Screen readers like NVDA (Windows) and VoiceOver (MacOS) enable users with visual impairments to navigate through websites via sound by reading aloud the contents of each page. If your page’s visual layout is in a different order than the DOM (Document Object Model), the keyboard browsing experience may be disjointed and confusing. Don’t forget to test tabbing in both directions! Shift+Tab is the hotkey for tabbing backwards.Tab through every page to ensure that there aren’t any “keyboard traps” or dead ends.Test all hoverable elements to ensure that the information revealed via mouseover is available to keyboard-only users too.
Is highlight focus enabled to provide visual feedback with respect to where a user is on the page? (Pro-tip: Ensure that all focusable elements are interactive.).Is there a “skip to main content” link that provides users access to the most important part of the page directly? (This is very helpful for keyboard-only users.).Therefore, it’s crucial to ensure that users browsing with their keyboard or with a screen reader don’t have trouble navigating your website. Most website designs primarily cater to users who navigate using a cursor however, web accessibility standards now require you to make accommodations for all users including those with disabilities (visual impairments, auditory impairments, difficulty holding a mouse, and so on).