Techniques for WCAG 2.0

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SCR28: Using an expandable and collapsible menu to bypass block of content

Applicability

Technologies that provide client side scripting.

This technique relates to:

Description

This technique allows users to skip repeated material by placing that material in a menu that can be expanded or collapsed under user control. The user can skip the repeated material by collapsing the menu. The user invokes a user interface control to hide or remove the elements of the menu. The resources section lists several techniques for menus, toolbars and trees, any of which can be used to provide a mechanism for skipping navigation.

Note: Similiar approaches can be implemented using server-side scripting and reloading a modified version of the Web page.

Examples

Example 1

The navigation links at top of a Web page are all entries in a menu implemented using HTML, CSS, and Javascript. When the navigation bar is expanded, the navigation links are available to the user. When the navigation bar is collapsed, the links are not available.

Example Code:


...

  <script type="text/javascript">
  function toggle(id){
    var n = document.getElementById(id);
    n.style.display =  (n.style.display != 'none' ? 'none' : '' );
  }
  </script>

...

  <a href="#" onclick="toggle('navbar')">Toggle Navigation Bar</a>

  <ul id="navbar">
  <li><a href="http://target1.html">Link 1</a></li>
  <li><a href="http://target2.html">Link 2</a></li>
  <li><a href="http://target3.html">Link 3</a></li>
  <li><a href="http://target4.html">Link 4</a></li>
  </ul>

...

Working example of this code: Toggle navigation bar with a link.

Example 2

The table of contents for a set of Web pages is repeated near the beginning of each Web page. A button at the beginning of the table of contents lets the user remove or restore it on the page.

Example Code:


...

   <script type="text/javascript">
  function toggle(id){
    var n = document.getElementById(id);
    n.style.display =  (n.style.display != 'none' ? 'none' : '' );
  }
  </script>

  ...

  <button onclick="return toggle('toc');">Toggle Table of Contents</button>
  <div id="toc">
    ...
  </div>

...

Working example of this code: Toggle table of contents with a button.

Resources

Resources are for information purposes only, no endorsement implied.

Tests

Procedure

  1. Check that some user interface control allows the repeated content to be expanded or collapsed.

  2. Check that when the content is expanded, it is included in the programmatically determined content at a logical place in the reading order.

  3. Check that when the content is collapsed, it is not part of the programmatically determined content.

Expected Results

If this is a sufficient technique for a success criterion, failing this test procedure does not necessarily mean that the success criterion has not been satisfied in some other way, only that this technique has not been successfully implemented and can not be used to claim conformance.

Techniques are Informative

Techniques are informative—that means they are not required. The basis for determining conformance to WCAG 2.0 is the success criteria from the WCAG 2.0 standard—not the techniques. For important information about techniques, please see the Understanding Techniques for WCAG Success Criteria section of Understanding WCAG 2.0.