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3.3.3 Error Suggestion [Level AA]

Description

Error Suggestion

3.3.3 If an input error is automatically detected and suggestions for correction are known, then the suggestions are provided to the user, unless it would jeopardize the security or purpose of the content. (Level AA)Understanding Success Criterion 3.3.3

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Sufficent Techniques

Sufficient Techniques for 3.3.3 - Error Suggestion

Note: Other techniques may also be sufficient if they meet the success criterion.

Situation A: If a mandatory field contains no information:

  1. G83: Providing text descriptions to identify required fields that were not completed

  2. ARIA2: Identifying a required field with the aria-required property (ARIA)

  3. PDF5: Indicating required form controls in PDF forms (PDF)

  4. SL35: Using the Validation and ValidationSummary APIs to Implement Client Side Forms Validation in Silverlight (Silverlight)

Situation B: If information for a field is required to be in a specific data format:

  1. ARIA18: Using aria-alertdialog to Identify Errors (ARIA)

  2. G85: Providing a text description when user input falls outside the required format or values

  3. G177: Providing suggested correction text

  4. SCR18: Providing client-side validation and alert (Scripting)

  5. SCR32: Providing client-side validation and adding error text via the DOM (Scripting)

  6. FLASH12: Providing client-side validation and adding error text via the accessible description (Flash)

  7. PDF22: Indicating when user input falls outside the required format or values in PDF forms (PDF)

Situation C: Information provided by the user is required to be one of a limited set of values:

  1. ARIA18: Using aria-alertdialog to Identify Errors (ARIA)

  2. G84: Providing a text description when the user provides information that is not in the list of allowed values

  3. G177: Providing suggested correction text

  4. SCR18: Providing client-side validation and alert (Scripting)

  5. SCR32: Providing client-side validation and adding error text via the DOM (Scripting)

  6. FLASH12: Providing client-side validation and adding error text via the accessible description (Flash)

  7. PDF22: Indicating when user input falls outside the required format or values in PDF forms (PDF)

Advisory Techniques

Advisory Techniques for 3.3.3 - Error Suggestion

  • G139: Creating a mechanism that allows users to jump to errors

  • Making error messages easy to understand and distinguishable from other text in the Web page (future link)

  • Validating form submissions on the server (future link)

  • When mandatory information has not been provided, including descriptions or examples of correct information in addition to identifying the field as mandatory (future link)

  • Repeating and emphasizing suggestions for correcting each input error in the context of its form field (future link)

  • Providing a way for the user to skip from each item in a list of suggestions to its corresponding form field (future link)

  • Providing additional contextual help for the form field requiring change (future link)

  • Accepting input data in a variety of formats (future link)

  • G199: Providing success feedback when data is submitted successfully

Techniques for providing suggestions to the user (Advisory)

  • Providing a text description that contains information about the number of input errors, suggestions for corrections to each item, and instructions on how to proceed (future link)

  • Providing a text description that contains suggestions for correction as the first item (or one of the first items) of content, or emphasizing this information in the content (future link)

  • Displaying errors and suggestions in the context of the original form (for example, re-displaying a form where input errors and suggestions for correction are highlighted and displayed in the context of the original form) (future link)

HTML Techniques (Advisory)

  • Providing "correct examples" for data and data formats as initial text in mandatory form fields (future link)

  • Providing links to suggested correction text "close to" form fields, or providing the suggested correction text itself directly on the Web page "next to" form fields (future link)

Client-Side Scripting Techniques (Advisory)

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Failures

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Notes

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