WCAG 2.1 · Level A · Understandable
WCAG 3.2.2 — On Input, explained with examples
Changing the setting of any component must not automatically cause a change of context unless the user has been warned. Auto-submitting forms on radio change or auto-redirecting on language switch breaks predictability.
- Number
- 3.2.2
- Level
- A
- Principle
- Understandable
- Guideline
- 3.2 Predictable
Why this criterion exists
Auto-submitting forms on radio change or auto-redirecting on language switch breaks predictability.
If you only remember one thing: changing the setting of any component must not automatically cause a change of context unless the user has been warned. Everything else on this page is detail.
Who feels it when this fails
Accessibility criteria sometimes feel abstract until you see who pays the cost when a site ignores them. On Input affects:
Cognitive accessibility
Keyboard users
How sites typically fail it
These are the patterns we see week after week. None are intentional — they are accidents of how teams build interfaces under deadline. Knowing the failure modes is the fastest path to writing them out of your component library.
Country dropdown auto-submitting on selection
How to test for it
Change a setting; nothing should navigate without an explicit submit/confirm.
Automated scanners catch this criterion most of the time, but never all of the time. Manual testing with the keyboard and a screen reader closes the gap.
A code fix you can copy
Require an explicit confirm action, or warn the user first.
The problem
<select onchange="location.href=this.value">...</select>The fix
<select id="country">...</select>
<button type="submit">Apply</button>Require an explicit confirm action, or warn the user first.
Other Understandable criteria
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