Users with visual or physical disabilities may use the keyboard to navigate and access content only using keys on the keyboard. It's important that they can navigate through the content without getting stuck. 

What does the criterion say?

According to success criterion 2.1.2: No Keyboard Trap (Level A), keyboard-only users should be able to enter, interact and exit the content that receives focus using only the standard keyboard keys such as Shift and Tab, Tab, or the Arrow keys. A keyboard trap occurs when learners can navigate to an item, but then cannot move away from it. If the user needs to use non-standard keys to exit the content, then those instructions must be provided to the learner to avoid keyboard trap. 

Because the way interactive elements work is determined by the authoring tool, it’s unusual to come across a keyboard trap in eLearning. However, it's always advisable to test your content with the authoring tool to ensure there are no traps.

It’s also possible to inadvertently create a trap for learners through certain design choices, such as a navigation button that disappears or a drag-and-drop activity that is required to be completed to move ahead in the training.        

Resources:

• Check out this article about why keyboard traps are frustrating for users: Why Keyboard Traps Are One of the Most Frustrating Accessibility Issues (boia.org)

• Experience some examples of being stuck a keyboard trap: Web Accessibility Criteria - Keyboard Traps (California State University)

Discussion questions:

Get Involved: Come to the LCA Spotlight LinkedIn group and join the conversation.

• What common interactions might be more prone to keyboard traps?

• What kind of  QA process do you follow to ensure that the user is not stuck in a keyboard trap?

• Does your authoring tool provide a way to avoid keyboard traps?

Thanks to Susi Miller and Diane Elkins for contributing to this post.

When you post in the community, use the hashtag #LCASpotlightKeyboardTrap