Developers

2.1.1 Keyboard (Level A)

Your website must be fully accessible using only a keyboard.

What you need to know

  • Everything on your website must be accessible without using a mouse.
  • Certain programs that require a keyboard, for example, painting programs, may fall under an exception.

What you need to do

  • Unplug your mouse and make sure you can do everything on your website that you would be able to do with the mouse operating.
  • Make sure you have no specific timings for individual keystrokes, for example, requiring a user to hold down a key or make multiple keystrokes within a few seconds before the keystroke is registered.
  • Here are some elements you should double check:
  1. Forms
  2. Submission buttons
  3. Media players
  4. Navigation menus and submenus
  5. Sidebar content
  6. Embedded content

Reference

Read the full explanation of success criterion 2.1.1 on W3.org.

Related Resource

Check out “Keyboard Accessible: Make all functionality available from a keyboard” from WebAIM for more information about this success criterion.