Accessibility in Coveo for Sitecore

In the Build Search phase of the Coveo for Sitecore deployment journey, you will create Coveo-powered search interfaces in Sitecore in one of two ways:

• By referencing a Coveo Administration Console search page.

• By building a Coveo for Sitecore search interface from the ground up using Coveo for Sitecore Hive renderings.

One way or the other, your search interfaces will draw upon the Coveo JavaScript Search Framework.

For example, the .cshtml view file of a Coveo for Sitecore Hive rendering typically outputs the base HTML markup of a Coveo JavaScript Search Framework component. The Framework JavaScript code then expands the base HTML markup to a full-blown multi-element widget during initialization (see JavaScript Search Framework Core Concepts). Whether in the Sitecore Experience Editor or in a published page, the Framework automatically adds ARIA landmarks to the component HTML element(s).

WCAG Conformance

In all releases of Coveo for Sitecore 5, the Coveo JavaScript Search Framework components meet WCAG 2.0 AA requirements. From the August 10, 2020 release of Coveo for Sitecore 5 onwards, these components meet WCAG 2.1 A and AA requirements.

Adding ARIA Landmarks in Coveo for Sitecore Search Interfaces

Coveo provides generic guidelines for adding ARIA landmark role and aria-label attributes to the HTML elements of a Coveo-powered search page, should you deem this necessary.

When referencing a Coveo Administration Console search page in a Sitecore item, add ARIA landmark attributes to that search page through its Code View in the Interface Editor.

When assembling Coveo for Sitecore Hive renderings to build a search interface from the ground up, add ARIA landmark attributes at the rendering level, in the .cshtml view file. To ensure your changes don’t get overwritten during a Coveo for Sitecore upgrade, follow the Coveo for Sitecore rendering duplication procedure.