How to make your pages accessible - Best practices

Try to make your applications as simple as possible. Accessibility begins even before an application is created in Intrexx, for example, by designing a simple operating concept and planning the easiest possible structure for the application page.

In the Accessible Layout in Intrexx, key conditions for accessibility are already satisfied:

• The contrast between the background and font is great enough.

• Elements are highly visible and in focus.

• The page structure is preserved when zoomed to 200%.

Detailed information on the Accessible Layout in Intrexx can be found in the section Accessible Intrexx layout.

A key accessibility guideline specifies that the screen orientation must adapt to the device on which the page is used. You can satisfy this guideline by creating responsive pages in Intrexx. You can create such pages using the Page Wizard or the Grid element. (Generally, the table layout should be avoided when creating pages)

Refer to Orientation: Create Responsive Pages.

In general, you should make applications or application pages as simple as possible. The Form Wizard can help you. This also ensures that the relationship between label (field title) and input field can be recognized by assistive technologies.

In Intrexx, you have the option of working with pop-up dialogs (tooltips) (see Open as tooltip).

However, pop-up dialogs can be a significant barrier for people with visual impairments, especially blind people. For example, the pop-up dialog may be outside (or mostly outside) the visible portion of the screen when zoomed to a high level.

For blind people, pop-up dialogs (tooltips) can be a considerable barrier. Usually, a pop-up dialog "interrupts" the visual structure of a page. Orientation on a page is difficult. In addition, it must be ensured that the tab order is also guaranteed in the popup dialog and, in particular, that it is correctly continued when the popup dialog is exited. (This also assumes that there is a viable way to close the pop-up dialog using the keyboard)

Given the challenges of using pop-up dialogs (tooltips) described here, we advise avoiding them if possible.

An easy but extremely helpful measure to achieve accessibility is to record text alternatives for graphical components on your page. Therefore, they satisfy a key guideline of the WCAG and the BITV. Only textual content can be perceived by blind people, i.e. heard or read via Braille.

In general, a well-structured portal and application page design really aids understanding of their functionality and operation. Well-arranged headlines are crucial in this regard.

The ability to operate a portal or application page using the keyboard is a key requirement for achieving accessibility.

A suitable tab order is important for operation via the keyboard. This should result in a coherent arrangement of elements on a page (DOM order). You can manually override the DOM order via the tab index if necessary.