user-research | ONS Digital

User experience | ONS Digital

accessibility | ONS Digital

Census | ONS Digital

people | ONS Digital

Content design | ONS Digital

design | ONS Digital

ONS Digital | Page 2 | Blog for the ONS Digital Content teams

Data | ONS Digital

blog | ONS Digital

All interactive components on a page, such as buttons or menus, should be far enough apart 
from other interactive areas, to avoid them being used by mistake. 

This ensures people with motor impairments can easily click or tap on the right element.

## Methodology

This check is run on both the mobile and desktop versions of every page. Results
for each may differ.

1. All interactive elements are identified, including buttons, links, and form controls.
2. If an element is not normally visible, it is ignored. This includes elements which
   are positioned offscreen or cropped (e.g. for 'screen-reader only' text).
3. If an element is larger than 24 CSS pixels in both dimensions, it passes.
4. Otherwise, the element is compared to all other elements on the page.
5. The minimum horizontal gap between the element is calculated as 24 CSS pixels,  
   minus the width of the element.
6. The minimum vertical gap between the element is calculated as 24 CSS pixels,  
   minus the height of the element.
7. If another element falls within the minimum horizontal or vertical gap, the 
   element fails, unless both are links that point to the same place.

## Further reading

This is part of the draft WCAG 2.2 specification and is subject to change.

* [Target Size (Minimum)](https://w3c.github.io/wcag/understanding/target-size-minimum.html)

ensure-minimum-target-size

May 2025

April 2025

ONS Digital

Title / URL	Issues
user-research \| ONS Digitaldigitalblog.ons.gov.uk/category/user-research/	52
User experience \| ONS Digitaldigitalblog.ons.gov.uk/category/user-experience/	43
accessibility \| ONS Digitaldigitalblog.ons.gov.uk/category/accessibility/	42
Census \| ONS Digitaldigitalblog.ons.gov.uk/category/census/	35
people \| ONS Digitaldigitalblog.ons.gov.uk/category/people/	32
Content design \| ONS Digitaldigitalblog.ons.gov.uk/category/content-design/	32
design \| ONS Digitaldigitalblog.ons.gov.uk/category/design/	31
ONS Digital \| Page 2 \| Blog for the ONS Digital Content teamsdigitalblog.ons.gov.uk/page/2/	30
Data \| ONS Digitaldigitalblog.ons.gov.uk/category/data/	30
blog \| ONS Digitaldigitalblog.ons.gov.uk/category/blog/	29

Ensure interactive components are far enough apart

ONS Digital

Where this issue has occurred