific feature, so I could be swiping incorrectly.
Thanks,
Mike
Mike Warner
Director of IT Services
MindEdge Learning
On Thu, Apr 3, 2025 at 2:01 PM Steve Green < = EMAIL ADDRESS REMOVED = >
wrote:
> What do you mean by "when the close button is not activated"? Are you
> asking if there is a way to close a dialog without using the Close button?
> If so, I'm pretty certain the answer is no.
>
> Steve Green
> Managing Director
> Test Partners Ltd
>
>
From: Steve Green
Date: Thu, Apr 03 2025 3:23PM
Subject: Re: what's the expected way to close a modal dialog in a web page using a mobile device with screen reader?
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You should be able to swipe till the Close button has focus, then double tap. If the button does not receive focus or double tapping when it has focus doesn’t close the dialog, it’s a non-conformance that needs to be fixed (it will almost certainly not work with a keyboard either).
If there are gestures that close the dialog, I’m not aware of them and I doubt if I would consider them an acceptable accessible alternative to the non-working Close button.
If the Close button does work when double tapped, no other means of closing the dialog is necessary, at least for WCAG conformance.
I expect the gestures you found only work with dialogs in the operating system and maybe in native apps rather than websites.
Steve
From: Mike Warner < = EMAIL ADDRESS REMOVED = >
Sent: 03 April 2025 22:06
To: Steve Green < = EMAIL ADDRESS REMOVED = >
Cc: WebAIM Discussion List < = EMAIL ADDRESS REMOVED = >
Subject: Re: [WebAIM] what's the expected way to close a modal dialog in a web page using a mobile device with screen reader?
Hi Steve,
I mean that the user does not tap to activate the close button, but uses a gesture of some sort. A few searches said that a back gesture (in talkback) and a two-finger scrub gesture in Voiceover are supposed to do the trick, but I was unable to reproduce that. Of course, I don't use talkback unless I'm testing a specific feature, so I could be swiping incorrectly.
Thanks,
Mike
Mike Warner
Director of IT Services
MindEdge Learning
On Thu, Apr 3, 2025 at 2:01 PM Steve Green < = EMAIL ADDRESS REMOVED = <mailto: = EMAIL ADDRESS REMOVED = >> wrote:
What do you mean by "when the close button is not activated"? Are you asking if there is a way to close a dialog without using the Close button? If so, I'm pretty certain the answer is no.
Steve Green
Managing Director
Test Partners Ltd
From: Mike Warner
Date: Thu, Apr 03 2025 3:30PM
Subject: Re: what's the expected way to close a modal dialog in a web page using a mobile device with screen reader?
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Thanks, Steve. That explains why I wasn't able to close the web page
dialog with a gesture. Yep, the close button is available and can be
double tapped to close the dialog.
Mike Warner
Director of IT Services
MindEdge Learning
On Thu, Apr 3, 2025 at 2:24 PM Steve Green < = EMAIL ADDRESS REMOVED = >
wrote:
> You should be able to swipe till the Close button has focus, then double
> tap. If the button does not receive focus or double tapping when it has
> focus doesn’t close the dialog, it’s a non-conformance that needs to be
> fixed (it will almost certainly not work with a keyboard either).
>
>
>
> If there are gestures that close the dialog, I’m not aware of them and I
> doubt if I would consider them an acceptable accessible alternative to the
> non-working Close button.
>
>
>
> If the Close button does work when double tapped, no other means of
> closing the dialog is necessary, at least for WCAG conformance.
>
>
>
> I expect the gestures you found only work with dialogs in the operating
> system and maybe in native apps rather than websites.
>
>
>
> Steve
>
>
>
> *From:* Mike Warner < = EMAIL ADDRESS REMOVED = >
> *Sent:* 03 April 2025 22:06
> *To:* Steve Green < = EMAIL ADDRESS REMOVED = >
> *Cc:* WebAIM Discussion List < = EMAIL ADDRESS REMOVED = >
> *Subject:* Re: [WebAIM] what's the expected way to close a modal dialog
> in a web page using a mobile device with screen reader?
>
>
>
> Hi Steve,
>
>
>
> I mean that the user does not tap to activate the close button, but uses a
> gesture of some sort. A few searches said that a back gesture (in talkback)
> and a two-finger scrub gesture in Voiceover are supposed to do the trick,
> but I was unable to reproduce that. Of course, I don't use talkback unless
> I'm testing a specific feature, so I could be swiping incorrectly.
>
>
>
> Thanks,
>
> Mike
>
>
>
> Mike Warner
> Director of IT Services
> MindEdge Learning
>
>
>
>
>
> On Thu, Apr 3, 2025 at 2:01 PM Steve Green < = EMAIL ADDRESS REMOVED = >
> wrote:
>
> What do you mean by "when the close button is not activated"? Are you
> asking if there is a way to close a dialog without using the Close button?
> If so, I'm pretty certain the answer is no.
>
> Steve Green
> Managing Director
> Test Partners Ltd
>
>
From: Dean.Vasile---
Date: Thu, Apr 03 2025 4:26PM
Subject: Re: what's the expected way to close a modal dialog in a web page using a mobile device with screen reader?
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Agreed it will either be a close button or a back button.
I’ve also run into keyboard traps on applications where I could go to a map, but then I couldn’t get out of it again because there were no back buttons and no close buttons so nonconformance issues there are no gestures to get out of model windows on the mobile device
Dean Vasile
IAAP, CPACC
= EMAIL ADDRESS REMOVED =
617-799-1162
> On Apr 3, 2025, at 5:24 PM, Steve Green via WebAIM-Forum < = EMAIL ADDRESS REMOVED = > wrote:
>
> You should be able to swipe till the Close button has focus, then double tap. If the button does not receive focus or double tapping when it has focus doesn’t close the dialog, it’s a non-conformance that needs to be fixed (it will almost certainly not work with a keyboard either).
>
> If there are gestures that close the dialog, I’m not aware of them and I doubt if I would consider them an acceptable accessible alternative to the non-working Close button.
>
> If the Close button does work when double tapped, no other means of closing the dialog is necessary, at least for WCAG conformance.
>
> I expect the gestures you found only work with dialogs in the operating system and maybe in native apps rather than websites.
>
> Steve
>
> From: Mike Warner < = EMAIL ADDRESS REMOVED = >
> Sent: 03 April 2025 22:06
> To: Steve Green < = EMAIL ADDRESS REMOVED = >
> Cc: WebAIM Discussion List < = EMAIL ADDRESS REMOVED = >
> Subject: Re: [WebAIM] what's the expected way to close a modal dialog in a web page using a mobile device with screen reader?
>
> Hi Steve,
>
> I mean that the user does not tap to activate the close button, but uses a gesture of some sort. A few searches said that a back gesture (in talkback) and a two-finger scrub gesture in Voiceover are supposed to do the trick, but I was unable to reproduce that. Of course, I don't use talkback unless I'm testing a specific feature, so I could be swiping incorrectly.
>
> Thanks,
> Mike
>
> Mike Warner
> Director of IT Services
> MindEdge Learning
>
>
> On Thu, Apr 3, 2025 at 2:01 PM Steve Green < = EMAIL ADDRESS REMOVED = <mailto: = EMAIL ADDRESS REMOVED = >> wrote:
> What do you mean by "when the close button is not activated"? Are you asking if there is a way to close a dialog without using the Close button? If so, I'm pretty certain the answer is no.
>
> Steve Green
> Managing Director
> Test Partners Ltd
>
>
From: Rick Blair
Date: Sat, Apr 12 2025 11:18AM
Subject: Re: what's the expected way to close a modal dialog in a web page using a mobile device with screen reader?
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Hello Mike:
The two-finger scrub operation in iOS is to execute the "Back" function, not a "Close" function on a modal dialog.
Rick
Rick Blair (he/him/his)
Senior Principal Digital Accessibility Program Manager
Schneider Electric
General
From: jp Jamous
Date: Sun, Apr 13 2025 1:38AM
Subject: Re: what's the expected way to close a modal dialog in a web page using a mobile device with screen reader?
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I would be careful with gestures to implement any navigational functionality. I have witnessed a feature in many native and web apps, like YouTube Music, where swiping left to right moves to the next song. While this approach might be nice for certain users, it backfires on screen reader users who use left to right and right to left gestures to navigate forward and backwards through controls.
I would not encourage overriding any default OS functionality to achieve a native or web app functionality. It does not benefit users, rather it works against default navigation functionalities with different screen readers and operating systems.
Stick to the Close button that would hide the modal and sets the focus back on the button that actuated that modal. That is the proper execution that users expect and that WCAG focuses on in its guidelines.