2.B: Blinking, Moving, and Scrolling

2.B: Blinking, Moving, and Scrolling (WCAG 2.2.2)
Ensure users can pause, stop, or hide automatically moving, blinking, or scrolling content.

• Trigger: Applies to content that starts automatically, lasts > 5 seconds, and is presented alongside other content (excluding essential content).
• Accessibility Constraint: The control mechanism must be evident within either:
  • The first three elements encountered by the user, OR
  • Within three elements before or after the target content.
• Functionality: Activating the mechanism must successfully pause, stop, or hide the distracting element.
• Scope: Distinct from “2.C Auto-Updating” (which involves changing content); if content both moves and auto-updates, both tests apply.

Test Requirement

The purpose of testing content that automatically blinks, moves, or scrolls for more than five seconds is to verify that there is an accessible mechanism to pause, stop, or hide the content. The mechanism must be evident within the first three elements a user encounters or within three elements before or after the blinking, moving, or scrolling content. Content that moves can be distracting for some users and inhibit their ability to interact with other page content. The results from this test are used to determine if WCAG SC 2.2.2 Pause, Stop, Hide is met.

Test

• Manual inspection of the page.

Tool

• Any applicable ANDI modules depending on the type of mechanism used to control the moving, blinking, or scrolling content.

Identifying Content

Before loading the page, make sure the browser is not set to block auto-playing content. Identify visual content that:

• Starts moving, blinking, or scrolling without user activation (including videos, multimedia, and scrolling text), AND
• Moves, blinks, or scrolls continuously for more than five seconds, AND
• Is not the only content on the page.

Note the following:

• When visual content moves, blinks, or scrolls, but the content itself does not change, only 2.B Blinking, Moving, and Scrolling applies.
• When there is auto-updating content where the content itself changes (for example, in a carousel, stock tickers, updating sports scores), 2.C Auto-Updating applies.
• If the content moves, blinks, or scrolls AND auto-updates, both test conditions (2.B and 2.C) apply.

Exclude

Exclude content where the movement, blinking, or scrolling is essential. Essential means that, if removed, it would fundamentally change the information or functionality of the content, and information and functionality cannot be achieved in another way that conforms.

Does Not Apply

This Test Condition DOES NOT APPLY (DNA) if there is no moving, blinking, or scrolling content that plays automatically for more than five seconds OR if the moving, blinking, or scrolling content is the ONLY content on the web page.

How to Test 2.B Blinking, Moving, and Scrolling

From the TT Process:

1. Determine if there is an evident mechanism for the user to pause, stop, or hide the content within the first three elements that the user would encounter OR within three elements before/after the moving/blinking/scrolling content.

Users should be able to quickly turn off automatically moving, blinking, or scrolling content. This mechanism must be evident within the first three elements a user encounters at the top of the page or within three elements before or after the blinking/moving/scrolling content. This ensures that a user can quickly and easily find a method to control such content.

As in 2.A, some examples of a mechanism include:

• text instructions
• a link, button, or other user control
• a dialog box

From the TT Process:

2. Activate the mechanism.

The mechanism must pause, stop, or hide the content.

From the TT Process:

3. Following this test process, test the mechanism for all applicable Test Conditions.

If you find a mechanism, you may choose to revisit this Test Condition after performing all other tests. Use whichever order of testing works best for you to address the applicable Test Conditions.

Evaluating Content

From the TT Process:

If ALL the following are TRUE, then the content PASSES:

1. There is an evident mechanism that can pause, stop, or hide the content, AND The mechanism is either within:
   • the first three elements encountered by the user, OR
   • three elements before/after the moving/blinking/scrolling content.

The mechanism PASSES all applicable Test Conditions in this test process.