AutoComplete Accessibility

The AutoComplete is accessible by screen readers and provides WAI-ARIA, Section 508, WCAG 2.1, and keyboard support.

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According to WAI-ARIA 1.1 specification "Authors must ensure an element with role combobox contains or owns a text input element with role textbox or searchbox...". Note, that in our implementation, the text input element is the one that has role="combobox", and does not contain another text input element. This approach is valid for the WAI-ARIA 1.2 specification and also for the WAI-ARIA 1.0 specification .

As it is stated in WAI-ARIA 1.2 "The Guidance for combobox has changed significantly in ARIA 1.2 due to problems with implementation of the previous patterns". Therefore, we will keep the current state, even if it contradicts the WAI-ARIA 1.1 specification.

For more information, refer to:

The Kendo UI for jQuery AutoComplete component is WCAG 2.1 AAA and Section 508 compliant. The component also follows the WAI-ARIA best practices for implementing the keyboard navigation for its component role, and is tested against the popular screen readers.

Wai-Aria

AutoComplete wrapper

Selector Attribute Usage
.k-input-inner role=combobox Announces the presence of a autocomplete as inner element of the autocomplete used for filtering.
label for or aria-label or aria-labelledby The input needs an accessible name to be assigned to it.
aria-haspopup=listbox Indicates the component has a listbox Popup.
aria-expanded=true/false Announces the state of the visibility of the popup.
aria-controls=.k-animation-container id Points to the popup element. Signifies that the combobox element controls the listbox.
aria-activedescendant=.k-list-item.k-focus id Points to the focused item in the popup. The focused item is changed via keyboard navigation. If the popup is not visible, the attribute should not point to any element or should be removed.
aria-autocomplete=list Attribute is rendered and value is set to list when filtering feature is enabled.
aria-autocomplete=both Attribute is rendered and value is set to both when both filtering and suggest features are enabled.
aria-autocomplete=inline Attribute is rendered and value is set to only suggest feature is enabled.
readonly or aria-readonly Attribute is rendered only when the autocomplete is readonly.
aria-invalid=true Attribute is rendered only when the autocomplete is in form and announces the valid state of the component.
aria-busy=true Attribute is rendered only when the autocomplete is loading data.
tabindex=0 The element must be focusable.
.k-disabled .k-input-inner disabled=disabled or aria-disabled=true Attribute is rendered only when the autocomplete is disabled.

ListBox Popup

The Popup element of the component should implement the specification for a Popup List component.

Selector Attribute Usage
.k-animation-container role=region When the component container is appended to the <body> element of the document, it needs a landmark role to be assigned to it. Otherwise, it should be appended to an element with an appropriate landmark role.
aria-label or aria-labelledby Provides a label when the container has a region role assigned.
.k-list-ul role=listbox Identifies the ul element as a listbox.
aria-label or aria-labelledby Provides a label for the listbox of the combobox.
.k-list-item role=option Identifies the li element as a listbox option.
.k-list-item.k-selected aria-selected=true Indicates the selected state of the item.

Resources

ARIA practices: Editable Combobox With Both List and Inline Autocomplete Example

ARIA Practices: Editable Combobox With List Autocomplete Example

Section 508

The AutoComplete is compliant with the Section 508 requirements

Testing

The component has been extensively tested automatically with static code analyzers and manually with the most popular screen readers.

Any Accessibility Issues could be reported in Telerik Support System.

Screen Readers

Environment Tool
Firefox NVDA
Chrome JAWS
Microsoft Edge JAWS

Automated Testing

The AutoComplete has been tested with axe-core.

See Also

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