Making accessibility standards easy to understand, one success criterion at a time.

Friendly reminder: This is a beginner-friendly guide, not a replacement for the official WCAG. See our full disclaimer.

theme: Gestures

Interactions like swipes, taps, and device motion.

WCAG 2.1, 2.2 Level AA

1.3.4 Orientation

Rotating a device from portrait to landscape doesn’t stop everything being perfectly readable and usable.

Gestures
Cognitive, Visual
Code
WCAG 2.1, 2.2 Level AA

1.4.10 Reflow

Content must remain readable and usable without requiring horizontal scrolling when viewed at a width of 320 CSS pixels (typically the width of a mobile viewport). Layouts should adapt responsively, and text should reflow to fit the screen.

Gestures, Zoom and Legibility
Cognitive, Visual
Design
WCAG 2.0, 2.1, 2.2 Level AA

1.4.13 Content on Hover or Focus

Tooltips and similar content should stay visible, be easy to dismiss (usually with the Esc key), and let users select and interact with the text.

Gestures, Keyboard, Zoom and Legibility
Cognitive, Visual
Code, Design
WCAG 2.1, 2.2 Level A

2.5.1 Pointer Gestures

All actions that are carried out using a gesture (swiping, pinching, and so on) or drawing, can also be done with a button or buttons.

Gestures
Cognitive, Physical/Motor, Visual
Code
WCAG 2.1, 2.2 Level A

2.5.2 Pointer Cancellation

Actions (like pressing a button) aren’t triggered on mouse-down; rather on mouse-up.

Gestures
Cognitive, Physical/Motor, Visual
Code
WCAG 2.1, 2.2 Level A

2.5.4 Motion Actuation

There is no reliance on device motion, like shaking or tilting, to carry out an action.

Gestures
Cognitive, Physical/Motor, Visual
Code
WCAG 2.1, 2.2 Level AAA

2.5.5 Target Size (Enhanced)

Anything clickable must be at least 44 by 44 pixels, except links within a sentence which are okay to be the size of the text they encompass.

Gestures
Physical/Motor, Visual
Design
WCAG 2.1, 2.2 Level AAA

2.5.6 Concurrent Input Mechanisms

The user can happily switch between using a mouse, touchscreen, keyboard, or any other input device.

Gestures, Keyboard
Cognitive, Physical/Motor
Code
WCAG 2.2 Level AA

2.5.7 Dragging Movements

Any action requiring dragging, such as reordering items, must also be possible using buttons or other non-drag methods.

Gestures
Cognitive, Physical/Motor
Code
WCAG 2.2 Level AA

2.5.8 Target Size (Minimum)

Clickable elements must be at least 24 by 24 pixels, except for inline links.

Gestures
Physical/Motor
Design