Every website is bound to the Americans with Disabilities Act. A failure to abide by the ADA can lead to you and your business receiving an ADA web accessibility lawsuit.
Clarifying the ways in which keyboard navigation plays into ADA web accessibility and speaking with an ADA web accessibility lawyer, will allow you to protect yourself and your business.
What Is ADA Web Accessibility?
Many, many people are disabled and, as such, they cannot interact/engage with the world in the same way that able-bodied individuals can.
To ensure that those with disabilities have access to the same information and opportunities as able-bodied individuals, the Americans with Disabilities Act specifies that all websites must be ADA-accessible.
If a website is not ADA accessible, then this means that certain individuals with disabilities cannot interact/engage with your website in an accessible manner.
But, if a website is ADA accessible, then this means that those with disabilities can interact/engage with your website in an accessible manner.
Why Is Keyboard Navigation Crucial For ADA Web Accessibility?
Right before we clarify the importance of keyboard navigation, we must first go over the principles that underlie ADA web accessibility. And with that in mind, these principles are as follows:
-Perceivable
-Operable
-Understandable
-Robust
If your website is all of the above, then it will be considered ADA-accessible. But, if it isn’t, then your website will not be considered ADA accessible.
Regarding the second item on that list – “Operable” – your website must be operable to those with disabilities. One of the most notable ways that it can be operable is by allowing for keyboard navigation.
Many of those who are disabled cannot operate a mouse with the same level of precision, speed, and accuracy as those who are able-bodied. But keyboard navigation allows for easy, precise movements and, in turn, navigation.
Outside of the above, if a website does not support keyboard navigation, not only is it inaccessible to those who are disabled, but it could lead to you and your business receiving an ADA web accessibility lawsuit.
Making Sure Your Website Allows For Keyboard Navigation
You can conduct a variety of tests to make sure that your website allows for keyboard navigation. Some of the most useful of these tests are as follows:
Press the “Tab” key and see which elements it interacts with and which ones, if any, it does not.
Tap on the “Arrow” keys and see how it moves through the site.
Select links using keyboard navigation and see if they can be opened with the press of a key.
Check to make sure every action can be activated using just a keyboard.
Make sure that pressing the “Tab” key moves through elements from left to right in that exact order.
If you conduct these tests, and your website succeeds in allowing for these forms of navigation, then your website offers accessible keyboard navigation.
