Contractor‑Ready Accessibility Pack: Ship 10 Acceptance‑Tested Fixes That Expand Reach

Treat this pack as a commissioning contract addendum: each fix below is a self-contained ticket with acceptance criteria, Figma annotations (what to update in design files), and an exportable QA checklist item. That keeps designers, contractors, and QA aligned and speeds review cycles.

For each ticket require: 1) brief description of the user problem, 2) code/design change, 3) Figma frame/annotation showing before/after, 4) automated or manual acceptance test steps, and 5) a small demo or screencast showing the fix in a staging environment. This prevents “works on my machine” handoffs and reduces rework.

Why it matters: screen-reader users navigate by semantics and accessible names. The highest ROI is replacing non‑semantic controls (divs/spans) with native elements (<button>, <a>, <input>) or applying correct ARIA roles only when native elements are insufficient.

Acceptance test: with VoiceOver (iOS) and TalkBack (Android) or NVDA/JAWS on desktop, navigate to the control by tabbing or rotor/element lists and confirm (a) control announces its role and name, (b) activation with Enter/Space works, and (c) focus order is logical. Include a short video recording or accessibility transcript showing the announcements.

Why it matters: many users rely on keyboards or assistive input emulators. Ensure every interactive feature is operable via keyboard and that focus never gets trapped unintentionally. Implement visible focus styles so keyboard users can see where they are on the page.

Acceptance test: using only the keyboard (Tab, Shift+Tab, Enter, Space, Esc), perform common flows (open/close menus, fill and submit forms, navigate modal dialogs). Confirm focus lands in predictable places when components open/close and Esc closes overlays.

Why it matters: users set larger text sizes system‑wide. On mobile, supporting Dynamic Type (iOS) and scalable fonts on Android prevents clipping, overlap, or broken controls and improves retention for users needing larger text.

Acceptance test: with the system text size set to the largest accessibility option, confirm primary screens remain usable: text readable without horizontal scrolling, essential controls remain visible and tappable, and icons/glyphs scale or are replaced with larger system symbols when needed. Provide screenshots at default, large, and largest accessibility sizes.

Why it matters: insufficient contrast is a persistent barrier (and a common audit finding). Use WCAG thresholds as a minimum: 4.5:1 for normal text (AA) and 3:1 for large text; also check UI components and graphical objects for 3:1 non‑text contrast.

Acceptance test: run a color contrast tool against the staging UI for brand colors and component states (hover, disabled, pressed). Show tool results for at least the banner, body text, button text, and primary UI components. If the brand uses translucent overlays, test combinations using a tool that supports alpha blending or APCA guidance for perceptual checks.