Published evidence brief · Current · Version 1.0
The decision and its evidence.
How should an immersive website preserve meaning when motion, canvas, or precision input is unavailable?
Published 2026-08-16 · Revised 2026-08-16 · Current through 2026-08-16
Claims and source lineage
Source-backed observation
Names, roles, values, navigation, and essential meaning must remain programmatically available outside decorative rendering.
Supported by: W3C
Verified fact
WCAG conformance applies to the complete page and its responsive variations, not only a preferred desktop state.
Supported by: W3C
Contradictions and uncertainty
A visually complete canvas can still expose no usable structure to assistive technology.
- Competing explanation
- The visual layer and semantic layer serve different user agents.
- Disposition
- Keep HTML as the source of truth and canvas as progressive enhancement.
- Uncertainty
- Implementation-specific until keyboard and assistive-technology testing is complete.
- Next verification
- Test the complete task without canvas, motion, hover, or precision pointing.
Primary and official sources
- Web Content Accessibility Guidelines 2.2
W3C · Web standard
1.4.10, 2.1, 2.2.2, 2.4, 4.1.2, and conformance requirements. Accessibility requirements for complete responsive web pages and interactive components.
Published: 2024-12-12 · Updated: 2024-12-12 · Last source check: 2026-08-16
Limits, maintenance, and citation
- Limitations
- This brief states a design requirement; it is not a blanket accessibility conformance claim.
- Review trigger
- W3C recommendation or tested interaction contract changes.
- Owner
- Joshua H. White website research record
- Rights
- Original synthesis of public W3C guidance.
- Suggested citation
- Joshua H. White website research record. Interactive systems need a complete semantic path. Version 1.0, 16 August 2026.
- Version history
- Version 1.0 · Initial public evidence brief · 2026-08-16
This brief preserves the source review dates shown above; publication on a dedicated page does not establish a new source review or independent validation.
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