Hi everyone. Josh here with Online ADA and another video from the WCAG accessibility guidlines In this one we’re covering 2.5.1, pointer gestures.
This is a Level A requirement. The description reads, all functionality that uses multi-point or path based gestures for operation can be operated with a single pointer, without a path based gesture, unless they multi-point or path based gesture is essential. A lot of words in that one that may need some explaining.
First of all, multi point or path based gesture is referring to a gesture where the essential functionality of this element is not dependent on just the end points, like from start to finish, but rather like when you’re unlocking a phone, it’s the individual path that you take, the unique places that you draw with your finger. Whether it’s a drawing program, or a thumb slider. Or even if it’s something like tapping with two fingers or having, there’s a split tap function where you can hold down one finger than tap with the other one or pinch zoom. All of these things are multi-point, which is two fingers, or multi path dependent.
So, what this article is describing is that anytime we have a functionality like that we need to provide an alternative for users who just have a single pointer. This is going to be in reference to folks who have speech input, which counts as just a single mouse emulation. Or even, there’s input that utilizes eye gaze as a source of input and controlling the sites. So, those folks aren’t going to be able to accomplish these more complex tasks. And even on a, sort of, on a less complex note, folks who have less dexterity or accuracy, you know having heavy arthritis or something like that. Maybe they’ve lost some fingers and it’s difficult to do that.
So, it’s important to accommodate all these folks. And so anytime you have something like a slider, rather than just providing a slider, let’s say a carousel, in this case, that has different or even a gallery sliders. Probably a better example, you have images that kinda are confined to a container and some of them go behind the container, but there’s a slider underneath it that you can drag and it’ll make those images come into view. The slider is fine to keep there, but you got to provide an alternative to that as well, like a plus and a minus button that will move the slider as well, just by a single pointer input. Anytime you have something like the pinch zoom, it’s also really easy to provide buttons on the page that single pointer input could plus or minus. Things like that.
Now, the definition for essential is described by the WCAG documentation like this, if removed it would fundamentally change the information or functionality of the content and information and functionality cannot be achieved in any other way that would conform, even when you’re talking about unlocking a phone using the path drawing from point to point to point, there are options within that menu that provide a different alternative sign on. Something that uses a input with a password or a pin number or even a fingerprint or a retina scanner. Any of these things would be alternatives to that path based method and I can’t think of a single situation personally, or even that I’ve come across, that the functionality of this would be considered essential.
This is also, just to point out, one of the few things we can do to make mobility accessible, as there aren’t a lot of WCAG rules that cover mobility specifically or responsiveness for the smaller design to tablets and phones and things.
So, that’s all there is for this one. Thank you for joining me and I’ll see you in the next video.