Toolbox

Keyboard-only QA checklist

Test every page and widget without a mouse: 28 checks, keyboard scripts for 7 widgets as data and a Tab walk that finds traps.

What it is

Field Guide 12: a 28-item keyboard-only QA checklist traced to WCAG 2.2 and the ARIA Authoring Practices. The kit adds keyboard test scripts for seven widgets as JSON (skip link, dialog, menu button, tabs, combobox, listbox, grid), a runner that asserts where focus lands, and a Playwright Tab walk that records focus order and finds traps, unreachable controls, positive tabindex, invisible focus and focus hidden under sticky headers. A clean fixture passes everything; a broken one carries 12 planted bugs, and the two tools find all 12 between them.

When to use

Before shipping any feature with custom widgets, when a keyboard bug reaches production, or when you want the essay's manual checklist to run in CI.

How to use

Open the PDF or the interactive HTML and do one manual pass with the mouse put away
Run npm run demo:broken in the kit to see what each tool reports
Run node scripts/tab-walk.mjs on a key route and review the recorded focus order
Copy fixtures/bindings.json for your page and run the widget scripts against it
Commit the focus order and add a script step for every keyboard bug you fix

Before you start

Prerequisites and when to skip this.

Prerequisites

A page you can open in Chromium, locally or on a preview URL
Playwright and Chromium for the Tab walk and the widget scripts

When NOT to use this

As a replacement for a screen-reader test: it checks keys and focus, not what is announced
Native mobile apps, where keyboard and switch access need platform tools

Consider instead

You need a quick check before a demo: Use the checklist by hand for ten minutes; add the scripts later

Downloads

Guide (PDF)Full kit (ZIP): PDF, HTML, Markdown, widget scripts, Tab walk, fixtures

Focus ring token and usage rulesError message templateAccessibility as a speed multiplier

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