- Success Criterion 2.1.1
- Conformance level A
- W3C reference F54
Feature That Only Responds to Mouse Events, Not the Keyboard
2.1.1 — Keyboard
Scenario
Setting
A bank's mobile money-transfer screen
What’s wrong
A feature only responds to mouse-specific events (mousedown, hover, gestures) — keyboard users cannot trigger it at all.
Example
<div onclick="submitForm()">Submit</div>Why it matters
Blind users, people with motor disabilities, and anyone operating the interface without a pointer.
How to test
Unplug the mouse and Tab to the feature: if it only responds to mousedown/touchstart/gesture events with no keydown/keyup handler, nothing happens and it fails.
How to fix
Add keyboard handlers (click on links/buttons, or keydown for Enter/Space) alongside pointer events.
<button onclick="submitForm()">Submit</button>A native button is focusable and triggers on Enter/Space automatically; a div needs all of that added by hand.
Outcome
On a bank's mobile money-transfer screen, this barrier is gone for blind users, people with motor disabilities — they get the same result as anyone else here.
Who is affected
Blind users, people with motor disabilities, and anyone operating the interface without a pointer.
Learn more
- Understanding Understanding document (opens in a new tab)
- Technique Related technique (opens in a new tab)
Related scenarios
- Element That Loses Focus the Instant It’s Reached by Keyboard
- Clickable Element Acting Like a Link With No Real Keyboard Role
- Clickable Div With No Keyboard Focus or Key Handling at All
- Focusable Element That Enter and Space Don’t Actually Activate
- Custom Dropdown That Can’t Be Operated by Keyboard Arrows
- Drag-and-Drop Feature With No Keyboard Alternative