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Technique F40:Failure due to using meta redirect with a time limit

About this Technique

This technique relates to:

This failure applies to all pages.

Failure techniques show examples of how content can fail particular WCAG success criteria. However, content may still satisfy those criteria if it includes equivalent/alternative content or functionality that does meet the normative requirements. See About WCAG Techniques.

Description

meta http-equiv="refresh" content="{time}; url=..." is often used to automatically redirect users. When this occurs after a time delay, it is an unexpected change of context that may interrupt the user.

It is acceptable to use the meta element to create a redirect when the time-out is set to zero, since the redirect is instant and will not be perceived as a change of context. However, it is preferable to use server-side methods to accomplish this. See Implementing automatic redirects on the server side instead of on the client side.

Examples

Example 1

The page below is a failure because it will redirect to the URI https://www.example.com/newpage after a time limit of 5 seconds.

<!doctype>
<html lang="en">
<head>
  <title>Do not use this!</title>     
  <meta http-equiv="refresh" content="5; url=https://www.example.com/newpage">
</head>   
<body>     
  <p>
    If your browser supports Refresh, you'll be transported to our
    <a href="https://www.example.com/newpage">new site</a> in 5 seconds,
    otherwise select the link manually.     
  </p>   
</body> 
</html>

Related Resources

No endorsement implied.

Tests

Procedure

For a page that uses meta http-equiv="refresh":

  1. Check that the numerical value for seconds until refresh in the content attribute is present.
  2. Check that the numerical value for seconds until refresh in the content attribute is less than one or greater than 72,000.
  3. Check if the page qualifies for Real-time or Essential Exceptions in Success Criterion 2.2.1 Timing Adjustable.
  4. Check if the user is provided an opportunity to turn off, extend, or adjust the timing of the page refresh.
  5. Check if the page does not redirect after the duration specified in the content attribute.

Expected Results

  1. If checks #1-5 are false, this failure condition applies and the content fails Success Criterion 2.2.1.
  2. If checks #1, #2, #4, and #5 are false, this failure condition applies and the content fails Success Criterion 2.2.4.
  3. If checks #1, #4, and #5 are false, this failure condition applies and the content fails Success Criterion 3.2.5.
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