This translation has not been editorially reviewed yet. The German version is authoritative. Deutsche Fassung
Accessibility
Why must a deadline be given before the start?
Those who do not know that a form expires after 15 minutes, do not take a break and lose their work. Level AAA Criterion 2.2.6 requires a website to state the duration of inaction after which data is lost before the operation begins. Exceptions are deadlines of more than 20 hours, because they do not endanger the work of a day.
What the Criterion Requires
If inaction can lead to the loss of inputs, then at the beginning of the process it is indicated how long the inaction may last: “This session ends after 30 minutes without input”; Unsent information will be lost. The indication is where the visitor begins, not in the terms of use. Anyone who saves input and restores it after 2.2.5 has no data loss and does not need an announcement.
For whom this counts
People who read, type or think more slowly plan their work differently if they know the deadline: they prepare documents, do not take a break, share the process. For people with anxiety disorders, a known deadline takes the pressure that is constantly there at an unknown one. The announcement costs one sentence and prevents the most common reason for discontinuation in long applications.
This is how we deal with it
The measurement does not see session deadlines, they are in the server configuration. Whether a deadline is announced, a person checks at the beginning of a process. The criterion belongs to the category AAA in knowledge.
Examples
The deadline is nowhere
<h1>Förderantrag</h1>
<form>…</form>
<!-- Sitzung endet nach 30 Minuten ohne Eingabe, unangekündigt --><h1>Förderantrag</h1>
<p>Diese Sitzung endet nach 30 Minuten ohne Eingabe. Nicht abgeschickte Angaben gehen dann verloren.</p>
<form>…</form>The deadline is before the first field. Deadlines over 20 hours do not require an announcement.
- Determine the session duration of your system and the deadline of each form with cache storage.
- Write the deadline as a sentence at the beginning of the task, visible before the first field.
- Better: Save drafts (criterion 2.2.5), then the loss and thus the announcement is eliminated.
- In addition, warn before the expiration (criterion 2.2.1) and offer an extension.
