1.3.3 Sensory Characteristics

What does it mean?

Instructions like "click the round button", "see the box on the right" or "press the green button" fail for people who cannot perceive shape, position or colour. When the layout changes on a small screen, "on the right" may not even be true. Instructions must include something that does not depend on a single sense, such as the visible label of the control.

You can still mention visual cues, as long as they are combined with another reference, for example "Select Next (the arrow button below the form)".

Who does it help?

• Blind people using a screen reader
• People with colour vision deficiency
• People using zoom or mobile layouts where positions change
• Deaf people when instructions rely on a sound signal

Common failures

• "Fill in the fields on the left" without naming the fields
• "Click the blue icon to continue" with no text label on the icon
• "Required fields are marked in red" as the only explanation
• "Wait for the beep, then continue" with no visual or text cue

How we test it

• people only Manual only: nothing useful can be measured. The reviewer tests it directly.

Test question: Do instructions rely only on shape, colour, size, position or sound ("click the round button on the right")?

A person decides every criterion. No criterion ever passes automatically.

How to fix it

<p>Click the round button on the right to continue.</p>

<p>Select <strong>Continue to payment</strong> to go on.</p>
<button type="button">Continue to payment</button>

The instruction refers to the visible label of the button, which works for everyone and on every layout.

Official source

Understanding WCAG 2.2 at the W3C: 1.3.3 Sensory Characteristics