Almost ¼ of the population in the UK had a disability in 2023, and many disabilities impact people's muscle control. Some people experience tremors that reduce control, and others may be left with little to no use of their hands.
Keyboard navigation helps people with these disabilities use devices like computers and mobile phones. You can use traditional keyboards or ones with modified keys or hardware to help navigate online spaces through buttons.
TL;RD
Millions of people rely on keyboard navigation to access the web, whether due to mobility impairments, tremors, or limited hand function. When websites aren’t built with keyboard accessibility in mind, users can’t reach buttons, menus, or forms, locking them out of essential online services.
The fix is simple: follow WCAG keyboard navigation guidelines to ensure every part of your website can be accessed and operated without a mouse.
When a website isn’t well-structured and optimised for keyboard accessibility, then people using keyboard navigation can’t interact with it as they would if they used a mouse or touchpad. This leads to difficulty finding what they need or even completely missing content.
Those relying completely on keyboard navigation will find a website with improper content hierarchy and heading structure frustrating and confusing.
When websites have interactive elements that trigger on a scroll or hover, they must consider a click trigger to help keyboard navigation users interact, or else that content becomes inaccessible.
Building a website without keyboard accessibility in mind excludes many people from getting what they need. From online purchases to form submissions, if the structure and interactivity of your website aren’t clear in the code, you’re excluding keyboard navigation users.
There are plenty of tools and resources out there to help improve your keyboard and tab order accessibility, including WCAG keyboard navigation guidelines to help you audit your site and spot inconsistencies or missing code needed to build a keyboard navigation website.
We make website accessibility simple. With AudioEye, every project we deliver is built to meet accessibility needs from the ground up.
Let’s chat about how we can help you take your first steps towards digital accessibility.
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