Pause, Stop, Hide - Success Criterion 2.2.2 (Level A)

Pearson requirements restrict the use of movement beyond what is outlined in the WCAG guidelines.

Question

Can moving, blinking, scrolling or auto-updating content be paused, stopped or hidden by the user?

Why is this important?

Moving content can be distracting to users when they are trying to read text on a page. This motion can be a severe barrier to people with learning disabilities and attention deficit disorders who have trouble reading quickly or focusing on content.

Whom does it benefit?

Example 1

As a person with a cognitive disability,
I want to be able to stop moving content
so that I can focus on the static text on the page without distraction.

What should you do?

• Provide controls that enable the user to pause or hide and resume all moving content.
• Make sure paused or hidden movement does not resume automatically when the user moves away from the content.
• Avoid flashing content.

How do you do it?

• Do not start an animation upon page load.
• All moving content should have play, pause, and hide controls that are clearly labeled.
• Do not auto-update or auto-scroll content without notifying the user.

Need technical guidance?

Technical guidance is available for implementing this Success Criterion at the Understanding Success Criterion 2.2.2: Pause, Stop, Hide page.