Drupal Accessibility Features

More Semantics

Drupal 8 includes many instances where we’ve implemented more semantic HTML5 elements that can be used by assistive technologies. We’ve extended this by incorporating WAI-ARIA landmarks, live regions, roles, and properties.

Aural Alerts

Drupal.announce() is now part of Drupal 8 Core via core/misc/announce.js, allowing developers to confidently deliver timely messages to users. In JavaScript, you can now provide instructions to screen reader users that will be read as either assertive or polite:

Drupal.announce('Hello world.');

You can also pass translated strings and change the priority of messages using code like this:

Drupal.announce(Drupal.t('This is important!'), 'assertive');

Controlled Tab Order

TabbingManager is a powerful new mechanism that enables both non-visual and non-mouse users to access key page elements in a logical order. This improves navigability in complex user interfaces.

Hidden / Invisible / On-focus Elements

We continue to refine our centralized alternative to CSS display manipulation and have standardized on the HTML5 Boilerplate naming convention. We've also addressed known issues in Firefox, Safari, and on iPhones.

Fieldsets

We now use fieldsets for radio buttons and checkboxes in the Form API. This is a significant step toward improving form accessibility and is also used in the advanced search interface.

jQuery UI

jQuery UI now powers Drupal’s autocomplete features. Its modal dialog is also used in the Views UI and other areas. By collaborating with the jQuery UI community, we’ve improved accessibility across both projects.

Alt Text

Alternative text is now required by default. This can be overridden in both CKEditor and image fields, but the assumption is that content creators want to make their content accessible.

Bartik

The Bartik theme now underlines links to make them easier to identify for all users.

Accessible Inline Form Errors

Drupal forms are now significantly more accessible thanks to the addition of accessible inline form errors as an experimental core module. It is now easier for everyone to identify what errors occurred when submitting a web form.