2.3 Avoid movement in content
Contents
WAI checkpoint 7.3
Full WAI text: "Until user agents allow users to freeze moving content, avoid movement in pages." User agents are software which people use to access Web content. User agents could be desktop graphical browsers, text browsers, voice browsers, mobile phones, multimedia players, plug-ins, and some software assistive technologies used in conjunction with browsers such as screen readers, screen magnifiers, and voice recognition software.
Examples of moving content include animations or continually scrolling news tickers. Not all user agents allow users to freeze moving content. Until such time as they do, avoid presenting it on web pages.
Rationale
Content that moves continuously is distracting and annoying for most users. Users who read visually often hide animations or moving text from view by covering it with their hands, a piece of paper or by scrolling the page so it can't be seen.
Links that are presented as a continually scrolling list require users to read the list and decide to follow one link before it disappears. This is tedious because many people prefer to read the entire list before making a choice. Clicking on moving links can be difficult for users with limited dexterity.
Screen reader users find moving content difficult or impossible to use because screen readers do not cope with content that changes continually within the browser window.Users with reading or concentration difficulties find moving content difficult to comprehend and users with poor vision find it very hard to focus on moving content.
"I hate scrolling displays. They're nice because they are dynamic and they get your attention but I can't actually read them because I can't focus on moving text." - user with low vision
Directions and Techniques
There are no specific techniques recommended for this guideline.
How you could check for this:
There are no specific test methods recommended for this guideline.
Guidelines for Web Accessibility - Priority 2- 2.1 Ensure that images have sufficient contrast for people with colour deficient vision
- 2.2 Avoid causing content to blink
- 2.3 Avoid movement in content
- 2.4 Ensure that dynamic content is accessible or provide an alternative presentation or page
- 2.5 Use style sheets to control layout and presentation
- 2.6 Use relative rather than absolute units
- 2.7 Use header elements to convey structure
- 2.8 Break up large blocks of information where appropriate
- 2.9 Ensure that information laid out using tables make sense when linearised, or provide an alternative equivalent
- 2.10 Do not use structural mark-up to format information laid out using tables
- 2.11 Describe the purpose of frames and how they relate to each other if it is not obvious by their titles alone
- 2.12 Clearly identify the target of each link
- 2.13 Provide information about pages and sites in metadata
- 2.14 Provide information about the general layout of a site
- 2.15 Use navigation mechanisms consistently
- 2.16 Associate labels explicitly with their controls
- 2.17 Properly position the labels of form controls
- 2.18 Ensure that user interfaces are device-independent
- 2.19 Use logical event handlers in scripts
- 2.20 Use input device-independent event handlers in scripts and applets
- 2.21 Ensure that scripts and applets are accessible
- 2.22 When an appropriate markup language exists, use markup rather than images to convey information
- 2.23 Create documents that validate to published formal grammars
- 2.24 Mark up lists and list items using the proper HTML tags
- 2.25 Use quotation mark-up for quotations, but not for formatting
- 2.26 Where possible, use appropriate W3C technologies of the latest supported versions
- 2.27 Avoid deprecated features of W3C technologies
- 2.28 Do not periodically auto-refresh pages
- 2.29 Do not use mark-up to redirect pages automatically
- 2.30 Do not generate pop-ups or other windows and do not change the current window without informing the user
