The Accessible Auto-suggest revisited
At Web Directions Respond in May 2017, I presented “The Anatomy of an Accessible Auto-suggest” which was a step-by-step guide on how to implement an accessible auto-suggest. In December that same year, the W3C made ARIA 1.1 a W3C Recommendation, and changed the requirements for the combobox pattern that formed the foundation of that auto-suggest component. The changes were made with the aim of more accurately representing the semantics of the user interface in the accessibility tree, and while they did solve that problem, unfortunately, they created many other issues.
Fast forward 7 years to 2024, ARIA 1.2 is a W3C Recommendation, and the combobox pattern that runs our auto-suggest has gone back to the future.
In this talk, we’ll look at changes in ARIA using the combobox pattern from ARIA 1.0 through to ARIA 1.2, and recreate our accessible auto-suggest component.
Adem Cifcioglu
Co-founder and Director at Intopia, Adem believes that technology and the digital world should be usable and accessible to all users, including those with disabilities. That we have a responsibility as the creators of digital things to make sure that they can be used by anyone who wants to use them. Adem knows that accessibility is the key to independence, and uses his skills and experience in this area to help create more inclusive experiences.
With over 15 years of hands-on, professional experience working on the web, Adem has worked with accessibility in all its forms. From defining strategy and embedding accessibility into organisational culture, to technical accessibility, training, and user research, Adem has done it all.
With lived experience of disability, Adem has a unique perspective which helps in delivering great outcomes for his clients and their customers.