- Success Criterion 1.3.4
- Conformance level AA
Layout That Breaks After Rotating Even Though Rotation Is Allowed
1.3.4 — Orientation
Scenario
Setting
A video-conferencing app's meeting controls
What’s wrong
Rotation is technically allowed, but the layout breaks after rotating (content cut off, controls unreadable or unreachable), so only one orientation is usable in practice.
Example
This shows up on a video-conferencing app's meeting controls: rotation is technically allowed, but the layout breaks after rotating (content cut off, controls unreadable or unreachable), so only one orientation is usable in practice.
Why it matters
People whose devices are mounted or who cannot rotate a display freely. In this case (a video-conferencing app's meeting controls), they can't read the text against its background.
How to test
Rotate the device fully and interact with the layout: if rotation is technically allowed but content gets cut off or controls become unreachable afterward, it fails in practice.
How to fix
The page/app must remain fully usable in both portrait and landscape, with the layout intact after rotation.
Outcome
Once corrected, a video-conferencing app's meeting controls lets them tell the information apart without relying on color.
Who is affected
People whose devices are mounted or who cannot rotate a display freely.
Learn more
- Understanding Understanding document (opens in a new tab)
Related scenarios
- App Locked Into One Screen Orientation With No Real Reason
- Page That Just Asks Users to Rotate Their Device to Continue
- Screen Orientation Locked in Code With No Essential Justification
- App Manifest Locking Orientation for Ordinary, General Content
- CSS That Hides or Breaks Content in One Orientation Only
- Critical Controls Cropped or Unusable in One Orientation