Operable · Level A · 2.2.1
Timing Adjustable
A time limit on completing something — a session timeout, a form that expires — has to be turn-off-able, adjustable to at least 10× the default, or extendable with a warning, unless the limit falls into one of a few narrow exceptions.
- Blind
- Low vision
- Motor
- Cognitive
- Deaf / hard of hearing
How to recognize it
Look for anything on a timer that the user didn't set themselves: a session that logs someone out after a fixed period of inactivity, a checkout form that expires and discards entered data, a quiz with a countdown. The failure is a hard timeout with no way to turn it off, extend it, or get a warning before it expires. This is a wide-reaching problem: people with motor disabilities who type slowly, blind and low-vision users navigating with a screen reader who need more time to locate and process content, people with cognitive or language-related disabilities who need more time to read and decide, and deaf users relying on sign language who may need more time working through text in a second language, are all disadvantaged the same way by a limit built around an average-speed sighted user. A few situations are legitimately exempt: real-time events like a live auction where the timing is the actual point, and cases where extending the limit would actually invalidate what's happening — like a countdown for a genuinely time-limited ticket sale. Limits longer than 20 hours are also exempt outright.
How to fix it
Best option: don't impose a time limit unless the activity genuinely needs one. If a limit exists, give the user a way to turn it off entirely before they hit it, or let them adjust it to at least 10 times the default duration. If neither is feasible, warn the user at least 20 seconds before the limit expires and give them a simple way to extend it — and let them do that repeatedly, not just once.
Example
Avoid
setTimeout(() => { logOutUser(); }, 5 * 60 * 1000);
/* hard 5-minute session timeout, no warning, no way to extend or disable it */Prefer
setTimeout(() => { showExtendWarning(); }, 4.5 * 60 * 1000);
/* warns 20+ seconds before the 5-minute limit and offers a one-click extension, repeatable */