Error Prevention (All):
Understanding SC 3.3.6
3.3.6 Error Prevention (All): For Web pages that require the user to submit information, at least one of the following is true: (Level AAA)
Reversible: Submissions are reversible.
Checked: Data entered by the user is checked for input errors and the user is provided an opportunity to correct them.
Confirmed: A mechanism is available for reviewing, confirming, and correcting information before finalizing the submission.
Intent of this Success Criterion
The intent of this Success Criterion is to help users with disabilities avoid consequences that may result from making a mistake when submitting form data. This criterion builds on Success Criterion 3.3.4 in that it applies to all forms that require users to submit information.
Users with disabilities may be more likely to make mistakes and may have more difficulty detecting or recovering from mistakes. People with reading disabilities may transpose numbers and letters, and those with motor disabilities may hit keys by mistake. Providing the ability to reverse actions allows users to correct a mistake. Providing the ability to review and correct information gives the user an opportunity to detect a mistake before taking an action.
Specific Benefits of Success Criterion 3.3.6:
Providing safeguards to avoid consequences resulting from mistakes helps users with all disabilities who may be more likely to make mistakes.
Examples of Success Criterion 3.3.6
(none currently documented)
Related Resources
Resources are for information purposes only, no endorsement implied.
(none currently documented)
Techniques and Failures for Success Criterion 3.3.6 - Error Prevention (All)
Each numbered item in this section represents a technique or combination of techniques that the WCAG Working Group deems sufficient for meeting this Success Criterion. However, it is not necessary to use these particular techniques. For information on using other techniques, see Understanding Techniques for WCAG Success Criteria, particularly the "Other Techniques" section.
Sufficient Techniques
Following the sufficient techniques for Success Criterion 3.3.4 for all forms that require the user to submit information.
Key Terms
- Web page
a non-embedded resource obtained from a single URI using HTTP plus any other resources that are used in the rendering or intended to be rendered together with it by a user agent
Note 1: Although any "other resources" would be rendered together with the primary resource, they would not necessarily be rendered simultaneously with each other.
Note 2: For the purposes of conformance with these guidelines, a resource must be "non-embedded" within the scope of conformance to be considered a Web page.
Example 1: A Web resource including all embedded images and media.
Example 2: A Web mail program built using Asynchronous JavaScript and XML (AJAX). The program lives entirely at http://example.com/mail, but includes an inbox, a contacts area and a calendar. Links or buttons are provided that cause the inbox, contacts, or calendar to display, but do not change the URI of the page as a whole.
Example 3: A customizable portal site, where users can choose content to display from a set of different content modules.
Example 4: When you enter "http://shopping.example.com/" in your browser, you enter a movie-like interactive shopping environment where you visually move around in a store dragging products off of the shelves around you and into a visual shopping cart in front of you. Clicking on a product causes it to be demonstrated with a specification sheet floating alongside. This might be a single-page Web site or just one page within a Web site.
- input error
information provided by the user that is not accepted
Note: This includes:
Information that is required by the Web page but omitted by the user
Information that is provided by the user but that falls outside the required data format or values
- mechanism
process or technique for achieving a result
Note 1: The mechanism may be explicitly provided in the content, or may be relied upon to be provided by either the platform or by user agents, including assistive technologies.
Note 2: The mechanism needs to meet all success criteria for the conformance level claimed.