Some people run everything with one or two switches: a large button pressed with a hand, foot, or head, a sip-and-puff tube, or even a blink. A highlight steps through the screen one item at a time, and they press when it lands on what they want. Every extra step on a page costs them time and effort.
Picture a highlight moving across the screen, one control at a time. You can only say "that one" when it lands on what you want. Miss it, and you wait for it to come all the way back around. That's scanning, the most common way switch access works.
Some setups use two switches instead, one to move and one to select. Others scan in groups: first a region of the screen, then a row, then the item. Typing means scanning an on-screen keyboard, one letter at a time.
Switch users rely on the same structure keyboard users do, so the keyboard guide applies here too. The difference is cost. Ten extra Tabs takes a keyboard user a second or two. For a switch user, it's a wait on every page, and one missed press means waiting for the whole loop again.
Most of these are small changes in the code. Where WCAG covers one, we link the success criteria it falls under.
A header with a logo, 30 navigation links, a search box, social icons, and a cookie banner. A mouse user ignores all of it. A switch user scans past all of it, or group after group of it, on every page, before reaching what they came for.
The fix
Add a skip link as the first thing on the page, so one press can jump past the header to the content. Use landmarks (header, nav, main) too. Keep navigation lean, and tuck related links into menus that open on demand.
A session times out partway through a long form. A carousel slides on before the highlight reaches it. A countdown offer expires. When each action takes several presses, short time limits shut people out.
The fix
Warn people before a session expires and let them extend it with one action. Don't auto-advance carousels, or give them a pause button that's easy to reach.
Some switch setups point at a spot instead of stepping through items: a line sweeps across the screen, then another sweeps down, and the press lands where they cross. Small links packed close together are easy to miss, and a miss means starting the sweep over.
The fix
Make targets at least 24 by 24 CSS pixels, with space around them, and bigger for the main actions. 44 by 44 is a comfortable size for most things people tap.
Swiping a card to dismiss it, dragging to reorder, long-pressing to reveal options, hovering to open a menu. Each is possible with switch access only through a menu of extra steps, if at all.
The fix
Give every gesture a button that does the same thing, and make hover content open on focus or click too.
Someone checks a filter, and the whole page reloads with the highlight back at the top. Changing a dropdown jumps to a new page with no warning. Each reset means scanning all the way back to where they were.
The fix
Update results without reloading the page, and keep focus on the control that was used. Let people choose filters and then apply them, instead of acting on every change.
Typing with a switch means scanning an on-screen keyboard one letter at a time. A form that asks for the shipping address again for billing, or clears the form after one error, throws away a lot of hard work.
The fix
Add autocomplete attributes so the browser can fill in names, emails, and addresses. Offer "Same as shipping," keep what people entered when there's an error, and don't ask for the same information twice in one process.
<input name="name" autocomplete="name">
<input name="email" type="email" autocomplete="email">
<input name="street" autocomplete="address-line1">
<input name="zip" autocomplete="postal-code">If you have an iPhone, you can try switch access right now, with the screen itself as the switch.
First, add Switch Control to the Accessibility Shortcut (Settings, Accessibility, Accessibility Shortcut), so a triple-click of the side button, or Home button on iPhone SE, turns it off. Then go to Settings, Accessibility, Switch Control, Switches, and tap Add New Switch. Choose Screen, then Full Screen, then Select Item. Turn on Switch Control and tap anywhere when the highlight reaches what you want. A menu opens; choose Tap.
Use only Tab and Enter, and count the presses it takes to reach your main action, like "Add to cart" or "Book now." Each one is a wait for a switch user.
Time limits, things that move on their own, gestures with no button, and anything that resets your place.
For people who are blind or have low vision, who hear or feel the page instead of seeing it.
For people with low vision who enlarge the page, change its colors, or both.
For people who can't use a mouse, including most screen reader users.
For people who run their computer or phone by speaking instead of using their hands.
For people who are Deaf or hard of hearing, and anyone watching with the sound off.
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