Error, Alert and Status Messaging, Instructions and Help Text
Table of Contents
- 1 Overview
- 2 Help Users Avoid and Correct Mistakes
- 3 General Error Message Guidelines
- 4 Using ARIA to Create Accessible Inline Error Messages
- 5 Declaring Form Controls as Invalid
- 6 References
- 7 Instructions and Sensory Characteristics
- 8 Provide Users with Adequate Time to Correct Errors
- 9 Provide Status Messages and Make Users Aware of Important Changes in Content.
- 10 Help Text and Custom Tooltips Displayed on Hover and Focus
- 11 Provide Labels or Instructions When Content Requires User Input
- 12 WCAG Related Guidelines
Overview
Help users avoid and and correct mistakes.
Make sure that error and alert messages are accessible to screen reader and keyboard only users.
People who are blind or have low vision need non-visual instructions.
Ensure that instructions provided for understanding and operating content do not rely solely on sensory characteristics of components such as shape, color, size, visual location, orientation, or sound.
Provide users with adequate time to correct errors. For example form related errors.
Provide help to users on the function currently being performed.
Make users aware of important changes in content that are not given focus, and to do so in a way that doesn't unnecessarily interrupt their work.
Ensure that help text and custom tooltips that display on hover and focus are dismissible, hoverable and persistent.
Present instructions or labels that identify the controls in a form so that users know what input data is expected.
Help Users Avoid and Correct Mistakes
Identify Errors
Provide descriptive notification of errors.
Flagging errors helps people with reduced sight and cognitive disabilities resolve them.
Ensure that users are aware that an error has occurred and can determine what is wrong. In the case of an unsuccessful form submission, it is not sufficient to only re-display the form without providing any h