Allowing for Spacing Override

Status

NOTE: The latest Draft is on GitHub View | Edit

New sufficient technique

Applicability

This technique is applicable to Cascading Style Sheet/HTML technologies.

This technique relates to:

1.4.12 Text Spacing
- How to Meet 1.4.12 Text Spacing
- Understanding Success Criterion 1.4.12 Text Spacing

Description

The objective of this technique is to show how to test for a text spacing override. Increased spacing between paragraphs, lines, words, and letters benefits people who override author settings via user stylesheet, bookmarklet, extension, or application. An author's content needs to have the ability to be set to Success Criterion 1.4.12's metrics without loss of content or functionality. The author requirement is two-fold:

to not interfere with a user's ability to override the author settings, and
to ensure that content modified to Success Criterion 1.4.12's metrics does not break content.

Examples

When a user adapts the page to increase the text spacing, text fits within the bounds of its containing box.

Example 1: Small areas of text

Small areas of text (such as navigation bars) have sufficient space within each box so that words and letters do not expand out of their containers.

Example 2: Paragraphs of text

Paragraphs allow text to increase vertically (in languages such as English which are read horizontally).

Resources

Text Adaptation Bookmarklet - Steve Faulkner
Results of Bookmarklet Tests for Issue 78

Related Techniques

Tests

Display content in a user agent.
Set zoom level to 100%.
Use a tool or another mechanism to apply the text spacing metrics, such as the Text Spacing Bookmarklet or a user-style browser plugin.
Check that all content and functionality is available.

Expected Results

Check number 4 is true.

Note: Where a page has multiple layouts (e.g. in a responsive design) text spacing should be tested in each layout.