The WCAG Explained

Summary:
WCAG 3.3, "Input Assistance," focuses on making it easier for users to avoid and correct mistakes when inputting information. This guideline is especially beneficial for users with visual impairments, cognitive disabilities, and motor impairments, as well as for those unfamiliar with the website.

What:
3.3 covers error identification, clear labeling and instructions, suggestions for correcting errors, and mechanisms to prevent significant mistakes, especially in legal or financial contexts. This set of guidelines aims to reduce user errors and enhance the overall usability of web forms and data input interfaces.

• 3.3.1 Error Identification: Clearly identify any errors in user input.
• 3.3.2 Labels or Instructions: Provide labels or instructions for user input.
• 3.3.3 Error Suggestion: Offer suggestions for correcting input errors, where possible.
• 3.3.4 Error Prevention (Legal, Financial, Data): For web pages that cause legal commitments or financial transactions, or manage user-controlled data, either prevent errors or allow users to correct them.
• 3.3.5 Help: Provide context-sensitive help for user input.
• 3.3.6 Error Prevention (All): For all web content, prevent errors or allow users to review, correct, and confirm data before submission.

Why:
Input assistance reduces the likelihood of errors, making web interactions more efficient and less frustrating. It's important for all users but especially crucial for those who might have difficulty typing, have a limited understanding of the language, or are using assistive technologies.

Examples and Scenarios:

1. Contact Forms: Clear error messages and instructions for correcting wrongly entered email addresses.
2. E-commerce Checkout: Suggestions for correcting incorrectly formatted credit card numbers.
3. Registration Pages: Opportunities to review and correct information before final submission.

How to Comply:

• Websites: Implement clear error identification, provide descriptive labels and instructions, offer error corrections, and add mechanisms for reviewing and correcting information.
• Mobile Apps: Include features that help users correct errors and provide guidance during data entry.
• Software Applications: Adopt similar practices in application interfaces, focusing on error prevention and correction.

Exceptions:

• Real-time Data: In scenarios where input data is changing in real-time (like stock trading platforms), traditional error prevention methods may not apply.
• Complex Forms: Some forms that handle complex data might have limitations in providing immediate error suggestions or corrections.