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Accessible Buttons

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Introduction

Buttons are interactive elements that perform an action when pressed. That action could be something like submitting a form or opening a menu.

Buttons have their own semantic HTML element which comes with lots of inbuilt functionality. Using an HTML button means it can be reached by the tab key and activated with both a mouse and a keyboard automatically just by adding an onclick event. Using the semantic button element will save you lots of time.

html
<button type="submit" onclick="handleClick()"></button>

If another element is used to create a button instead, such as a div, then functionality must be added to make the div behave exactly like a button. Adding the onclick event will not automatically make the element keyboard interactive. It also needs to:

  • Activate when a user presses the enter key
  • Activate when a user presses the space key
  • Be included in the tab sequence
  • Be given the explicit role of button

Text Buttons

A text button is a button which has only text inside it.

html
<button type="button" onclick="handleClick()">Text here</button>

It gets its accessible name from the text between the opening and closing button tags. If your text clearly explains the button's purpose then this is an accessible button. However, if you have several text buttons with the same text you may need to do more to make them accessible.

Buttons with identical text

Let's say we have multiple products on a page, each with an "Add to basket" button. How do we help screen reader users and speech dictation users differentiate between the different buttons?

  • Product 1
  • Product 2
  • Product 3
  • Product 4
  • Product 5

We could use CSS to visibly hide some extra text:

css
.visibly-hidden {
	clip: rect(0 0 0 0); 
	clip-path: inset(50%);
	height: 1px;
	overflow: hidden;
	position: absolute;
	white-space: nowrap; 
	width: 1px;
}
html
<button type="button" onclick="handleClick()">Add to basket
	<span class="visibly-hidden">Product 1</span>
</button>

This would then read out "Add to basket product 1" to screen reader users.

However, it's important to be careful of word order when using this technique. If we had instead inserted the product name in the middle of the sentence, for example: "Add product 1 to basket" this can cause problems for users of speech input software.

We could also use an aria-label.

html
<button type="button" onclick="handleClick()" aria-label="Add to basket product 1">Add to basket</button>

Again, it is important that the start of the aria-label matches with the visible text on the button to help users of speech input software be able to activate the button.

Text and Icon Buttons

Some buttons have both text and icons inside. The icon can help complement the text and aid understanding. To prevent the accessible name from repetition, eg "Button, save icon, save", the icon should be given an empty(null) alt attribute or the state aria-hidden="true"

html
<button type="button" onclick="handleClick()">
<img src="icon-url.png" alt="" />
	Text
</button>
html
<button type="button" onclick="handleClick()">
<img src="icon-url.png" aria-hidden="true" />
	Text
</button>

An empty alt attribute has the most wide-spread support, so that should be your go to choice when using icons. However, some icon libraries don't allow an alt attribute to be passed and that's where aria-hidden can be useful.

Icon-only buttons

Some buttons use only an icon to convey their function. In this case it's important to choose icons that are widely recognised and understood, otherwise it can be difficult to know their function. The icons should also have a suitable label. This can be done with the alt attribute if using images or the aria-label attribute.

html
<button type="button" onclick="handleClick()">
	<img src="icon-url.png" alt="Save" />
</button>
html
<button type="button" onclick="handleClick()">
	<i class="fa-solid fa-floppy-disk" aria-label="Save"></i>
</button>

Make sure that the label you give the icon matches the function of the button, not necessarily describing the actual icon.

Do this:

html
<button type="button" onclick="handleClick()">
	<i class="fa-solid fa-magnifying-glass" aria-label="Search"></i>
</button>

Don't do this:

html
<button type="button" onclick="handleClick()">
	<i class="fa-solid fa-magnifying-glass" aria-label="Magnifying glass"></i>
</button>

Button States

Buttons can be used to communicate different states. A toggle button can communicate both an on and off state. Buttons can also have default, hover, focus, active and disabled states.

Default, hover, focus and active states

These states can be handled with CSS.

  • Default state: The normal state of a button when it's not being interacted with. Any text or icon should have a contrast ratio of 4.5:1 with the button background color. The button background color should have a 3:1 contrast ratio with the background.
  • Hover state: How the button looks when hovered over with a mouse cursor. This state is not visible on all devices, most notably touch screens. It's not a requirement to have a hover state but if used then normal color contrast ratios apply.
  • Focus state: A button in focus should have a focus indicator which makes it easy to see where focus is on the screen. This is often a thicker border or outline around the button and should have a contrast ratio of at least 3:1 with both the button background color and the background behind the button. If the button's colors change from default they should still meet the required color contrast ratio between text and background.
  • Active state: A button is active in the moment it is pressed. It will often look like it's been pressed.

Disabled state

A disabled button is a button that is not focusable or clickable. It has been given the disabled attribute. The browser styling often greys out the text making the contrast lower than 3:1 which makes disabled buttons difficult to see for some people. Often they are also not discoverable by users of assistive technology. Therefore, it's best to avoid disabled buttons and add in logic that provides error messages instead if the button is pressed.

html
<button type="button" onclick="handleClick()" disabled>Disabled button</button>

Toggle buttons - pressed and unpressed states

You might have a button that turns something on or off, or only has two states. One example of this might be a light/dark mode.

In this case you need to add the extra information by using the aria attribute aria-pressed which can either be true or false. This can be toggled with the use of JavaScript. This lets screen reader users know the state of the button.The button may also dynamically change the text/icon to visually convey the state too.

html
<button type="button" onclick="handleClick()" aria-pressed="true">Toggle button</button>

Menus and popups - expanded and collapsed state

If a button is used to open a menu or popup then it should also communicate to screen readers whether the popup is shown or not. This is done with the aria-expanded attribute which can take true or false values. If the popup is shown then aria-expanded="true". If the popup is not shown then aria-expanded="false" and the screen reader will announce that the popup is collapsed. The state of aria-expanded can be controlled with JavaScript.

html
<button type="button" onclick="handleClick()" aria-expanded="true">Button with popup</button>

How do you know when it's best to use a button and when it's best to use a link?

Don't let CSS dictate which element you use. The styling can always be changed. A simple rule of thumb is to think about what the element should do. Buttons are for actions and links are to take you to new places.

Is it performing an action like opening a modal, a menu or some other popup? Is it applying some styling to a page like a bold or italic button in a text editor? Is it allowing you to save something or search for something? Then you should probably use a button.

Is it taking you to another page or another area of the page? Then it should probably be a link.

Touch Target Minimum

When it comes to creating accessible buttons for your websites and applications, it's important that they are easy to activate. To achieve this goal, WCAG suggests that buttons have a minimum target size of at least 24 by 24 CSS pixels. In doing so, users, especially those who suffer from mobility impairments like hand tremors or are amputees, have an easier time clicking on them.

WCAG Criteria

Other Resources

Page last updated: 18th February 2023