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Test your website with The Tab Key!
How to quickly check if a website is accessible
When I use the word "website accessibility", I mean "website accessibility for disabled people".
I have been talking about website accessibility for disabled people since 2006, it has always been a passion of mine and always will be. The guidance to help website designers create websites meet the needs of disabled people have been around since, wait for it, 1999 and yet, most web designers have not heard about it or do not understand what it really means.
I do not want to get into the technicalities of website accessibility in this blog, I want to keep it nice and simple. This test is so easy, anyone can do it and know instantly whether the website they are on meets the needs of disabled people at a basic level.
Does it light up?
On this website, you will see a row of page links across the top. As you move the mouse over them, they light up in turn. If they are any subpages appearing below, they also light up in turn as you move the mouse over them. This means you can go to any page on the website with one click of the mouse, nice and easy!
However, if you are blind and you are using a screen-reader, you cannot use a mouse because you cannot see where it should go, so you use a keyboard instead. A screen reader, by the way, is software that "reads" out the web page you are on, using synthesized speech. You use different keys on the keyboard to navigate through the page, with the screen reader telling you each page you are on, as you go. The most basic test is to repeatedly press the Tab key. You should see each menu link or button light up in turn, just as if you were moving over it with a mouse. You may be able to tab through all the subpages as well, which is fine, although this can become tiring on a large menu. On menus that open and close, tab to the main menu button and press the Space bar or Enter. If the menu has been built properly, its subpages should appear and you should then be able to tab through them.
Try it now on this website and you should see it for yourself. This is a very basic level of accessibility but it does not exist on most websites and yet it can be easily fixed.
Try it on every website you are on!
Next time you are on a website, just start pressing the tab key. If you do not see the pages and subpages light up, or the sub pages do not appear if you press the spacce bar, it has failed the Tab Test and you should let the website owners know. This can be easily fixed and just doing this one simple thing, will make the website more accessible for disabled people.
There are a lot more things that need to be done, to make a website truly accessible but you have to start somewhere! Next time you are on a website, start pressing the Tab key. You should be able to see the menu links light up as you move through them. You may also tab directly through the subpages, which is fine. If the menu uses buttons to show and hide its subpages, try pressing the Space bar or Enter to open them. If you cannot reach the menu items, see where you are or operate the menu using the keyboard, the website has failed this basic accessibility test and you should let the website owners know1
Changing the World, One Website at a Time!
By doing this, you will be joining me in Changing the World, One Website at a Time!
If you would like a free 15-minute consultation about the accessibility of your website, please follow this link: https://calendly.com/cliveloseby/accessibility-audit-free-initial-consultation and book yourself in!
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