WCAG 2.5.7: Dragging Movements

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OVERVIEW

Effort:

Complexity:Difficult
Duration:Slow

Important for:

Development

To WCAG:

2.5.7 Dragging Movements

What's it about?

If there are functions on the website that can only be triggered through drag-and-drop gestures, they must have a simple input alternative — for example, clicking a button.

Example of a file upload field that allows users to drag and drop a file, along with an alternative button for uploading a file manually.

How to

Depending on your situation, you can implement one of the following options to meet the criterion. For a deeper dive, please refer to the linked WCAG techniques.

Alternative for drag and drop
Functions that move or place elements by dragging must also be operable through clicks, taps, or keyboard input.

Example: Instead of allowing a file to be uploaded only via drag and drop, also provide a “Select file” button. (PS: Native HTML elements already support this by default!)
Technique(s):
- G219: Ensuring that an alternative is available for dragging movements that operate on content

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