Determining the accessibility of modal dialogs with Intelligent Guided Tests

Term: Fall 2026

Date: September 10th, 2026

Time: 2:00 to 3:00 p.m.

Location: Online Only

Instructors: Robert Fentress & Sunayana Mishra

Presented By: Technology-enhanced Learning and Online Strategies (TLOS)

Description:

This workshop introduces the Modal Dialog Intelligent Guided Test (IGT), a feature of the axe DevTools Pro browser extension, which evaluates focus management, dialog semantics, keyboard containment, background-content exposure, dismissal, and focus restoration. This includes moving focus into a dialog when it opens, providing role=""dialog"" and aria-modal, keeping Tab focus within the dialog, hiding inactive background content from assistive technologies, supporting dismissal with Escape, and returning focus appropriately when the dialog closes. 

During the workshop, the instructor will demonstrate a fully functional modal, a modal that allows focus to escape into the background, and a modal that fails to restore focus when closed. These focused examples will make each branch of the wizard easier to observe and understand. Participants may use the remaining time to begin the homework assignment: completing Modal Dialog IGT reviews on the SaaS Identity & Security Compliance Portal practice page and submitting the saved reviews within one week. 

An optional brownbag lunch will be offered during the following week for questions and additional support. The answer key will be shared after the submission deadline. The workshop concludes with an exploration of how generative AI tools can help remediate issues identified during the IGT review, followed by re-testing the updated dialogs. 

 

Course Objectives:

By the end of this workshop, participants will be able to: 

1. Complete a Modal Dialog IGT, from selecting the control that opens the dialog through automated checks, dismissibility testing, and focus-restoration testing. 

2. Recognize modal-dialog failures such as missing initial focus, focus escaping the dialog, missing dialog semantics, lack of Escape-key dismissal, or failure to restore focus when the dialog closes. 

3. Save and submit Modal Dialog IGT reviews of the practice page, explore generative AI-assisted remediation of identified issues, and re-test the updated dialogs.