How can you make web applications accessible to users with slow or unreliable input devices?

1 Use progressive enhancement

Progressive enhancement is a web design principle that aims to provide a basic level of functionality and content to all users, regardless of their browser, device, or connection speed, and then enhance the experience with more features and interactivity for users who can access them. This means that you should start with a simple and semantic HTML structure, add CSS for styling and layout, and then use JavaScript for adding dynamic behavior and interactions. By doing this, you ensure that your web application is accessible to users who have slow or unreliable input devices, as they can still access the core content and functionality without relying on JavaScript or other advanced features.

2 Provide keyboard and touch support

Keyboard and touch support are essential for making web applications accessible to users with slow or unreliable input devices. Keyboard support means that users can navigate and operate your web application using only the keyboard, without needing a mouse or a pointer. This is important for users who have mobility impairments, low vision, or use assistive technologies such as screen readers. You can provide keyboard support by using semantic HTML elements, such as buttons, links, and forms, that have built-in keyboard functionality, and by adding tabindex and aria attributes to make custom elements focusable and operable by the keyboard. Touch support means that users can interact with your web application using touch gestures, such as tapping, swiping, pinching, and zooming, without needing a mouse or a pointer. This is important for users who use touchscreens, such as smartphones or tablets, or use assistive technologies such as voice commands. You can provide touch support by using responsive design, media queries, and touch events to make your web application adaptable and responsive to different screen sizes and orientations, and by avoiding hover effects, pop-ups, and drag-and-drop interactions that may not work well on touch devices.

3 Optimize performance and feedback

Performance and feedback are also important for making web applications accessible to users with slow or unreliable input devices. Performance means that your web application loads quickly and smoothly, without causing delays or errors for users who have slow or unstable internet connections or devices. You can optimize performance by using techniques such as caching, compression, minification, lazy loading, and code splitting to reduce the size and number of requests and resources that your web application needs to load. Feedback means that your web application provides clear and timely indicators of the state and progress of the user's actions, such as loading spinners, progress bars, confirmation messages, and error alerts. This is important for users who have slow or unreliable input devices, as they may not know if their input has been received or processed by your web application, or if they need to retry or cancel their actions. You can provide feedback by using HTML, CSS, and JavaScript to create and display feedback elements that are visible, accessible, and informative to the user.

4 Here’s what else to consider

This is a space to share examples, stories, or insights that don’t fit into any of the previous sections. What else would you like to add?