accessibility glossary

Dwell Clicking

A click method where holding a pointer, cursor, or gaze still over a target for a set amount of time triggers a click, used by people who cannot physically press a mouse button.

Dwell clicking lets a user click by pausing their pointer over a target for a configurable amount of time, rather than pressing a physical button, and is commonly used with eye-tracking, head-tracking, and some switch-based systems where a separate click action is impractical or impossible.

Interfaces with hover-triggered menus or tooltips can conflict with dwell clicking, since pausing to read a hover menu may itself trigger an unwanted click. Reliable dwell support depends on interactive elements being large enough and far enough apart that a natural pause does not select the wrong target.

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