woowahanOriginal articleIn Search of Lost Accessibility | Woowa (opens in new tab)
Achieving a high accessibility score on automated tools like Lighthouse does not always translate to a functional experience for users with visual impairments. This post explores how a team discovered that their "high-scoring" product actually required over 300 swipes for a screen reader user to reach a purchase button, leading them to overhaul their approach. By focusing on actual screen reader behavior rather than just checklists, they successfully transformed a fragmented interface into a streamlined, navigable user journey. ### Navigational Structure with Landmarks and Headings * The team implemented a clear hierarchy using landmarks (header, main, footer) and heading levels, which allows screen reader users to jump between sections via tools like the iOS VoiceOver "Rotor." * To ensure consistency, they developed a reusable component that automatically wraps content in a `<section>` and links it to a heading using the `aria-labelledby` attribute. * They addressed a common CSS pitfall: because setting `list-style: none` can cause VoiceOver to stop recognizing elements as a list, they explicitly added `role="list"` to maintain structural context for the user. ### Consolidating Fragmented Text for Readability * Information that should be heard as a single unit, such as prices (e.g., "990" and "Won"), was often fragmented into separate swipes; the team corrected this by using template literals to merge data into single strings. * For cases where visual styling required separate DOM elements, they used a "NoScreen" component strategy: hiding the visual elements from screen readers with `aria-hidden="true"` while providing a single, visually hidden description for the screen reader to announce. * The team noted that `aria-label` on generic containers like `<span>` or `<div>` is often ignored by iOS VoiceOver, making screen-reader-only text a more reliable method for cross-platform accessibility. ### Defining Roles for Interactive Elements * The team identified that generic buttons like "View All" lacked context, so they updated them with specific labels (e.g., "View all 20 reviews") to clarify the outcome of the interaction. * They ensured that all interactive elements have clearly defined roles, preventing the ambiguity that occurs when a screen reader identifies an element as a "button" without explaining its specific purpose or the data it controls. True accessibility is best measured by the physical effort required to complete a task, such as the number of swipes or touches. Developers should move beyond automated audits and regularly perform manual testing with screen readers like VoiceOver or TalkBack to ensure their services are genuinely usable for everyone.
