Accessibility in Angular Multi select component

27 Apr 20249 minutes to read

The MultiSelect component has been designed, keeping in mind the WAI-ARIA specifications, and applies the WAI-ARIA roles, states, and properties along with keyboard support. This component is characterized by complete keyboard interaction support and ARIA accessibility support that makes it easy for people who use assistive technologies (AT) or those who completely rely on keyboard navigation.

The MultiSelect component followed the accessibility guidelines and standards, including ADA, Section 508, WCAG 2.2 standards, and WCAG roles that are commonly used to evaluate accessibility.

The accessibility compliance for the MultiSelect component is outlined below.

Accessibility Criteria Compatibility
WCAG 2.2 Support Yes
Section 508 Support Yes
Screen Reader Support Yes
Right-To-Left Support Yes
Color Contrast Yes
Mobile Device Support Yes
Keyboard Navigation Support Yes
Accessibility Checker Validation Yes
Axe-core Accessibility Validation Yes
Yes - All features of the component meet the requirement.
Intermediate - Some features of the component do not meet the requirement.
No - The component does not meet the requirement.

WAI-ARIA attributes

The MultiSelect component uses the Listbox role, and each list item has an option role. The following ARIA attributes denote the MultiSelect state.
ARIA attributes denote the MultiSelect state.

Properties Functionalities
aria-haspopup Indicates whether the MultiSelect input element has a popup list or not.
aria-expanded Indicates whether the popup list has expanded or not.
aria-selected Indicates the selected option.
aria-readonly Indicates the readonly state of the MultiSelect element.
aria-disabled Indicates whether the MultiSelect component is in a disabled state or not.
aria-activedescendent This attribute holds the ID of the active list item to focus its descendant child element.
aria-owns This attribute contains the ID of the popup list to indicate popup as a child element.

Keyboard interaction

You can use the following key shortcuts to access the MultiSelect without interruptions.

Keyboard shortcuts Actions
Arrow Down Set focus at the first item in the MultiSelect when no item selected. Otherwise, moves focus next to the currently selected item.
Arrow Up Moves focus previous to the currently selected one.
Page Down Scrolls down to the next page and set focus to the first item when popup list opens.
Page Up Scrolls up to the previous page and set focus to the first item when popup list opens.
Enter Selects the focused item, and popup list closes when it is in open state.
Tab Focuses on the next TabIndex element on the page when the popup is closed. Otherwise, closes the popup list and remains the focus of the component.
Shift + tab Focuses on the previous TabIndex element on the page when the popup is closed. Otherwise, closes the popup list and remains the focus of the component.
Alt + Down Opens the popup list.
Alt + Up Closes the popup list.
Esc(Escape) Closes the popup list when it is in an open state and the currently selected item remains the same.
Home set focus to the first item.
End set focus to the last item.

In the below sample, focus the MultiSelect component using alt+t keys.

import { NgModule } from '@angular/core'
import { BrowserModule } from '@angular/platform-browser'
import { FormsModule, ReactiveFormsModule } from '@angular/forms'
import { MultiSelectModule } from '@syncfusion/ej2-angular-dropdowns'
import { ButtonModule } from '@syncfusion/ej2-angular-buttons'




import { Component, HostListener,ViewChild } from '@angular/core';
import { MultiSelectComponent } from '@syncfusion/ej2-angular-dropdowns';
@Component({
imports: [
        FormsModule, ReactiveFormsModule, MultiSelectModule, ButtonModule
    ],


standalone: true,
    selector: 'app-root',
    // specifies the template string for the MultiSelect component
    template: `<ejs-multiselect id='multiselectelement' #samples [dataSource]='gameList' [fields]='fields'[placeholder]='placeholder' [popupHeight]='height'></ejs-multiselect>`
})
export class AppComponent {
    @ViewChild('samples')
    public sports?: MultiSelectComponent;
    constructor() {
    }
    //set the data to dataSource property
    public gameList: Object[] =  [
        { id: 'Game1', game: 'Badminton' },
        { id: 'Game2', game: 'Basketball' },
        { id: 'Game3', game: 'Cricket' },
        { id: 'Game4', game: 'Football' },
        { id: 'Game5', game: 'Golf' }
    ];
    // maps the appropriate column to fields property
    public fields: Object = { text: 'game', value: 'id' };
    // set the popup list height
    public height: string = '200px';
    // set placeholder to MultiSelect input element
    public placeholder: string = 'Select games';
    @HostListener('document:keyup', ['$event'])
    handleKeyboardEvent(event: KeyboardEvent) {
        if (event.altKey && event.keyCode === 84 /* t */) {
            // press alt+t to focus the control.
            this.sports!.focusIn();
        }
    }
}
import { bootstrapApplication } from '@angular/platform-browser';
import { AppComponent } from './app.component';
import 'zone.js';
bootstrapApplication(AppComponent).catch((err) => console.error(err));

Ensuring accessibility

The MultiSelect component’s accessibility levels are ensured through an accessibility-checker and axe-core software tools during automated testing.

The accessibility compliance of the MultiSelect component is shown in the following sample. Open the sample in a new window to evaluate the accessibility of the MultiSelect component with accessibility tools.

See also