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Author: Rebecca Rumble

Useful Moodle Documentation

Useful Moodle Documentation

Some useful links to Moodle documentation I’ve picked up while working through the Developer Moodle Academy Courses for my future reference.

Plugin Documentation

API Documentation

Database Documentation

Testing

Local Development Useful Links

MAMP Documentation

Adding Block Regions in Moodle Template

Adding Block Regions in Moodle Template

A very quick overview on what you need to add to add a block region in a Moodle theme template.

Config.php

Create a region id name then add it to your ‘regions’ paramater array for the page template (or templates) you want to use that block region on. You’ll need to set a defaultregion if you have a set region. 

$THEME->layouts = [
    'base' => array(
        'file' => 'columns2.php',
        'regions' => array(),
    ),
    'frontpage' => array(
        'file' => 'frontpage.php',
        'regions' => array('side-pre','side-top'),
        'defaultregion' => 'side-pre',
    ),
];

/layout/frontpage.php

You will want to add the following lines of code to this file (or the template file you are adding the region to). 

$blockshtml = $OUTPUT->blocks('side-pre');
$topblockshtml = $OUTPUT->blocks('side-top');

$hasblocks = strpos($blockshtml, 'data-block=') !== false;
$hastopblocks = strpos($topblockshtml, 'data-block=') !== false;

In your template context you’ll want to add the following parameters

$templatecontext = [
    ...
    'sidepreblocks' => $blockshtml,
    'sidetopblocks' => $topblockshtml,
    'hasblocks' => $hasblocks,
    'hastopblocks' => $hastopblocks,
    ...
];

/template/frontpage.mustache

Then in your template mustache file you will want to add the following to display any blocks in that region on your page. 

{{#hastopblocks}}
	<aside data-region="blocks-column" class="d-print-none topblocks py-1 px-2" aria-label="{{#str}}blocks{{/str}}">
		{{{ sidetopblocks }}}
	</aside>
{{/hastopblocks}}

/lang/en/theme_name.php

You’ll also want to add a language string for any new block regions you add. 

$string['region-side-top'] = 'Top Region';
Reduce Motion
Reducing Motion on Websites

Reducing Motion on Websites

A few months ago I came across a media query for Reduced Motion in CSS. Some users may find some animated motions on websites can make them feel ill. These users can switch on the Reduced Motion setting in their operating system to try and limit these motions.

As web developers we can help by using CSS (and javaScript) to respect that setting.

CSS Media Query for Reduced Motion

Within the media query you can add settings to prevent transitions or animation from happening.

You can even add a wildcard rules so that any transitions or transforms and animations are prevented as I have in the code below.

/* Tone down the animation to avoid vestibular motion triggers like scaling or panning large objects. */
@media (prefers-reduced-motion: reduce) {
	html {
		scroll-behavior: auto; // override smooth scrolling
	}
	* {
		transition: none !important;
		animation: none !important;
		transform: none !Important;
	}
}

Pitfalls

You may find the wildcard approach may disable some transitions or transforms or animations you want to keep so you may have to add some overrides when using that approach or use the css :not notation to ignore certain classes or elements.

/* Tone down the animation to avoid vestibular motion triggers like scaling or panning large objects. */
@media (prefers-reduced-motion: reduce) {
	html {
		scroll-behavior: auto; // override smooth scrolling
	}
	* {
		transition: none !important;
		animation: none !important; 
	}
        // this ignores the elements and classes specified but targets everything else.
	*:not(path, text, g, polyline, rect, svg, clipPath, image, .svg, .mapholder, use) {
		transform: none !Important;
	}
}

JavaScript Respect Reduced Motion

For JavaScript you can use the following code to check if the user has reduced motion set. Then test the matches – if it returns true then the user has reduced motion set. 

var mediaQuery = window.matchMedia('(prefers-reduced-motion: reduce)');

if(mediaQuery.matches) {
	$('#'+defid).toggle();  // show and hide rather than...
} else {
	$('#'+defid).slideToggle();  // sliding up and down
}

Further Reading

https://www.smashingmagazine.com/2020/09/design-reduced-motion-sensitivities/
https://alistapart.com/article/accessibility-for-vestibular/

Automatic WordPress Update Script

Automatic WordPress Update Script

Instal WP CLI on the server the WordPress is hosted on : https://wp-cli.org/#installing

Setup an update script using WP CLI commands:

#! /usr/bin/env bash
# Update all WordPress Plugins
wp plugin update --all
# Update all WordPress Translations
wp language core update
# Update WordPress Core
wp core update
# Update WordPress Database
wp core update-db
# Check no plugins need to be updated after core wordpress update. 
wp plugin update --all

Setup a scheduled task in linux crontab to run the script

0 4 * * *      user    /path/to/task/wpupdates.sh >> /path/to/logs/wordpress-$(date +\%d-\%m-\%Y).log 2>&1

Troubleshooting

Make sure that the user is the same as the folder owner

Make sure that the script is executable.

Useful Accessibility Tools for Web Developers

Useful Accessibility Tools for Web Developers

Braile File Conversion

https://www.robobraille.org/

Web Developer Toolbar

https://chrome.google.com/webstore/detail/web-developer/bfbameneiokkgbdmiekhjnmfkcnldhhm
https://addons.mozilla.org/en-GB/firefox/addon/web-developer/

Useful for seeing what order information appears in and for checking the alternative text on images is good enough to be understandable.

WAVE Web Accessibility Evaluation Tool

https://wave.webaim.org/extension/

Useful for seeing where your web page may be failing and potential solutions.

AXE Development Tools (Browser Extension)

https://www.deque.com/axe/

Photosensitive Epilepsy Analysis Tool

https://trace.umd.edu/peat/

Colour Contrast Tool

https://www.tpgi.com/color-contrast-checker/

Useful tool for Windows and Mac which allows you to check colour contrast on various elements.

Online Colour Contrast Checker

WCAG

Silktide

https://silktide.com/resources/toolbar/

Quick Reference Guide to WCAG 2.1

https://www.w3.org/WAI/WCAG21/quickref/

https://www.w3.org/WAI/planning-and-managing/

Building An Atto Plugin (WIP)

Building An Atto Plugin (WIP)

My notes from working out how to build a plugin for Moodle’s Atto Editor.
(This post is not entirely finished – working out the dialogs)

Plugin Location

Atto Editor plugins can be found in /lib/editor/atto/plugins as defined here and listed here

Note an Atto Plugin is known as a sub-plugin rather than a full plugin although it follows a similar format.

Required Files

  • Version.php
  • /lang/en/atto_pluginname.php
  • /yui/src/button/

Version.php

defined('MOODLE_INTERNAL') || die();

$plugin->version   = 2022030700;        // The current plugin version (Date: YYYYMMDDXX).
$plugin->requires  = 2020061511;        // Requires this Moodle version.
$plugin->component = 'atto_pluginname';  // Full name of the plugin (used for diagnostics).

Current Moodle version can be found in Moodle’s own version.php file.

The component name is {plugin_type}_{plugin_name}
In this case the plugin type is “atto”

Language String File

This will contain all the translatable language strings for this plugin.
It should follow the frankenstyle naming convention of {plugin_type}_{plugin_name}.php i.e. the component name set in version.php

It should at least contain the name of the plugin in there.

$string['pluginname'] = 'Plugin Name';

YUI src button module

This is currently required but looking at the documentation it looks like Moodle are planning on replacing YUI with something else in the future. I worked through the documentation and experimented with it and have recorded more information below.

YUI Modules

Moodle used to use shifter to compile the YUI modules in the past. According to documentation it currently uses Grunt to compile the JS now but the documentation isn’t fully up to date on how this works in practise. I found much more information on how to use shifter so started off with this and will work on shifting to Grunt.

Basic File Structure

  • /build
    • This is where the compiled files get stored this is what Moodle actually loads.
  • /src
    • /button
      • /js
        • button.js
          (contents / working code for the module)
      • /meta
        • button.json
          (list of dependencies for the module)
      • build.json
        (essentially instructions for shifter or grunt on how to build the final js file)

Example build.json

{
  "name": "moodle-atto_pluginname-button",
  "builds": {
    "moodle-atto_pluginname-button": {
      "jsfiles": [
        "button.js"
      ]
    }
  }
}

Note the name “moodle-atto_pluginname-button” in “Builds” indicates the name of the folder it compiles to. The “Name” indicates the name of the javascript files after compiling.

Example /meta/button.json

{
    "moodle-atto_boostrap4moodle-button": {
        "requires": [
            "moodle-editor_atto-plugin"
        ]
    }
}

Example /js/button.js

Moodle Documentation has a list of examples for this file. Update the examples to use your component and plugin name. e.g. in the atto_strike example you would replace “atto_strike” with “atto_pluginname”

Compiling with Shifter

This is the old way of compiling the YUI module and reading through the threads on it, YUI will eventually be replaced but that may be sometime away yet due to the complexity. I’m going to take a look at compiling with Grunt as well but found more information on shifter so looked at it initially as a temporary way of compiling the YUI module.

To use shifter you need to have node.js installed then install shifter.

npm -g install shifter

Once installed navigate to your YUI /src folder and run the shifter watch command.

 cd ../yui/src/
 shifter --watch

Any change you make in button.js after that will cause the compiler to recompile all the files into the build folder.

Button Icon Locations

Icons need to be stored in /pix/filename within the plugin. SVG is supported 😊
They can then be referenced in button.js when creating a button – example below:

		this.addToolbarMenu({
			icon: 'e/bootstrap', 
			iconComponent: 'atto_pluginname',
			title: 'pluginname',
			globalItemConfig: {
				callback: this._changeStyle
			},
			items: items
		});

The icon name “e/bootstrap” is referring to an image stored at /pix/e/bootstrap.svg inside the plugin.
The iconComponent name is the plugin component name so it know to look in /lib/editor/atto/plugins/atto_pluginname
The title “pluginname” is reference to a language string in /lang/en/atto_pluginname.php

Experimenting with Button.js

I’ve added a few examples of what you can do in the YUI module. I learned a lot of this looking at the code for Core Moodle Atto plugins. A good one to check out is the atto_table plugin.

Using Language Strings in Button.js

You can reference language strings in your YUI module with the following reference:

M.util.get_string("stringReference", component)

Replace “stringReference” with the name of your string located in /lang/en/atto_pluginname.php

The variable component should be declared somewhere in the code and be the component name of your plugin e.g. atto_pluginname

The string should also be listed in the lib.php file for the plugin in the function atto_pluginname_strings_for_js (replace atto_pluginname with your plugin component name).

function atto_pluginname_strings_for_js() {
    global $PAGE;

    $PAGE->requires->strings_for_js(array('stringReference'),
                                    'atto_pluginname');
}

Reference : https://docs.moodle.org/dev/Atto#Atto_subplugin_Php_API

If using mustache templates you can also reference these strings using the following reference and passing the variable via javaScript

{{get_string "stringReference" component}}
var component = 'atto_pluginname',
EXAMPLETEMPLATE = '<div>{{get_string "stringReference" component}}</div>';

You can then use the below code to convert the mustache strings in the example template to the Language strings stored in your plugin language file ( /lang/en/atto_pluginname.php ). Remember to pass the component name (usually stored in a variable) and to reference the string in the plugin’s lib.php file otherwise it won’t work!

/* This example function can pass form content to a dialogue box in Atto */
_getDialogueContent: function() {
		
		// this will be the form template.
		var finaltemplate = Y.Handlebars.compile(EXAMPLETEMPLATE);
		
		// insert variables into the template
		var content = Y.Node.create(finaltemplate({
			component: component
		}));
		
		return content;
	},

Inserting a Template into Content Example

	 /**
	 * Change the title to the specified style.
	 *
	 * @method _insertTemplate
	 * @param {EventFacade} e
	 * @param {string} template
	 * @private
	 */
	_insertTemplate: function(e, template) {
		this._currentSelection = this.get('host').getSelection();
		var host = this.get('host');
		
		// Focus on the last point.
		host.setSelection(this._currentSelection);
		
		// And add the template. e.g. <p>test</p>
		host.insertContentAtFocusPoint(template);
		
		// Mark as updated
		this.markUpdated();
	}

A callback that can be added to globalItemConfig: { } to insert a HTML template into the main content editor. This can be extended to fill in information from a dialog form.

Note: I think there is probably a way to compile the template passed in like there is for the form dialogue but I ended up writing a custom one for inserting into Editor Content because if I use the same method as form dialogue it goes wrong – I’m suspecting I don’t have a setting right somewhere but I need to look deeper into this!

/**
	 * Replace Mustache Placeholders with content
	 *
	 * @method _replaceMustache
	 * @param {string} template (html)
	 * @param {object} variables
	 * @private
	 */
	_replaceMustache: function(template, variables) {
		
		// holder for the final output.
		var finalHtml = template;
		
		// this next bit is only if we have variables to play with.
		if(typeof variables == "object" && Object.keys(variables).length !== 0) {
			
			// Loop through the object
			for (const [key, value] of Object.entries(variables)) {
				
				// find each mustache key and replace with the value.
				var regex = new RegExp(`{{${key}}}`,`g`);
				finalHtml = finalHtml.replace(regex, value);
				
			}
			
		}
		
		return finalHtml;
	},

Troubleshooting

A few things that tripped me up while working out how to get this to work!

Button not appearing

Check it has been set in Site Administration > Plugins > Text Editors > Atto HTML Editor -> Atto Toolbar Settings ( ../admin/settings.php?section=editorsettingsatto )

Add “pluginname = pluginname” to the bottom of Toolbar Config to make it show at the end of the toolbar. You can also insert it inside a group of icons if needed.
Note you should change “pluginname” to match your component name

Question for later : is it possible to add it by default or is that a bad idea and if so why?

Missing Strings?

If a string is called in the YUI js files it must be specified in the language strings file in order to show. Otherwise you will get errors!

It also may need to be specified in lib.php in the atto_pluginname_strings_for_js() function. 

function atto_pluginname_strings_for_js() {
    global $PAGE;

    $PAGE->requires->strings_for_js(array('accordion',
										  'pluginname',
										  'h3',
                                          'h4',
                                          'h5',
                                          'pre',
                                          'p'),
                                    'atto_pluginname');
}

Missing YUI component?

This seems very obvious in hindsight but although the documentation only mentions requiring yui/src/button.js you actually need javascript files in /yui/build/moodle-atto_pluginname-button/ to exist for example : moodle-atto_pluginname-button.js as well for this to work. Otherwise it just won’t load and you’ll get a missing module message in dev tools console. These files get automatically created when you compile with shifter or (presumably) Grunt.

YUI module not compiling

One of those silly obvious ones but make sure any custom functions you add are separated by a comma!

Useful Documentation

https://docs.moodle.org/dev/Atto
https://docs.moodle.org/dev/Frankenstyle
https://docs.moodle.org/dev/YUI/Modules
https://docs.moodle.org/dev/YUI/Shifter
https://docs.moodle.org/dev/Grunt

Presentation Links

Presentation Links

Useful Links

Useful Tools

Courses

Moodle Academy Development Path
https://moodle.academy

Introduction to Web Accessibility
https://www.edx.org/course/web-accessibility-introduction

WordPress 5.9 Notes for Full Site Editing

WordPress 5.9 Notes for Full Site Editing

Some Useful links for later reading:

https://ithemes.com/blog/wordpress-5-9/

https://github.com/WordPress/theme-experiments/tree/master/emptytheme

https://developer.wordpress.org/block-editor/how-to-guides/themes/block-theme-overview/
https://developer.wordpress.org/block-editor/how-to-guides/themes/create-block-theme/
https://developer.wordpress.org/block-editor/how-to-guides/themes/theme-json/
Accessibility Notes

Accessibility Notes

Some notes, interesting quotes, videos and useful links for accessibility on the web and in apps that I’m noting down as I learn more about Accessibility.

Accessibility is about user experience

Understand how users with different disabilities use the web

Users won’t always be able to see the screen and won’t always be using a mouse and keyboard.

Disabilities can include

  • auditory
  • cognitive
  • neurological
  • physical
  • speech
  • visual
  • or a mixture of these

“around 15 to 20% of people require accessibility — over 1 billion worldwide!”

“The most important thing is making technology work well for people with disabilities.”

W3C / introduction to Web Accessibility (Edex)

A different point of view

Making the web and apps accessible can benefit more than just users with disabilities. It can help all users by making content easier to understand, easier to read, clearer and easier to access where connectivity is a problem.

As an example one of the first Typewriters was invented to help Pellegrino Turri’s blind friend to write more legibly.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Pellegrino_Turri

Vision, hearing, cognitive ability and physical ability can also deteriorate over time as we get older.

“When we work on making our devices accessible by the blind,
I don’t consider the bloody ROI.”

Tim Cook, CEO of Apple

Design Principles

Accessibility overlaps with User Experience and User Interface Design.

inclusivedesignprinciples.org

All design should follow a cyclical process of :

  • Requirement Analysis,
  • Design,
  • Implementation,
  • Testing,
  • Evolution,
  • And Repeat…

A Cyclical Process

The web and accessibility standards are constantly evolving and growing so we need to keep reviewing and improving our UX constantly. People also need to be continually trained on how to create accessible content. We all have a corporate social responsibility to make the web and apps accessible as well as a legal one. Accessibility is a human right.

Perceivable

Content should be presentable in different ways so it can be perceived by all users.

Operable

Websites and apps should be operable by all users regardless of disability

Understandable

Content should be understandable for all users.

Robust

Website, Apps and their content should be interpreted reliably by a variety of different devices.

https://www.w3.org/WAI/standards-guidelines/wcag/glance/

Consistancy

Be consistent with your pattern designs

For example do we really need 22 different buttons styles, when one or two would do?

Pattern Libraries can be useful in mitigating this across teams so team members can refer back to the reference.

“Interfaces that break too many rules may win design awards, but they’ll also alienate users. As a rule of thumb, users should be able to look at any part of your interface and think, “I’ve seen something like this before”. Not exactly like it, but like it.”

Inclusive Design Principles: Be Consistent by Henny Swan
Accessed 4/02/22 : https://www.tpgi.com/inclusive-design-principle-be-consistent/

Videos, Slideshows and Presentations

Videos should have closed captions for both blind and deaf users. Audio Descriptions can also be useful in making the videos understandable to blind or partially sighted users. Captions can be read out by screen readers so blind users can also follow along as well.

Captions are synchronised with the video content so they appear at the right time for users who can’t hear the spoken words or have trouble understanding what has been said.

YouTube will automatically create Closed Captions for you, but you should review these before publishing as they won’t be 100% accurate and may have some hilariously wrong translations in there. e.g. YouTube cannot translate the name of our college Dumfries and Galloway College.

https://www.w3.org/WAI/fundamentals/accessibility-principles/#captions

https://www.w3.org/WAI/media/av/

Audio Only Files & Transcripts

Transcripts are optional for videos whereas captions are required. They can be useful for users who don’t want to watch the video and would rather have it read out to them.

They are essential for Audio only files such as Podcasts.

Signlanguage

Sign language can also be used on videos so a deaf user who knows sign language can follow the content. They can create a richer experience for deaf users whose first language may be sign language.

Alternative Text

Images and multimedia such as charts should have alternative text so that they can be read by Screen Readers or converted to brail and be understood by blind or partially sighted users. This is especially important where the image or non text media is used to impart information.

This text will depend a lot on context. For instance if you had a picture of a woman wearing a blue shirt and the context was a shopping website selling blue shirts you probably want the image alt text to mention that the woman is wearing a blue shirt and describe that shirt.

If the image has text in it that is readable you should reproduce this text in the alt tag as well.

Alt text should be succinct and understandable to the user.

Any empty alt tag indicates that the image is decorative and can be ignored this is not the same as a missing alt tag. You can also use aria-hidden=”true” but be aware that not every device will recognise this. 

<img src="example.jpg" alt="A young woman in a floaty pale blue shirt" />
<img src="decorative.png" alt="" aria-hidden="true" />

https://www.w3.org/WAI/fundamentals/accessibility-principles/#alternatives

https://www.w3.org/WAI/tutorials/images/

Text Size

Responsive websites can also help users when using zoom to resize the text on their screen to make it larger or smaller if they are coded correctly.

One size does not fit all!

Don’t assume that larger text is more accessible than small text. For some users this is not the case. Users with tunnel vision may actually prefer small text with tight linespacing because they can read more of the words at once making reading quicker and easier for them. This is why being able to adjust the text on the screen can be useful. Your web page should support adjusting text size so that text does not overlap when font size is increased. Avoiding fixed dimensions and using %’s, ems and rems rather than px or pt can help with this.

Target Size

Larger buttons, links an checkboxes with spacing around them are easier to hit or tap particularly by users who have poor motor control or tremors.

Colour Contrast

Colour contrast between textual information and its background should have a decent contrast so it is clear to the reader. Where colour is used as an indicator there should also be an alternative indicator for the colourblind so the differences are clear. E.g. underlines under text links.

“Colour (color) blindness (colour vision deficiency, or CVD) affects approximately 1 in 12 men (8%) and 1 in 200 women in the world. In Britain this means that there are approximately 3 million colour blind people (about 4.5% of the entire population), most of whom are male.”

Colourblind Awareness https://www.colourblindawareness.org/colour-blindness/

“Around 15% of people over 45 have some form of reduced vision”

W3C / Introduction to Accessibility

“The contrast ratio should be at least 4.5:1 and ideally 7:1 for text. For graphical objects, such as charts, and for large text, a contrast ratio of 3:1 may be sufficient.”

W3C / Introduction to Accessibility

https://www.tpgi.com/color-contrast-checker/ (Colour Contrast Tool Windows & Mac)

WCAG

Voice Inputs

Making search boxes on text boxes voice activated gives users the option to enter in information using speech.

Optional Animation / Low movement

Make animation and movement on a website optional. Make use of web browser indicators to turn this off where a user has this option set.

Understandable Content

How page content is structured can make it easier to understand for all users.

Headings help break up the text and make it easy to navigate and find information for all users.

Some things like logins and navigation should be kept where the user would expect to find it.

Tooltips and hover content can be lost when screen magnification is on.

Cognitive Accessibility Design

https://www.w3.org/WAI/fundamentals/accessibility-principles/#distinguishable

Control of Audio

Being able to easily disable audio in order to hear the output of a screen reader is a must.

Dark Modes / Light Modes

Having this option can help reduce glare or eyestrain. Some users may find content is easier to read by changing the setting to either dark mode or light mode.

Assistive Technologies

“Assistive Technologies refer to hardware or software that enable people with disabilities to interact and engage with the digital environment e.g. using a screen reader or a switch control.”

W3C / Introduction to Accessibility

“Adaptive Strategies are techniques that people with disabilities use to interact with the digital environment such as adjusting platform and browser settings or resizing browser windows.”

W3C / Introduction to Accessibility

How People with Disabilities use the Web

Closed Captions / Audio Descriptions

These are used to help blind or low vision users to understand video content. They can also be useful to users with cognitive disabilities or users who are in noisy or quiet environments. They can also be used to help support children learning how to read.

Switch Inputs

These include:

  • Sip-and-puff switches which are triggered by sipping and puffing into a straw which then mimics tabbing and clicking.
  • Button switches which can be activated using the hand, foot or head. These can be single switches or multiple switches.
  • Camera switches which can be activated when tilting the head into a camera. Some mobile phones have this built into the accessibility settings.
  • Eye tracking, the process of measuring either the point of gaze (where one is looking) or the motion of an eye relative to the head.
  • Links and Buttons should use standard HTML elements like <a> or <button> – this also applies for inputs and select fields.
  • Links and buttons should be labelled appropriately
  • links, buttons and inputs should be selectable and focusable using a keyboard.
  • Links and buttons should show when focus is on them using colour and another visual indicator.
  • Links and Buttons should follow a logical focus order. Left to right Top to bottom.

Table of the standard keystrokes:

InteractionKeystrokes
Navigate to most elementsTabShift + Tab – navigate backward
LinkEnter
ButtonEnter or Spacebar
CheckboxSpacebar – check/uncheck a checkbox
Radio buttons↑/↓ or ←/→ – select an optionTab – move to the next element
Select (dropdown) menu↑/↓ – navigate between menu optionsSpacebar – expand
AutocompleteType to begin filtering↑/↓ – navigate to an optionEnter – select an option
DialogEsc – close
Slider↑/↓ or ←/→ – increase or decrease slider valueHome/End – beginning or end
Menu bar↑/↓ – Previous/next menu optionEnter – expand the menu (optional) and select an option.←/→ – expand/collapse submenu
Tab panelTab – once to navigate into the group of tabs and once to navigate out of the group of tabs↑/↓ or ←/→ – previous/next tab.
‘Tree’ menu↑/↓ – Navigate Previous/next menu option←/→ – expand/collapse submenu, move up/down one level
Scroll↑/↓ – scroll vertically←/→ – scroll horizontallySpacebar/Shift + Spacebar – scroll by page

Techniques for Keyboard Navigation

Screen Reader Notes

Common screen readers include Jaws for Windows, NVDA for Windows, Narrator bundled with Windows, VoiceOver bundled with MacOS and iOS, and TalkBack bundled with Android.

  1. Content should be laid out in a structured way
  2. Headings should follow a standard hierarchical order
  3. Skip to Content links should be included
  4. Links should have understandable labels not just “Click Here”

Remember : Not all Screen Reader users are blind. Some are partially sighted, some may have cognitive difficulties with reading text, some may be audio learners, some may may just want to listen to text being read out while they do other things.

https://egghead.io/lessons/screen-reader-navigate-a-webpage-with-voiceover-in-safari

How to Navigate your iPhone or iPad with VoiceOver (Apple Support)

Using Voice Over Example

1. Switch VO on and off

To switch on VoiceOver go to Settings → General → Accessibility → VoiceOver then activate the VoiceOver ‘on’ switch to enable it.

2. Map the accessibility shortcut key

Before you start navigating, please set up the Accessibility shortcut menu. It is recommended you do this as it makes testing a lot quicker and easier as you don’t have to go into settings each time to switch VoiceOver on and off.  Once set up, you are able to switch the accessibility features on and off using triple click on the side button (home button for older devices).

To enable this go to Settings → General → Accessibility → Accessibility Shortcuts and select VoiceOver and Zoom from the list of options. When you want to switch VoiceOver or Zoom on and off quickly, all you need do is triple click the side or home button to activate the menu to select VoiceOver or Zoom.

3. Complete the VoiceOver tutorial

Using the gestures below complete the VoiceOver tutorial. To do this go to Settings → General → Accessibility → VoiceOver, turn VoiceOver ‘on’ and select VoiceOver Practice.

Explore by touch: drag your finger over the screen to have VoiceOver describe the items under your finger. You can tap with a second finger or double-tap to open links, press buttons, and so on.

  • Gesture navigation: swipe right with a single finger to move from one item to the next in sequence, swipe left to go backward through this sequence. VoiceOver describes items as you move focus around the screen.
  • Announce an element: single tap sets focus on an element so it is announced.
  • Activate an element: double-tap a single finger to open links, press buttons, and navigate using the Rotor.
  • Open the Rotor: turn a dial with two fingers to open the Rotor. Drag your finger around the dial to choose headings from the list of items.
  • Jump between element: swipe up and down to jump between headings.
  • Screen curtain: with three fingers, quickly triple-tap the screen to turn it on and off. If the Zoom feature is in use with VoiceOver, tap the screen four times with three fingers.
Assistive Tech: TalkBack on Android

Digital Braille Display

Users who are blind and read braille may combine a screen reader with a hardware called a refreshable braille display. This sits next to the keyboard and is made up of hundreds of pins that move to create the braille. There are also smaller, portable, Bluetooth braille displays that can connect to mobiles and tablets, and be used on the move. 

Allows users who are blind and deaf to read text on the web or blind users to read text quietly.

  1. Content should be laid out in a structured way
  2. Headings should follow a standard hierarchical order
  3. Links should have understandable labels not just “Click Here”
  4. Skip to Content links should be included

Speech to Text / Voice Over

Allows users to navigate and interact with the web using their voice. This helps users with limited dexterity or muscular control limitations, paralysis or missing limbs.

  1. Links and Buttons should use standard HTML elements like <a> or <button> – this also applies for inputs and select fields.
  2. Links and buttons should be labelled appropriately
  3. links, buttons and inputs should be selectable and focusable using only voice.
  4. Links and buttons should show when focus is on them using colour and another visual indicator.
  5. Inputs option to be speech activated so text can be inputted by speaking.

Standards and guidelines for Accessibility

  1. Web Content Accessibility Guidelines (WCAG)
    defines requirements on how to make Web content such as text, images, multimedia, structure and presentation accessible
  2. Authoring Tool Accessibility Guidelines (ATAG)
    defines requirements on how to make the authoring tools themselves accessible, so that people with disabilities can create web content. It also defines requirements how authors can create accessible web content and conform to WCAG
  3. User Agent Accessibility Guidelines (UAAG)
    provides guidance on how to make user agents accessible to people with disabilities. User agents include browsers, browser extensions, media players, readers and other applications that render web content
  4. Accessible Rich Internet Applications (WAI-ARIA)

Testing Accessibility

You can test by

  • Using CMD+- and CMS ++ to increase font size in your browser
  • Text should wrap when it gets larger
  • You can test voice over on the phone
  • You can test by using the tab key and shift + tab to navigate through links on the keyboard
  • Check Colour contrast meets guidelines
  • Use visual indicators other than just colour to indicate links, focus and hover. Can you tell where you are when viewing in grayscale?
  • You can resize text by modifying the text size settings within your browser if the website is coded correctly the text will adjust.
  • You can use zoom to make the font larger too but this also magnifies everything else.
  • Consider disabled users, using mobile devices. Some may only have access to a mobile or tablet.
  • Turn off CSS styles using a plugin tool like Web Developer Toolbar or the browsers in built settings.
  • Replace images with their alt text using a plugin tool like Web Developer Toolbar

Useful Tools for Testing Accessibility

https://chrome.google.com/webstore/detail/web-developer/bfbameneiokkgbdmiekhjnmfkcnldhhm

https://chrispederick.com/work/web-developer/

https://wave.webaim.org/extension/

Before and After Demo of a bad website

Useful Reading

A Web of Anxiety : Accessibility for people with anxiety and panic disorders

https://www.w3.org/WAI/business-case/

Dos and don’ts on designing for accessibility