Accessibility Support for the Chat Component

Accessibility Support

Out of the box, the Telerik and Kendo UI Chat provides extensive accessibility support and enables users with disabilities to acquire complete control over its features.

The Chat is compliant with the Web Content Accessibility Guidelines (WCAG) 2.2 standards and Section 508 requirements, follows the Web Accessibility Initiative - Accessible Rich Internet Applications (WAI-ARIA) best practices for implementing the keyboard navigation for its component role, provides options for managing its focus and is tested against the most popular screen readers.

WAI-ARIA

This section lists the selectors, attributes, and behavior patterns supported by the component and its composite elements, if any.

Chat component

The Chat component is a composite one and integrates the accessibility of the ToolBar, Dialog, DropDownButton and ContextMenu components.

Selector	Attribute	Usage
`.k-message-list`	`role=log`	The role of the Chat message list must imply that there is a log (list) of messages.
	`aria-label`	Announces the purpose of the Chat message list (for ex. 'Message list').
	`aria-live=polite`	Announces new messages in the Chat message list.
`.k-bubble`	`tabindex=0`	The Chat bubble must be focusable.
`.k-bubble .k-typing-indicator`	`tabindex=-1`	The Chat bubble typing indicator should not be focusable.
`.k-suggestion-group`	`role=group`	Indicates that the suggestion container element is a group.
`.k-suggestion`	`role=button`	The suggestion elements must be exposed as buttons.
	`tabindex=0`	The suggestion elements must be part of the page tabsequence.
`.k-input-suffix>.k-button`	`role=button` or `nodeName=button`	The buttons must have appropriate role.
	`aria-label` or `title`	The buttons must be properly labelled.
`.k-input-suffix>.k-chat-send.k-disabled`	`aria-disabled=true`	Announces send action as disabled if necessary.
`.k-message-group-content>.k-chat-download-button`	`aria-label` or `title`	The download button must be properly labelled.
	`role=button` or `nodeName=button`	The download button must have an appropriate role.
`.k-message-reference>.k-button`	`aria-label` or `title`	The reference close button must be properly labelled.
	`role=button` or `nodeName=button`	The reference close button must have an appropriate role.
`.k-bubble-expandable-indicator`	`role=button`	The expandable indicator must have an appropriate role.
	`aria-label` or `title`	The expandable indicator must be properly labelled.
	`tabindex=0`	The expandable indicator must be part of the page tabsequence.

Chat Message ToolBar follows the specification for the the ToolBar component.

Textarea Component

DropDownButton Component

SpeechToTextButton Component

ContextMenu Component

Managing the Focus

Focusable elements in the Chat are part of the page tabsequence. Those are:

.k-suggestion (if any);
.k-message-box textarea;
all .k-input-suffix button elements;
all .k-chat-file .k-menu-button elements (if any);
all .k-chat-download-button elements (if any);
all .k-message-reference .k-button elements (if any);

Keyboard Shortcuts

This section lists the keyboard shortcuts supported by the Chat composite component.

DropDownButton Component

SpeechToTextButton Component

ContextMenu Component

The ContextMenu component provides a context menu for the chat bubble upon Right Click / Shift + F10 key press.

Keyboard Shortcuts applicable to the `k-bubble` element

Shortcut	Behavior
`Up Arrow`	Selects and focuses the previous Chat bubble
`Down Arrow`	Selects and focuses the next Chat bubble
`Home`	Selects and focuses the first Chat bubble
`End`	Selects and focuses the last Chat bubble

Keyboard Shortcuts applicable to the `k-suggestion`, `k-bubble-expandable-indicator`, and `k-input-suffix button` elements

Shortcut	Behavior
`Enter/Space`	Triggers a click action on the element.

Keyboard Shortcuts applicable to the `k-input-inner` element

Shortcut	Behavior
`Enter`	Sends the message.
`Shift + Enter`	Start a new line in the textarea message box.

Testing

The Chat has been extensively tested automatically with axe-core and manually with the most popular screen readers.

Screen Readers

The Chat has been tested with the following screen readers and browsers combinations:

Environment	Tool
Firefox	NVDA
Chrome	JAWS
Microsoft Edge	JAWS

Resources

WAI-ARIA specification for log

Foundation

Themes

CSS Utilities

Components

UI Templates

Resources

Chat