Any distracting flashes or movements are under user-control

Moving, blinking, scrolling, or auto-updating information are all under users control

Design Notes

Provide a way to stop content that moves for more than 5 seconds

Moving, scrolling, blinking or automatically updating content can be very distracting for some users, particularly those with cognitive impairments. In some cases, it may prevent people from completing tasks. Moving content can also cause problems for those using screen reading software as they may not be able to access this type of content at all.

Any content that moves more more than 5 seconds needs a mechanism to pause/stop it. Include such a control in designs to ensure this is not missed in development.

Developer Notes

Ensure animations can be stopped by users

Moving, scrolling, blinking or automatically updating content can be very distracting for some people, particularly those with cognitive impairments. In some cases, it may prevent people from using the page. Moving content can also cause problems for those using screen reading software as they may not be able to access this type of content at all.

A common example of such an issue is the auto-rotating carousel. Where possible, avoid implementing such components. If a component which animates must be used, ensure a pause / stop button is provided and ensure this button is accessible to all users.

Testing Notes

Any distracting flashes or movements are under user-control

Web pages do not contain anything that flashes more than three times in any one second period, or the flash is below the general flash and red flash thresholds

Steps to check

  • Open web page and check if anything flashes more than 3 times in a second

Impact range: High

Test type: manual

WCAG Reference: Understanding Success Criterion 2.2.2 Pause, Stop, Hide