Accessibility in Syncfusion React Components

2 Feb 202410 minutes to read

Accessibility overview

Accessibility in components refers to the practice of designing and building user interface elements in a way that makes them accessible to users with disabilities. This can include a variety of things, such as making sure that text is high-contrast and easy to read, providing alternative text for images, and designing controls and interactions that can be used with a keyboard or assistive technology.

Accessibility standards

The component is said to be accessible when it is constructed in accordance with certain standards that are required to make it accessible.

The accessibility of the components consists of the following standards and aspects:

ADA - A law to ensure that people with disabilities have the same opportunities and access as people without disabilities.
WCAG 2.2 - The Web Content Accessibility Guidelines (WCAG) provide guidelines developed by the World Wide Web Consortium (W3C) to ensure web content is accessible to people with disabilities. WCAG 2.2 establishes a framework of accessibility principles and their associated success criteria. The level of accessibility conformance achieved by a web application is determined by the extent to which it meets these success criteria, categorized into three levels: A, AA, and AAA.
Section 508 - It is a set of guidelines for making electronic and information technology (EIT) accessible to people with disabilities. These standards apply to federal agencies in the United States, and they are based on the Web Content Accessibility Guidelines (WCAG).
WAI-ARIA - WAI-ARIA stands for “Web Accessibility Initiative - Accessible Rich Internet Applications.” It is a set of technical specifications and guidelines developed by the World Wide Web Consortium (W3C) as part of the Web Accessibility Initiative (WAI). WAI-ARIA is designed to enhance the accessibility of dynamic web content, particularly web applications and rich internet applications (RIAs), for people with disabilities. WAI-ARIA provides a set of roles, states, and properties that can be added to HTML elements to provide additional context and information about the purpose and behavior of those elements. This can help assistive technologies better understand and interpret web content and interact with web applications.
Keyboard navigation - It refers to the ability to use a keyboard to interact with and navigate through a user interface. It is an important aspect of web accessibility, as it allows people who cannot use a mouse or other pointing device to access and use web content and applications.

Syncfusion React components adhere to these established standards.

Accessibility compliance

The accessibility support provided by Syncfusion React components is based on a collection of methodologies for adhering to and applying recognized standards and technical specifications to ensure an intuitive experience for people with disabilities.

There are several methodologies of accessibility validation that can be performed on the Syncfusion React components, such as:

The WAI-ARIA patterns are followed by the Syncfusion React components to enable appreciable accessibility.
Each React component is subjected to manual testing with a screen reader and also automated test cases to ensure the component’s required attributes.
Attributes are allocated and updated correctly during interaction as well. Each component has been assigned a distinct Role attribute and its own set of ARIA attributes defined by the WCAG 2.2 specification.

In addition to the methodologies mentioned above, Syncfusion React components are constructed to support the following accessibility aspects.

A screen reader allows people who are blind or visually impaired to use a computer by reading aloud the text that is displayed on the screen. Syncfusion React components followed the WAI-ARIA standards to work properly in the screen readers such as Narrator for Windows and Embedded VoiceOver for MAC.

Right-To-Left support

Right-to-Left (RTL) support allows applications to effectively communicate with users who use languages that are written from right to left, such as Arabic, Hebrew, etc. Syncfusion React components support the Right-to-Left feature. Refer to the Right-to-Left documentation to learn more about this support.

Color contrast

Syncfusion React components come equipped with predefined themes that guarantee the presence of satisfactory color contrast, benefiting individuals with visual impairments.

Mobile device support

Syncfusion React components are more user-friendly and accessible to individuals using mobile devices, including those with disabilities. These are designed to be responsive, adaptable to various screen sizes and orientations, and touch-friendly.

Syncfusion React components support keyboard navigation, allowing users who rely on alternate methods to effortlessly navigate and interact with the component.

Ensuring accessibility

Ensuring the accessibility of Syncfusion React components is crucial for making the product inclusive and user-friendly for individuals with disabilities. This process involves various types of accessibility testing, including:

Automated testing: The Syncfusion React component’s accessibility levels are ensured through an accessibility-checker and axe-core software tools.
Manual testing: This type of testing involves manually evaluating the Syncfusion React components. During manual accessibility testing, testers will ensure accessibility using the screen readers such as Narrator for Windows and Embedded VoiceOver for MAC.

Syncfusion React components will keep improving when there is anything required. It also involves client feedback to make the component more accessible.

Accessibility support for specific components

Consult the component-specific documents below for detailed information about how Syncfusion React components ensure compliance with accessibility standards, encompassing Section 508, WAI-ARIA, WCAG 2.2, keyboard navigation, and more.

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