Building Accessible Carousels: A Step-By-Step Guide

Carousels are a popular feature on websites that allow users to view multiple items or pieces of content in a limited space. They can be used to showcase products, promote key content, add dynamism, and save space. However, carousels can also create accessibility issues for users with disabilities, particularly those who rely on assistive technologies such as screen readers. To make carousels accessible, developers should follow best practices that ensure compatibility across multiple browsers and devices. This includes using semantic HTML to structure the carousel components, specifying WAI-ARIA Roles, States, and Properties within the HTML mockups of the carousel components, and implementing navigation controls and control pickers for easy navigation. Additionally, developers should ensure that all elements, slides, and navigation controls maintain consistent style in appearance such as height, width, colors, fonts, etc., to provide a better user experience. They should also track the performance of the carousel to understand how users interact with each component. To test the accessibility of carousels, developers can leverage cloud-based accessibility testing platforms that offer real-time browser testing on over 30+ browsers and OS versions.