Accessibility Issues

dylantarre/animation-principles/skills/12-by-problem-type/accessibility-issues

by dylantarre83597134ba8fNo license99 starsListed Oct 8, 2026Updated Oct 8, 2026Repository updated 9 months ago

Use when animation excludes users with vestibular disorders, cognitive disabilities, or assistive technology needs

Instructions onlyDesign & Creative
AI-generated overview

Guides making web animations accessible for users with vestibular, cognitive, or assistive-technology needs.

What it does
This skill provides guidance for diagnosing and fixing animation accessibility problems, organized around Disney animation principles such as squash and stretch, exaggeration, timing, and arcs. It lists problem indicators, per-principle fixes, quick fixes, a troubleshooting checklist, and CSS and JavaScript code patterns for honoring reduced-motion preferences. It produces recommendations and code snippets rather than files.
When to use it
Use it when animations may exclude users with vestibular disorders, cognitive disabilities, or assistive technology needs, such as motion sickness complaints, screen reader confusion, or flashing risk. It also fits reviews of autoplay, focus visibility, and pause controls in animated interfaces.
Requirements
No tools, packages, or credentials are required; it is instructions only and ships no scripts.

Accessibility Issues

Make animations inclusive using Disney's principles thoughtfully.

Problem Indicators

  • Motion sickness complaints
  • Vestibular disorder triggers
  • Screen reader confusion
  • Cognitive overload
  • Seizure risk (flashing)
  • Keyboard focus lost during animation

Diagnosis by Principle

Squash and Stretch

Issue: Excessive distortion causes disorientation Fix: Reduce or eliminate squash/stretch for users with prefers-reduced-motion. Use opacity changes instead.

Secondary Action

Issue: Too many moving elements Fix: Limit to one animated element at a time. Secondary actions should be subtle or removed.

Exaggeration

Issue: Dramatic motion triggers vestibular responses Fix: Reduce scale, rotation, and position changes. Keep movements small and predictable.

Timing

Issue: Animations too fast or too slow Fix: Provide consistent, predictable timing. Avoid sudden speed changes.

Arcs

Issue: Curved motion paths cause tracking difficulty Fix: Use linear motion for essential UI. Save arcs for optional decorative elements.

Quick Fixes

  1. Respect prefers-reduced-motion - Always check and honor
  2. No autoplay animation - Let users trigger motion
  3. Keep focus visible - Never animate focus indicator away
  4. Announce changes - Use ARIA live regions for dynamic content
  5. Provide pause controls - For any looping animation

Troubleshooting Checklist

  • Does animation respect prefers-reduced-motion?
  • Is there a way to pause/stop animations?
  • Are state changes announced to screen readers?
  • Does keyboard focus remain visible and logical?
  • Is flash rate under 3 per second?
  • Can users complete tasks without animation?
  • Are animations triggered by user action (not autoplay)?
  • Test with screen reader enabled

Code Pattern

css
@media (prefers-reduced-motion: reduce) {  *,  *::before,  *::after {    animation-duration: 0.01ms !important;    animation-iteration-count: 1 !important;    transition-duration: 0.01ms !important;  }}
js
// Check preference in JSconst prefersReducedMotion = window.matchMedia(  '(prefers-reduced-motion: reduce)').matches;

Source and attribution

Source:dylantarre/animation-principlesinskills/12-by-problem-type/accessibility-issuesat commit8359713

License: No license

Content belongs to its original authors. SourceWeft indexes it from a public repository.

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