Stories from the spectrum

News

National Autistic Society

First time visit: View without clicking anything

Contact us

Autism Know How

Advice and guidance

The Spectrum magazine

Autism Services Directory

Donate

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

The National Autistic Society

Title / URL	Issues
Stories from the spectrumwww.autism.org.uk/advice-and-guidance/stories	10
Newswww.autism.org.uk/what-we-do/news	10
National Autistic Societywww.autism.org.uk/	9
First time visit: View without clicking anythingwww.autism.org.uk/	5
Contact uswww.autism.org.uk/contact-us	2
Autism Know Howwww.autism.org.uk/what-we-do/autism-know-how	1
Advice and guidancewww.autism.org.uk/advice-and-guidance	1
The Spectrum magazinewww.autism.org.uk/advice-and-guidance/the-spectrum	1
Autism Services Directorywww.autism.org.uk/autism-services-directory	1
Donatewww.autism.org.uk/get-involved/donate	1

Ensure interactive components are far enough apart

The National Autistic Society

Where this issue has occurred