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How to Make Accessible Popups

Published in EngageBox
Updated 06 Jun, 2024

We believe accessibility isn't an afterthought; it's essential. Accessibility ensures everyone, including people with disabilities, can understand and interact with your content. That's why we've built robust features to create accessible popups in Joomla, ensuring your message reaches everyone loud and clear.

Trap Focus

Problem: Navigating through popup content can be challenging for keyboard users. Without proper focus management, users might inadvertently tab to elements outside the popup, causing confusion and interrupting their experience. This issue especially affects users with disabilities, disrupting their interaction flow.

Solution: The Trap Focus enhancement confines TAB focus within the open popup, preventing navigation to external elements. This keeps users engaged within the popup content for a smoother experience.

How to Enable: Trap Focus is enabled by default.

Auto Focus

Problem: When a popup opens, users might not know where to start interacting with a popup, especially those using assistive technologies. This can lead to confusion and reduced usability.

Solution: The Auto Focus feature automatically directs users' attention to the first interactive element within the popup, simplifying navigation and enhancing the user experience.

How to Enable: To enable Auto Focus, go into your popup settings > Behavior > Accessibility > enable Auto Focus.

Enable Auto Focus

Close with ESC key

Problem: Closing a popup can be challenging, especially for users who rely on keyboards. This may disrupt their workflow and lead to frustration.

Solution: A convenient Close with ESC key feature allows users to dismiss a popup quickly and continue their tasks without interruption.

How to Enable: To enable Close with ESC key, go into your popup settings > Behavior > Accessibility > enable Close with ESC key.

Enable Close with ESC key

Return Focus

Problem: After closing a popup, users might lose their place on the page if the focus does not return to the element they were interacting with.

Solution: The Return Focus feature ensures a seamless transition by returning the focus to the last element interacted with before the popup opened, enhancing the browsing experience.

How to Enable: Return Focus is enabled by default.

ARIA attributes

Problem: Screen readers may struggle to interpret popup content without proper ARIA (Accessible Rich Internet Applications) attributes, which can impact users who rely on them for navigation.

Solution: Integration of essential ARIA attributes into popup elements ensures that screen readers correctly interpret and convey all content, improving accessibility for visually impaired users.

Prevent Page Scrolling

Problem: When a popup opens, users might inadvertently scroll the background content, shifting focus away from the popup. This can be confusing and disrupt the user experience.

Solution: The Prevent Page Scrolling feature disables scrolling of the content behind the popup when it's open. This keeps users' focus on the popup content and prevents accidental background scrolling.

How to Enable: To enable Prevent Page Scrolling, go into your popup settings > Advanced > enable Prevent Page Scrolling.

Enable Prevent Page Scrolling

Close on Backdrop Click

Problem: Users may find it inconvenient to locate the close button within a popup, leading to interruptions in their browsing experience

Solution: The "Close on Backdrop Click" feature lets users close the popup by clicking anywhere on the background overlay.

How to Enable: To enable Close on Backdrop Click, go into your popup settings > Design > enable Background Overlay > and enable Close on Click.

Enable Close on Overlay click