What is the optimal approach to creating a user-friendly dropdown navigation menu for accessibility, specifically when containing more than four items?

After learning from Stephanie Eckles' tutorial on creating a CSS-Only Accessible Dropdown Navigation Menu, I discovered that the responsive design she provided only works for menus with less than 3 items, not for those with more than 4.

I want to maintain the menu style but am unsure about how to handle menus with more than 4 items on mobile devices while ensuring accessibility and usability.

Some sources claim that side navigation menus with hamburger icons are not accessible or user-friendly.

On my site's mobile version, menus with over 4 items exceed the screen limit.

I'm uncertain about the accessibility and usability of various menu options on mobile:

  • (seems promising, but I need to retain themes and language icons while verifying its accessibility).
  • (I need to keep themes and languages icons on mobile, and there is another alternative menu demo shared on Codepen that displays all items on desktop).

Could I continue using the current menu and incorporate one of these alternatives for mobile users?

htmlcssaccessibilitypa11y

Answer №1

Let's delve into a few key points here.

Contrary to some reports, the side navigation menu with a hamburger icon can indeed be made accessible and usable.

While implementation is crucial for accessibility, there is no inherent barrier to utilizing this design pattern effectively.

In terms of accessibility, it is recommended to accompany the hamburger icon with the word "Menu" to enhance clarity for users.

I gleaned insights from Stephanie Eckles's CSS-Only Accessible Dropdown Navigation Menu.

Although her article highlights that the solution is not entirely comprehensive, it may mislead some readers by suggesting full accessibility through CSS alone.

To improve upon her example, certain adjustments must be made:

  1. JavaScript should be used to toggle aria-expanded between true and false when opening and closing the dropdown menu, ensuring screen reader compatibility.

  2. Avoid automatic dropdown menu activation on focus, instead enabling open/close functionality via the Enter key for improved keyboard navigation.

  3. Incorporate the ability to dismiss the dropdown using the <kbd>Escape</kbd> key.

While these steps are essential, further enhancements may be required to achieve true accessibility in such implementations.

Menus exceeding the screen limit due to more than 4 items present a design challenge.

If horizontal space is limited, consider converting the menu to a <select> or an alternate layout like a side navigation menu.

For creating an accessible slide-out menu, resources such as this CodePen demonstration provide valuable guidance based on established accessibility principles.

Alternatively, simplifying the menu structure by stacking items in a 2x2 grid layout using CSS techniques can help optimize mobile display.

While other approaches exist, this method appears to offer a straightforward solution based on initial observations of your site.

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