Error Prevention (All)
Success Criterion 3.3.6 (Level AAA)

Question

In your site or application, do you provide a way for a user to reverse a submission, correct input errors, or confirm data before final submission?

Why is this important

All users, including people with disabilities, makes mistakes when submitting input forms. Users often accidentally input wrong or incomplete information, or make typographical errors that they don’t catch in time before submission. Allowing a user to reverse a submission, correct input errors, or confirm data before final submission helps users avoid irreversible consequences. 

Whom does it benefit?

Example 1:

As a person with a motor disability who regularly presses the wrong keys on my keyboard,
I want to confirm my responses before submitting critical data
so that I can avoid accidentally submitting the wrong data with no way to undo it.

Example 2:

As a student who has dyslexia and experiences difficulties with tracking my location on a page,
I want to review my work prior to final submission
so that I can correct any misspelled words or incorrect selections made on multiple choice questions.

What should you do?

Design all web pages that submit forms to have at least one of the following:

  • The user can reverse the action
  • Input data is validated and any error(s) in the data can be corrected by the user before submission
  • The user can review, confirm, and correct input data before finalizing the submission

How do you do it?

For web pages that submit user controllable data

  • Provide a checkbox with a label like "I confirm that I wish to delete this data" that users must select to indicate they have reviewed their changes and are ready for it to be committed. The checkbox should be located near the submit button to help the user notice it during the submission process. Only if the checkbox is selected will the input be accepted and the changes processed.
  • Keep the deleted data by delaying the deletion, holding the data in a separate location for some period of time or by recording all deleted transactions in such a way that data can be restored if requested by the user.
  • Seek confirmation from the user that the selected action is his or her intended action.

For web pages that submit user test responses

  • Provide users a way to navigate back and forth through test response selections, allowing them to review and/or edit all responses entered. Or, provide a summary of all responses collected for the user to review and confirm the final submission of the test responses, also allowing a way for users to edit responses before final submission.
  • Seek confirmation from the user that the selected action is his or her intended action.

For any other web pages that submit a form

  • Provide users a way to navigate back and forth, allowing them to review all data entered or provide a summary of all data collected in all steps for the user to review and confirm the final submission of the transaction
  • Add a checkbox that users must select to indicate they have reviewed their input and are ready for it to be committed next to the submit button.
  • Enable a procedure to cancel the request made by an online transaction submission for a stated time

Need technical guidance?

Technical guidance is available for implementing this Success Criterion at the Understanding Success Criterion 3.3.6 - Error Prevention (All) page.