This document is an appendix to the W3C "User Agent Accessibility Guidelines 1.0". It provides a list of all
checkpoints from the User Agent Accessibility Guidelines 1.0, organized by concept, as a checklist
for user agent developers. Please refer to the Guidelines document
for introductory information, information about related documents, a
glossary of terms, and more.
This list may be used to review a tool or set of tools for
accessibility. For each checkpoint, indicate whether the checkpoint
has been satisfied, has not been satisfied, or is not applicable.
A tabular version of
the list of checkpoints is also available (e.g., for printing).
This section describes the status of this document at the time
of its publication. Other documents may supersede this document. The
latest status of this document series is maintained at the W3C.
This document is an appendix to a Working Draft.
It is a draft document and may be updated, replaced or
obsoleted by other documents at any time. It is inappropriate to use W3C
Working Drafts as reference material or to cite them as other than "work
in progress". This is work in progress and does not imply endorsement
by, or the consensus of, either W3C or Members of the WAI User Agent (UA)
Please send comments about this document to the public mailing list:
This document has been produced as part of the Web Accessibility Initiative.
The goal of the WAI User Agent
Guidelines Working Group is discussed in the Working Group
A list of current W3C Recommendations and other technical documents
can be found at http://www.w3.org/TR.
Each checkpoint in this document is assigned a priority
that indicates its importance for users with disabilities.
- [Priority 1]
- This checkpoint must be satisfied by user agents,
otherwise one or more groups of users with disabilities will
find it impossible to access the Web. Satisfying
this checkpoint is a basic requirement for enabling
some people to access the Web.
- [Priority 2]
- This checkpoint should be satisfied by user
agents, otherwise one or more groups of users
will find it difficult
to access the Web. Satisfying this checkpoint
will remove significant barriers to Web access for some
- [Priority 3]
- This checkpoint may be satisfied by user agents
to make it easier for one or more groups of users
with disabilities to
access information. Satisfying this checkpoint will improve
access to the Web for some people.
Priority 1 checkpoints
In General (Priority 1)
Control of style (Priority 1)
- Checkpoint 2.2 For presentations that require user interaction within a specified time interval, allow the user to control the time interval (e.g., by allowing the user to pause and restart the presentation, to slow it down, etc.).
(Techniques for 2.2)
- Checkpoint 2.6 Allow the user to specify that text transcripts, captions, and auditory descriptions be rendered at the same time as the associated auditory and visual tracks.
(Techniques for 2.6)
- Checkpoint 3.1 Allow the user to turn on and off rendering of background images.
(Techniques for 3.1)
- Checkpoint 3.2 Allow the user to turn on and off rendering of background audio.
(Techniques for 3.2)
- Checkpoint 3.3 Allow the user to turn on and off rendering of video.
(Techniques for 3.3)
- Checkpoint 3.4 Allow the user to turn on and off rendering of audio.
(Techniques for 3.4)
- Checkpoint 3.5 Allow the user to turn on and off animated or blinking text.
(Techniques for 3.5)
- Checkpoint 3.6 Allow the user to turn on and off animations and blinking images.
(Techniques for 3.6)
- Checkpoint 3.7 Allow the user to turn on and off support for scripts and applets.
(Techniques for 3.7)
- Checkpoint 4.1 Allow the user to control the size of text.
(Techniques for 4.1)
- Checkpoint 4.2 Allow the user to control font family.
(Techniques for 4.2)
- Checkpoint 4.3 Allow the user to control foreground color.
(Techniques for 4.3)
- Checkpoint 4.4 Allow the user to control background color.
(Techniques for 4.4)
- Checkpoint 4.5 Allow the user to slow the presentation rate of audio, video, and animations.
(Techniques for 4.5)
- Checkpoint 4.6 Allow the user to start, stop, pause, advance, and rewind audio, video, and animations.
(Techniques for 4.6)
- Checkpoint 4.8 Allow the user to control the position of captions on graphical displays.
(Techniques for 4.8)
- Checkpoint 4.9 Allow the user to control synthesized speech playback rate.
(Techniques for 4.9)
- Checkpoint 4.10 Allow the user to control synthesized speech volume.
(Techniques for 4.10)
- Checkpoint 4.12 Allow the user to select from available author and user style sheets or ignore them.
(Techniques for 4.12)
User Interface (Priority 1)
For Keyboard and other Input Devices (Priority 1)
For Communication (Priority 1)
- Checkpoint 1.1 Ensure that every functionality available through the user interface is also available through every input device API supported by the user agent. Excluded from this requirement are functionalities that are part of the input device API itself (e.g., text input for the keyboard API, pointer motion for the pointer API, etc.)
(Techniques for 1.1)
- Checkpoint 1.2 Use the standard input and output device APIs of the operating system.
(Techniques for 1.2)
- Checkpoint 1.3 Ensure that the user can interact with all active elements in a device-independent manner.
(Techniques for 1.3)
- Checkpoint 1.5 Ensure that all messages to the user (e.g., informational messages, warnings, errors, etc.) are available through all output device APIs used by the user agent. Do not bypass the standard output APIs when rendering information (e.g., for reasons of speed, efficiency, etc.).
(Techniques for 1.5)
- Checkpoint 5.1 Provide programmatic read and write access to content by conforming to W3C Document Object Model (DOM) specifications and exporting interfaces defined by those specifications.
(Techniques for 5.1)
- Checkpoint 5.2 Provide programmatic read and write access to user agent user interface controls using standard APIs (e.g., platform-independent APIs such as the W3C DOM, standard APIs for the operating system, and conventions for programming languages, plug-ins, virtual machine environments, etc.)
(Techniques for 5.2)
- Checkpoint 5.4 Provide programmatic notification of changes to content and user interface controls (including selection, content focus, and user interface focus).
(Techniques for 5.4)
- Checkpoint 9.1 Provide information about user agent initiated content and viewport changes through the user interface and through APIs
(Techniques for 9.1)
- Checkpoint 10.1 Provide information directly to the user and through APIs about current user preferences for input configurations (e.g., keyboard or voice bindings).
(Techniques for 10.1)
Priority 2 checkpoints
In General (Priority 2)
- Checkpoint 2.3 When no text equivalent has been supplied for an object, make available to the user and programmatically author-supplied information to help identify the object (e.g., object type, file name, etc.).
(Techniques for 2.3)
- Checkpoint 5.6 Follow operating system conventions and accessibility settings. In particular, follow conventions for user interface design, default keyboard configuration, product installation, and documentation.
(Techniques for 5.6)
- Checkpoint 6.2 Conform to W3C specifications when they are appropriate for a task.
(Techniques for 6.2)
- Checkpoint 7.4 Allow the user to choose to navigate only active elements.
(Techniques for 7.4)
- Checkpoint 7.5 Allow the user to search for rendered text content, including rendered text equivalents.
(Techniques for 7.5)
- Checkpoint 7.6 Allow the user to navigate according to structure.
(Techniques for 7.6)
- Checkpoint 8.2 Indicate to the user whether a link has been visited.
(Techniques for 8.2)
- Checkpoint 8.3 Indicate to the user whether a link has been marked up to indicate that following it will involve a fee.
(Techniques for 8.3)
- Checkpoint 8.7 Provide a mechanism for highlighting and identifying active elements (through a standard interface where available).
(Techniques for 8.7)
- Checkpoint 10.6 Allow the user to configure the user agent through profiles.
(Techniques for 10.6)
- Checkpoint 11.4 In a dedicated section of the documentation, describe all features of the user agent that promote accessibility.
(Techniques for 11.4)
- Checkpoint 11.5 Document changes between software releases.
(Techniques for 11.5)
Control of style (Priority 2)
User Interface (Priority 2)
For Keyboard and other Input Devices (Priority 2)
- Checkpoint 10.4 Allow the user to change and control the input configuration. Allow the user to configure the user agent so that some functionalities may be activated with a single command (e.g., single key, single voice command, etc.).
(Techniques for 10.4)
- Checkpoint 10.5 Follow operating system conventions to indicate the input configuration.
(Techniques for 10.5)
For Communication (Priority 2)
Priority 3 checkpoints
In General (Priority 3)
- Checkpoint 2.4 When a text equivalent for content is explicitly empty (i.e., an empty string), render nothing.
(Techniques for 2.4)
- Checkpoint 2.7 For author-identified but unsupported natural languages, allow the user to request notification of language changes in content.
(Techniques for 2.7)
- Checkpoint 7.7 Allow the user to configure structured navigation.
(Techniques for 7.7)
- Checkpoint 8.4 Make available to the user information that will help the user decide whether to follow a link.
(Techniques for 8.4)
- Checkpoint 9.5 When loading content (e.g., document, video clip, audio clip, etc.) indicate what portion of the content has loaded and whether loading has stalled.
(Techniques for 9.5)
- Checkpoint 9.6 Indicate the relative position of the viewport in content (e.g., the percentage of an audio or video clip that has been played, the percentage of a Web page that has been viewed, etc.).
(Techniques for 9.6)
Control of style (Priority 3)
User Interface (Priority 3)
For Keyboard and other Input Devices (Priority 3)