Review a digital task list for accessibility by testing the complete workflow: finding a list, creating and editing a task, setting dates and recurrence, changing order, navigating hierarchy, completing work, recovering from mistakes, sharing, and exporting. A form can have labels yet remain unusable if focus disappears during reordering or status depends on color alone.
Make tasks perceivable and understandable
W3C's accessibility principles describe content as perceivable, operable, understandable, and robust. Apply them to list names, task titles, notes, due dates, recurrence, priority, assignee, status, subtasks, attachments, filters, and errors.
Check programmatic names and relationships with a screen reader. Completed, overdue, selected, starred, collapsed, shared, and recurring states need text or semantic exposure rather than color, strikethrough, icon, or sound alone. Dates should include enough context to distinguish today, tomorrow, a missed deadline, and an item with no due date.
Use clear instructions and consistent terminology. A control labeled Move should identify its destination or open an accessible chooser. Confirmation should name the affected task and consequence. Preserve entered text after a validation error.
Test keyboard, voice, touch, and focus
Complete every critical action without a pointer: create, edit, save, cancel, expand, move, reorder, complete, reopen, delete, restore, search, filter, and switch lists. Confirm a visible focus indicator, logical order, no keyboard trap, and focus return after dialogs or dynamic updates.
W3C's WCAG 2.2 update includes focus visibility, dragging alternatives, minimum target size, redundant entry, consistent help, and accessible authentication. If tasks can be reordered only by dragging, provide buttons, keyboard commands, or another single-pointer alternative. Test touch targets at zoom and on small screens.
For voice input, distinguish similar task names and expose confirmation before deleting or completing. For switch or keyboard users, avoid long tab sequences through every task action; support efficient navigation without hiding functionality.
Check recurrence, hierarchy, and time
Create recurring tasks across daylight-saving and time-zone changes. Test whether editing one occurrence versus the series is clearly announced. Verify parent and subtask relationships, indentation, collapsed state, and completion rules. A screen reader should not present a visual hierarchy as a flat ambiguous list.
Test sorting and filters. Announce when a list is empty because of a filter rather than because tasks were deleted. Preserve task context after search. Ensure notification settings do not require hearing and allow users to review missed alerts in text.
Google Tasks' export documentation shows the breadth of task data that may exist: IDs, list and parent relationships, descriptions, due dates, recurrence, timestamps, sort order, links, and status. Include those relationships when testing accessible views and export, not only the visible title.
Exercise errors and destructive actions
Use fictional tasks to test offline edits, synchronization conflicts, duplicate completion, invalid dates, expired sessions, full storage, revoked access, and interrupted moves. Errors should identify the task, explain what happened, preserve work where safe, and offer a supported next step.
Delete and restore a test task. Make the confirmation explicit and keep focus predictable. Test account recovery and export without disabling security. Do not use a public share link as an accessibility workaround.
Record findings and retest
Log device, browser or app, assistive technology, user need, task, expected result, observed result, severity, evidence, owner, and retest. Include real users with disabilities where possible, because automated checks cannot prove that ordering, recurrence, and errors are understandable.
The review passes when representative users can manage ordinary and recurring tasks, understand state, use hierarchy and ordering, recover from errors, and export or transfer necessary data through supported controls. Repeat after list, calendar, synchronization, sharing, authentication, notification, or mobile changes.
Sources
- Accessibility Principles — W3C Web Accessibility Initiative
- What's New in WCAG 2.2 — W3C Web Accessibility Initiative
- Export your data from Google Tasks — Google Tasks Help