Keyboard and Screen Reader Accessibility in Complex Interactive Science Simulations: Design Challenges and Elegant Solutions

摘要: Interactive science simulations are commonly used educational tools that, unfortunately, present many challenges for robust accessibility. The PhET Simulations project creates a suite of widely HTML5 interactive and has been working to advance the accessibility these users alternative input devices (including keyboards) screen reader software. To provide highly experience students, often designed encourage interaction with real-world or otherwise physical objects, resulting in user interface elements being implemented ways either unrecognizable as native HTML elements, that require fully custom implementation interactions. Here, we highlight three examples simulation design scenarios presented keyboard access. For each scenario, describe our initial approach, encountered, what have found be most elegant solution address date. By sharing approaches implementation, aim contribute general knowledge base effective strategies support advancement all interactives.