Web Accessibility Checker : Check Details

Element

Error Type

Known

Guidelines

BITV 1.0 (Level 2)
Level 1
7.4 Until user agents provide the ability to stop the refresh, do not create periodically auto-refreshing pages.
Section 508
P - timed response
Stanca Act
Requirement 20: Time Limits
WCAG 1.0 (Level AA)
Priority 2
7.4 Until user agents provide the ability to stop the refresh, do not create periodically auto-refreshing pages.
WCAG 1.0 (Level AAA)
Priority 2
7.4 Until user agents provide the ability to stop the refresh, do not create periodically auto-refreshing pages.
WCAG 2.0 (Level A)
2.2 Enough Time: Provide users enough time to read and use content.
Success Criteria 2.2.1 Timing Adjustable (A)
WCAG 2.0 (Level AA)
2.2 Enough Time: Provide users enough time to read and use content.
Success Criteria 2.2.1 Timing Adjustable (A)
WCAG 2.0 (Level AAA)
2.2 Enough Time: Provide users enough time to read and use content.
Success Criteria 2.2.1 Timing Adjustable (A)

Requirement

Meta refresh is not used with a time-out.

Error

Meta refresh with a time-out is used.

Short Description

meta elements that contain a http-equiv attribute with a value of "refresh" cannot contain a content attribute with a value of any number greater than zero.

Rationale

Developers cannot predict how much time a user will require to read a page; premature refresh can disorient users. Content developers should avoid periodic refresh and allow users to choose when they want the latest information.

How To Repair

Remove the meta element from the document or set the content attribute value to zero.

Steps To Check

Procedure

1. Check the document for the meta element (it occurs in the head section of the document).
2. Check if the meta element contains a http-equiv attribute with a value of "refresh".
3. Check if the meta element contains a content attribute with a value greater than zero.

Expected Result

1. meta element does not have a http-equiv attribute value of "refresh" unless the content attribute value is zero.

Failed Result

1. Remove the meta element.
2. Or
3. Set the content attribute value to zero.

Examples

Pass Examples

meta refresh used with a timeout of zero

<?xml version="1.0" encoding="UTF-8"?>
<!DOCTYPE html PUBLIC "-//W3C//DTD XHTML 1.0 Strict//EN" "http://www.w3.org/TR/xhtml1/DTD/xhtml1-strict.dtd">
<html xmlns="http://www.w3.org/1999/xhtml" xml:lang="en" lang="en">
<head>
<title>ATRC Testfile - Check #72.2 - Negative</title>
<meta http-equiv="Content-Type" content="text/xhtml; charset=UTF-8" />
<meta  http-equiv="refresh" content="0; url=http://test.com" />
</head>
<body>
</body>
</html>

Fail Examples

meta refresh used with a timeout

<?xml version="1.0" encoding="UTF-8"?>
<!DOCTYPE html PUBLIC "-//W3C//DTD XHTML 1.0 Strict//EN" "http://www.w3.org/TR/xhtml1/DTD/xhtml1-strict.dtd">
<html xmlns="http://www.w3.org/1999/xhtml" xml:lang="en" lang="en">
<head>
<title>ATRC Testfile - Check #72.1 - Positive</title>
<meta http-equiv="Content-Type" content="text/xhtml; charset=UTF-8" />
<meta  http-equiv="refresh" content="30; url=http://test.com" />
</head>
<body>
</body>
</html>