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Technique F97:Failure due to locking the orientation to landscape or portrait view

About this Technique

This technique relates to 1.3.4: Orientation (Failure).

Description

The objective of this technique is to describe how restricting the view of content to a single orientation is a failure to allow content to be viewed in multiple orientations. When content is presented with a restriction to a specific orientation, users must orient their devices to view the content in the orientation that the author imposed. Some users have their devices mounted in a fixed orientation (e.g. on the arm of a power wheelchair), and if the content cannot be viewed in that orientation it creates problems for the user.

If a specific orientation is determined to be essential for the operation and viewing of the content, then this failure technique will not apply.

Examples

  • A news app always shows the content in portrait orientation. Users can view the content on a device which supports landscape and portrait display orientations. When the device is turned to landscape view, the content appears sideways to the user.

Tests

Procedure

  1. Open the content in landscape view. Check that the content is oriented for this view.
  2. Open the content in portrait view. Check that the content is oriented for this view.
  3. Check if portrait or landscape view is essential for the viewing and operation of the content.
  4. If there are any controls in the content, user agent, operating system, or device that restrict or allow orientation changes, check that the controls can be set to allow checks #1 and #2 to be true.

Expected Results

  • If check #1 or check #2 is false, and checks #3 and #4 are false, then this failure condition applies and content fails the Success Criterion.
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