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Accessibility properties for Power Apps

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Configuration of properties that aid alternative ways of interacting with controls suitable for users with disabilities.

Properties

AccessibleLabel

Label for screen readers.

An empty value for Image, Icon, and Shape controls will hide the controls from screen reader users.

Live

How screen readers should announce changes to content. Available only in the Label control.

  • When set to Off, the screen reader doesn't announce changes.
  • When set to Polite, the screen reader finishes speaking before announcing any changes that occurred while the screen reader was speaking.
  • When set to Assertive, the screen reader interrupts itself to announce any changes that occurred while the screen reader was speaking.

Learn how to announce dynamic changes with live regions.

Role

Intended purpose of a control. Available only in the Label control.

This lets screen reader users know whether a Label is a heading and allows them to navigate quickly to different parts of the app. There should be exactly one Heading1 in each screen that serves as the main heading. Use Heading2 for subheadings. Heading3 and Heading4 can be used for finer hierarchies of headings.

Use Default for normal text.

TabIndex

Determines if the control participates in keyboard navigation.

Keyboard navigation is an important aspect of any app. For many, the keyboard is more efficient than using touch or a mouse. The navigation order should:

  • Mirror what is seen visually.
  • Only have a tab stop at controls that are interactive.
  • Follow either an intuitive across and then down "Z" order or a down and then across "reverse-N" order.

The TabIndex property has two recommended values:

TabIndex value Behavior Default for
0 Control participates in keyboard navigation. Button, Text input, Combo box, and other typically interactive controls.
−1 Control does not participate in keyboard navigation. Label, Image, Icon, and other typically non-interactive controls.

Any keyboard navigation sequence can be achieved with just these values, along with the use of the Container control. We recommend that you do not set TabIndex to other values.

When TabIndex of all controls are set to either -1 or 0, navigation order goes from left-to-right, then top-to-bottom, in a "Z" pattern. The order is based on the X and Y property values of the controls. If controls are dynamically moved on the screen, for example, by having its X or Y value change according to a timer or other control, the navigation order will change dynamically too.

Use the Container control to bundle controls that should be navigated together or to create columns in a "reverse-N" pattern. Controls in Form Cards and Galleries are automatically grouped. Tabbing through these containers will navigate through all elements inside the container before proceeding to the next control outside of the container.

Controls that have a Visible property value of false or a DisplayMode property value of Disabled are not included in keyboard navigation.

Important

TabIndex only affects keyboard navigation. A logical control order is still necessary for screen reader users to understand app structure.

Warning

  • TabIndex values greater than zero will not be supported soon. They will be treated as if they were zero. Enable the Simplified tab index app setting to preview this behavior.
  • In the meantime, setting TabIndex to be greater than zero is one of the ways to customize keyboard navigation. This is for rare scenarios where you may not want to follow visual order or logical structure. Use caution since it can be difficult to get the order correct and accurate. It also results in a confusing screen reader experience.
  • When there are controls with TabIndex greater than 0, users will first navigate to controls with increasing positive TabIndex values (such as, 1, then 2). When users have navigated all controls with positive TabIndex values, they will finally navigate to controls with TabIndex of 0. When there are multiple controls with the same TabIndex, their X and Y value and the Containers they are in will determine their relative order. Inside a Gallery or Form, TabIndex is scoped so that the contained controls will be navigated first before the ones outside.

See also