Accessibility in EJ2 JavaScript Auto complete control
24 Jan 202410 minutes to read
The AutoComplete 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 AutoComplete 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 AutoComplete component is outlined below.
- All features of the component meet the requirement.
- Some features of the component do not meet the requirement.
- The component does not meet the requirement.WAI-ARIA attributes
The AutoComplete component uses the combobox role and each list item has an option role. The following ARIA Attributes denote the AutoComplete state.
| Property | Functionalities |
|---|---|
| aria-haspopup | Indicates whether the AutoComplete input element has a suggestion list or not. |
| aria-expanded | Indicates whether the suggestion list has expanded or not. |
| aria-selected | Indicates the selected option from the list. |
| aria-readonly | Indicates the readonly state of the AutoComplete element. |
| aria-disabled | Indicates whether the AutoComplete 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 suggestion list to indicate popup as a child element. |
| aria-autocomplete | This attribute contains the ‘both’ to a list of options shows and the currently selected suggestion also shows inline. |
Keyboard interaction
You can use the following key shortcuts to access the AutoComplete without interruptions.
| Keyboard shortcuts | Actions |
|---|---|
| Arrow Down | In popup hidden state, opens the suggestion list. In popup open state, selects the first item when no item selected else selects the item next to the currently selected item. |
| Arrow Up | In popup hidden state, opens the suggestion list. In popup open state, selects the last item when no item selected else selects the item previous to the currently selected one. |
| Page Down | Scrolls down to the next page and selects the first item when popup list opens. |
| Page Up | Scrolls up to previous page and select the first item when popup list open. |
| Enter | Selects the focused item and set to AutoComplete component. |
| Tab | Focuses on the next tab indexed element when the popup is closed. Otherwise, closes the popup list and remains the focus in component suppose if it is in an open state. |
| Shift + tab | Focuses the previous tab indexed element when the popup is closed. Otherwise,closes the popup list and remains the focus in component suppose if it is in an open state. |
| Alt + Down | Opens the popup list. |
| Alt + Up | In popup hidden state, opens the popup list. In popup open state, closes the popup list. |
| Esc(Escape) | Closes the popup list when it is in an open state then remove the selection. |
| Home | Cursor moves to before of first character in input. |
| End | Cursor moves to next of last character in input. |
In the below sample, focus the AutoComplete component using alt+t keys.
var gameList = [
{ id: 'Game1', game: 'Badminton' },
{ id: 'Game2', game: 'Basketball' },
{ id: 'Game3', game: 'Cricket' },
{ id: 'Game4', game: 'Football' },
{ id: 'Game5', game: 'Golf' },
{ id: 'Game6', game: 'Hockey' },
{ id: 'Game7', game: 'Rugby' },
{ id: 'Game8', game: 'Snooker' },
{ id: 'Game9', game: 'Tennis' },
];
// initialize AutoComplete component
var acObject = new ej.dropdowns.AutoComplete({
//set the data to dataSource property
dataSource: gameList,
//map to colum to fields
fields: { value: 'game' },
// set placeholder to AutoComplete input element
placeholder: "Select games",
// set the popup list height
popupHeight: '200px'
});
// render initialized AutoComplete
acObject.appendTo('#atcelement');
document.onkeyup = function (e) {
if (e.altKey && e.keyCode === 84 /* t */) {
// press alt+t to focus the control.
acObject.focusIn();
}
};<!DOCTYPE html><html lang="en"><head>
<title>Essential JS 2 AutoComplete</title>
<meta charset="utf-8">
<meta name="viewport" content="width=device-width, initial-scale=1.0">
<meta name="description" content="Typescript UI Controls">
<meta name="author" content="Syncfusion">
<link href="styles.css" rel="stylesheet">
<link href="https://cdn.syncfusion.com/ej2/27.2.2/ej2-base/styles/material.css" rel="stylesheet">
<link href="https://cdn.syncfusion.com/ej2/27.2.2/ej2-inputs/styles/material.css" rel="stylesheet">
<link href="https://cdn.syncfusion.com/ej2/27.2.2/ej2-dropdowns/styles/material.css" rel="stylesheet">
<script src="https://cdn.syncfusion.com/ej2/27.2.2/dist/ej2.min.js" type="text/javascript"></script>
<script src="https://cdn.syncfusion.com/ej2/syncfusion-helper.js" type ="text/javascript"></script>
</head>
<body>
<div id="container" style="margin:0 auto; width:250px;">
<input type="text" tabindex="1" id="atcelement">
</div>
<script>
var ele = document.getElementById('container');
if(ele) {
ele.style.visibility = "visible";
}
</script>
<script src="index.js" type="text/javascript"></script>
</body></html>Ensuring accessibility
The AutoComplete component’s accessibility levels are ensured through an accessibility-checker and axe-core software tools during automated testing.
The accessibility compliance of the AutoComplete component is shown in the following sample. Open the sample in a new window to evaluate the accessibility of the AutoComplete component with accessibility tools.