Issue Priorities

Issues found via OATMEAL tests are given a Priority Level from P1 (most severe) to P4 (least severe).

P1 Issues

A barrier that makes completion of a task impossible for some users.

Examples that can create a P1 issue

  • Keyboard focus trapped

    • Why: User cannot proceed backwards or forwards through page

  • Interactive element not operable with keyboard alone

    • Why: User cannot complete a primary task (e.g "Buy it Now", "Submit Form")

  • Element with misleading accessible label

    • Why: User might make an action they did not intend, with dangerous consequences (e.g. a "Submit Payment" button programmatically labelled as "Review Payment")

P2 Issues

A barrier that makes completion of a task difficult for some users.

Examples that can create a P2 issue

  • Pinch-to-zoom disabled

    • Workaround: User must use non-standard magnifying software to resize text

  • Form field lacking a visible or programmatic label

    • Workaround: User must explore adjacent elements to determine context

  • Color contrast below the contrast minimum

    • Workaround: User must provide a custom stylesheet to make text/graphics legible

  • Document missing semantic heading structure

    • Workaround: User must read entire page content to form mental model

P3 Issues

A barrier that makes completion of a task tedious or annoying for some users.

Examples that can create a P3 issue

  • Keyboard focus indicator missing on element, but present on adjacent elements

    • Workaround: User can determine focus by navigating through surrounding elements

  • Keyboard focus indicator does not go where the user expects

    • Workaround: user has to discover how to get focus where they expect it to be

  • Widget interaction different from the established pattern

    • Workaround: User has to learn multiple of the same type of widget and then figure out which they're using each time

  • Page missing "Skip to Main"

    • Workaround: User has to navigate through all repeated header elements on every page

  • Redundant labeling on a button, link, or input

    • Workaround: User has to listen through extraneous information

P4 Issues

A non-barrier that technically fails accessibility guidelines.

Examples that can create a P4 issue

  • Non-unique IDs on unreferenced elements

  • Duplicate attributes with identical value

  • Non-escaped attribute values

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Last Updated: 2022 March 7th

Last updated