Chat Widgets and Accessibility
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Three things to check
- Keyboard: can you open, type, send and close without a mouse?
- Screen reader: are new messages announced, once, coherently?
- Focus: can you get out of the widget with the keyboard?
Focus trapping is the worst of the three. A user who tabs into a chat widget and cannot tab out has lost the whole page.
Streaming and screen readers
Answers that appear word by word can cause a screen reader to re-announce continuously, which is unusable. The message should be announced when complete, in a polite live region.
Sighted users still see the streaming; screen reader users get a sentence rather than a stutter.
Visual requirements
- Sufficient contrast in both light and dark contexts
- Text that resizes with browser settings
- The widget not covering essential content on mobile
- A close control that is large enough to hit
Test it yourself
Unplug the mouse and try to have a conversation. Then try it on a phone at 200% text size. Both tests take three minutes and find most problems.
If you can borrow a screen reader user for ten minutes, that is better than any checklist.
Chat can also improve accessibility
For some users, asking a question is considerably easier than navigating a complex site. A well-built chat widget is an accessibility improvement, not only an obligation.
That is only true if the widget itself is usable, which is why the three checks matter.
Frequently asked questions
Is this a legal requirement?
How do we test with a screen reader?
What if our widget fails these?
Does the widget affect our site's overall accessibility?
Not sure your chat widget is usable by everyone?
Unplug the mouse and try it. Three minutes, and it tells you most of what you need to know.