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name: web-accessibility description: >- Design, build, and review accessible web interfaces with native semantics, keyboard and focus behavior, forms and recovery, responsive input, motion, assistive-technology testing, and WCAG 2.2-informed evidence. Use for a11y, WCAG, ARIA, screen-reader, keyboard, focus, dialog, form, widget, or accessibility review work across frameworks. Do not use this skill for unrelated requests; route to the nearest named specialist. license: MIT compatibility: Works with any agent framework supporting the Agent Skills format; no runtime dependency. metadata: wcag-status: "W3C Recommendation 2023-10-05" aria-version: "WAI-ARIA 1.2"

Web Accessibility

Accessibility is successful task completion and recovery for disabled people, not a tool score. Define observable requirements before implementation, prefer native platform behavior where it fits, and gather bounded evidence in the supported browser and assistive-technology (AT) environment.

Workflow

1. Define the task, users, supported browsers/AT, input methods, and failure recovery. Start with assets/acceptance-criteria-template.md.
2. Choose native HTML first. Load references/semantics-and-names.md for structure, native controls, accessible names, descriptions, and dynamic updates.
3. Specify every interactive state: trigger, role/name/state/value, keyboard commands, focus entry/exit/return, pointer alternative, errors, and visible feedback. Load the focused pattern reference.
4. Design for visual and input adaptation using references/visual-input-and-motion.md; distinguish WCAG requirements from product goals and exceptions.
5. Implement only after the contract is defined. For custom composite widgets, first evaluate a proven native or maintained component in the chosen stack; APG examples are informative guidance, not production proof.
6. Verify with references/testing-and-evidence.md and the design, implementation, and release templates. Record tool, version, scope, manual tasks, actual browser/AT combinations, failures, and blocked or not-applicable items.
7. Do not issue a WCAG conformance or general accessibility verdict from an automated scan. A conformance claim needs a complete, scoped evaluation outside this skill's automatic verdict.

Load On Demand

Need	Load
Standards status, source authority, or exact links	references/source-index.md
Native semantics, labels, accessible names, landmarks, live updates	references/semantics-and-names.md
Tab order, focus visibility, traps, restoration, route changes	references/keyboard-focus-and-routing.md
Labels, validation, recoverable errors, authentication	references/forms-errors-authentication.md
Modal dialogs, disclosure, responsive navigation	references/dialogs-disclosures-navigation.md
Tabs, comboboxes, listboxes, grids, menus, other composites	references/composite-widgets.md
Contrast, reflow, zoom, targets, drag, motion, media	references/visual-input-and-motion.md
Automated checks, manual protocols, AT matrix, evidence	references/testing-and-evidence.md
Framework or skill boundary	references/routing.md
Validate common outcomes without claiming conformance	references/outcome-probes.md

Decision Rules

• Treat WCAG 2.2 success criteria, HTML/ARIA specifications, and informative tutorials/patterns as separate layers. See references/source-index.md.
• Use WAI-ARIA 1.2 only when native host-language semantics do not provide the required behavior. ARIA changes semantics; it does not create keyboard behavior or visual presentation.
• Use the Accessible Name and Description Computation 1.2 algorithm for edge cases. Do not substitute a priority mnemonic; inspect the computed accessibility tree and name.
• For a modal, prefer <dialog>.showModal() when it supports the target environment. Keep background content unavailable/inert, choose initial focus for the content and task, provide a visible close path, and return focus logically. Do not hide a backdrop with aria-hidden or hide an ancestor of the dialog.
• Treat ordinary responsive navigation as a disclosure over ordinary links, not an ARIA menu. Use menu semantics only with the application-menu keyboard contract.
• Target Size (Minimum) is 24 by 24 CSS pixels at WCAG 2.2 AA, subject to its spacing, equivalent, inline, user-agent, and essential exceptions. A larger target may be a product goal.

Completion

Stop when each acceptance criterion has direct evidence or a recorded failed, blocked, or not-applicable result. Report residual risk and the exact evidence boundary; do not turn absent testing into a pass.

When Not To Use

• For Hugo template architecture, theme-wide layout, or CMS rendering concerns, use hugo-theme and its design/accessibility reference.
• For evidence gathering, scope decisions, or user-facing behavior outside accessibility, use product-discovery, product-methodology, or product-design-and-ux. Keep this skill responsible for accessibility interaction and conformance depth.
• For framework or library APIs, consult the current official documentation after defining this skill's semantic and interaction contract. React implementation details route to react; Vite configuration routes to vite.