General Accessibility Features in Avalon
- The default language (English) is declared on each page.
- The search field uses an associated label element to enhance screen reader support.
- Search terms are included at the beginning of the page titles for search result pages.
- Selected facet labels are included at the beginning of the page titles for browse result pages.
- URLs provided to share specific media objects include an appropriate title attribute.
- The "more >>" links leading to additional facet options on browse pages includes the appropriate facet label for screen readers, e.g. "more Collection >>", "more Language >>".
Keyboard Navigation
Users can use the keyboard to navigate the Avalon Media System interface.
- `TAB`: move forward through each interactive element on the page (links, text fields, buttons, etc.).
- `SHIFT+TAB`: move backward through each interactive element.
- `ENTER`: trigger an element's behavior (e.g. pressing `ENTER` on a link will open the link in the browser).
When an element is focused, it will be surrounded by an outline to enhance its visibility.
Skip to Main Content
When using `TAB`, the first element of each page is a link titled "Skip to main content". This link immediately shifts the browser focus to the main content of the page, minimizing the number of times a user needs to press `TAB` to reach a page's most prominent elements. When viewing an audio or video page, the "Skip to main content" link shifts the browser focus directly to the `Play` button.
Avalon Media System currently reaches WCAG 2 Level AA conformance. Please see the WCAG 2.1 Guidelines for a full overview of what Avalon provides for accessibility support. There is not a VPAT for Avalon Media System at this time.
Media Player Accessibility
Keyboard Navigation
* `TAB`: move forward through each button/element on the player:
* Play/Pause
* Track Scrubber
* Magnify/Minimize Scrubber
* Volume
* Stream Quality
* Create Thumbnail (collection staff only) - removed from media player in 7.7 release
* Add to Playlist (logged-in users only) - removed from media player in 7.7 release
* Fullscreen
* `SHIFT+TAB`: move backward through each button/element on the player.
* `ENTER`: trigger a button/element's behavior. When a media player button/element is selected via tab, spacebar will also trigger the button/element's behavior.
* `SPACEBAR`: any time no text inputs are selected on the page, toggle between Play and Pause.
* `LEFT/RIGHT ARROW`: any time no text inputs are selected on the page, scrub forward or backward through the track timeline.
* `UP/DOWN ARROW`: any time no text inputs are selected on the page, increase or decrease volume.
The Stream Quality selector allows the user to `TAB` between available stream qualities and pressing `ENTER` to enable the desired quality.
Prior Accessibility Review
For release 4, the Avalon team worked with Indiana University's UITS Assistive Technology and Accessibility Centers to identify work we could do to improve Avalon's accessibility. More information about the report can be found here.
Some things we did to make Avalon more generally accessible include:
- The default language (English) is declared on each page.
- The search field uses an associated label element to enhance screen reader support.
- Search terms are included at the beginning of the page titles for search result pages.
- Selected facet labels are included at the beginning of the page titles for browse pages.
- The URL provided to share (link to) specific content includes an appropriate title attribute.
- The "more >>" links leading to additional facet options on browse pages includes the appropriate facet label for screen readers, e.g. "more Collection >>", "more Language >>".
Keyboard Access
Users can navigate the Avalon Media System by using the keyboard.
Using the TAB key allows users to move forward through each interactive element on the page (links, text fields, search, buttons, etc.). Using the SHIFT+TAB keys allows the user to move backward through the same elements. As each element is focused it will be surrounded by an outline, in order to enhance its visibility from other elements on the page.
The user can trigger an element's behavior by pressing the ENTER key, e.g. once a link is focused, pressing ENTER will open the link in the browser.
Skip to main content
The first element on each page - when using the TAB key - is a "Skip to main content" link. This link moves the browser focus to the main content of the page, minimizing the number of times a user has to press the TAB key to get to the most prominent part of the page. When viewing an audio or video page, the "Skip to main content" link moves focus directly to the Play button.
Player Accessibility
Keyboard Access
Using the TAB key allows users to move forward through each button on the player: Play/Pause, Mute Toggle, Stream Quality, Create Thumbnail, and Fullscreen. As each element is focused it will be surrounded by an outline, in order to enhance its visibility from other elements on the page.
Each button can be triggered by pressing the ENTER key.
The Stream Quality selector will allow the user to use the TAB button to choose between the available stream qualities (defaults: High, Medium, Low for video and High, Medium for audio) by pressing the TAB key to highlight the appropriate button and then pressing the ENTER key to select the button.
When the player controls have focus the user can toggle between Play and Pause by pressing the SPACEBAR.
When the player controls have focus the user can scrub through the timeline by pressing the RIGHT arrow key (4 seconds forward) or the LEFT arrow key (2 seconds back).
When the player controls have focus the user can adjust the volume of the player by pressing the UP arrow key (increase volume) or the DOWN arrow key (decrease volume).