Ensuring Accessibility Compliance While Merging Arrays of User Data in React - Migrating to WCAG 2.1
After trying multiple solutions online, I still can't figure this out. Could someone explain I'm refactoring my project and While migrating our application to comply with WCAG 2.1 standards, I've been tasked with merging multiple arrays of user data that will influence how we render our components accessible to screen readers... The challenge lies in ensuring that the merged data retains its semantic meaning and is appropriately announced by assistive technologies. I've been working with React 17 and using the `useEffect` hook to manage state updates. Here's the basic structure I'm employing to merge two user data arrays: ```javascript const [userData, setUserData] = useState([]); useEffect(() => { const primaryUsers = [/* array of primary user objects */]; const secondaryUsers = [/* array of secondary user objects */]; const mergedUsers = [...primaryUsers, ...secondaryUsers].map(user => ({ ...user, accessible: true // Mark for accessibility })); setUserData(mergedUsers); }, []); ``` To maintain accessibility, I've added an `accessible` flag to each user object. However, I'm not sure if this is the best approach. In practice, the goal is to ensure that screen readers properly announce the user roles and information. One concern is how to ensure that properties necessary for accessibility, like `aria-label` or `role`, are included in the final merged data. I've experimented with creating a utility function that checks for these properties: ```javascript const enhanceAccessibility = (users) => { return users.map(user => { return { ...user, 'aria-label': user.name }; }); }; ``` However, after merging, I noticed that the order in which these properties are assigned might affect how they are announced by screen readers. In a recent test using NVDA, the screen reader still struggled to read back the user details properly. Additionally, I've read that mishandling array merging could also trigger performance issues, especially with larger datasets. To mitigate this, I've looked into `reduce` for a more controlled merge: ```javascript const mergedUsers = primaryUsers.reduce((acc, user) => { const existingUser = acc.find(u => u.id === user.id); if (existingUser) { return acc; } return [...acc, user]; }, secondaryUsers); ``` Still, Iām questioning the effectiveness of these implementations for maintaining a high level of accessibility. If anyone has experience with merging arrays while keeping accessibility in mind, Iād love to hear your suggestions or best practices. Also, any insights on performance implications when dealing with large datasets in React would be greatly appreciated. Thank you! I've been using Javascript for about a year now. This issue appeared after updating to Javascript LTS. Any feedback is welcome!