Vuetify Datatables accessibility - vue.js

Question

I'm adding accessibility to my project and I have a basic vuetify data table, just like this example, but I can't find a way to make the checkboxes accessible using the tab key on the keyboard, Is there any way to do this? I know there's something called 'tabIndex' and I've used it before, but I don't know how to use it here. Can you guys help me or guide me on how to do it? Thanks!

Answer 1

It is very difficult to impossible to “add accessibility” at the end of a project.
Getting keyboard navigation and aria attributes right in 3rd party components is nearly impossible. You’d need to apply plenty of hacks or bind deeply into the component’s DOM, which breaks once the library gets updated.
With Vuetify you chose a library that has accessibility on top of their list, but unfortunately the data table with checkboxes cannot be used by keyboard at all, and is lacking plenty of other ARIA attributes. They don’t seem to keep up to that promise for that component.
As with any 3rd party library, if you find an issue, you should try to report a bug upstream and fix it together with their developers.
Correct behaviour of data grids
The expected behaviour of tables in web applications is that of a Data Grid.
A data grid is a composite UI component, so it’s expected that the whole component receives focus only once by means of Tab. Then, you’d navigate with arrow keys inside the table, using Space to select rows or Enter to interact with a cell.
See Keyboard Navigation Inside Components
You can try keyboard navigation in AG-Grid
The pattern to apply in code would be a roving tab index:
Only one child element of the table has tabindex="0", while all others have tabindex="-1". Key bindings then will move the 0 around in the component.
So this is quite some effort to implement.
Simple Alternative
As far as I known, it is acceptable—sometimes even expected—by concerned users, for web applications to behave more like websites, where everything is focussed by means of Tab.
This might be ok if the only possible interaction in your table is to select checkboxes, and if you provide possibilities to Bypass Blocks by offering landmarks or headlines. You should test it with some screen reader users.
For this to work, you would indeed only need to add tabindex="0" to the checkbox.
Then, again, the checkbox does not expose any other accessibility information, it’s an ignorant <div>. It should at least be:
<div role="checkbox" aria-label="Select row 5" aria-checked="false" tabindex="0">
See the Checkbox Pattern
All this might be possible, see Vuetify Accessibility (a11y)
Other Accessibility Criteria
Right now, you mention keyboard navigation. This is a great place to start with, since it is the foundation necessary for most assistive technology.
The Web Content Accessibility Guidelines (WCAG) are the reference to look for if you want to achieve compliance. Level AA (including level A) is the one recommended as a baseline.
But be aware that keyboard navigation is only one of 13 guidelines. Exposing state (checked, selected) to assistive technology, or getting contrasts right are examples for other criteria.
For web applications, it’s a good approach to advance the improvements based on critical paths in the story map, similar to an MVP, meaning that you would advance per process/task and make sure that each step in that process is accessible to the audience you prioritised based on the nature of the application.
Usability testing with people with disabilities is also a very good approach that can be applied in parallel, which centres the initiative more on the actual use cases.