Accessibility in Airtable

This guide covers how screen readers, keyboard navigation, and other tools interact with some of our most complicated interfaces and visualizations.

Accessibility in rich text fields

Airtable supports rich text entry when fields are configured to accept it. Text can be formatted by using a keyboard as discussed in this article.

General accessibility in interfaces

Airtable interfaces are built to work with assistive technologies. All interfaces consist of the following elements:

• Skip links for main content and accessibility feedback

• Left navigation, with links back to airtable home as well as to other interfaces

• Header bar with interface title and some of the following:

  • Call to action buttons

  • Description

  • Preset filters

  • Facets for modifying the data presented in the interface. Each facet is a dialog focus trap which can be closed with the esc key. A published interface page is configured by the interface’s builder. When enabled, the data can be refined further via the following options:

    • Grouping

    • Filter

    • Sort

    • Row-height and layout

    • Visualization

    • Search

Note

Many common keyboard shortcuts are available. Learn more here.

Accessibility in interface grids

A grid will have role=”application” and is a single tabstop on the page. Due to performance reasons around rendering large amounts of data, it is best to rely on the built-in navigation tools.

1. With the grid application focused, press enter or return to start navigating the grid. When inside the grid, press esc to exit the grid and return focus to the original tabstop.

2. When you first enter the grid, your focus will be placed on the first cell of the first row. Navigate across rows and columns with the arrow keys.

3. The grid may be configured to allow inline edits. If enabled, press enter or return to enter the contents of the cell. Depending on the cell type, this might be a single form control, or a set of form controls. Focus will be trapped within the cell until you press  esc.

4. The grid may be configured to allow a detailed record view. If enabled, press space to open the detailed view. This will transfer focus to a dialog, but focus is purposely not trapped. Close with esc or by pressing the “Close” button.

5. Rows can be selected with a checkbox left of the first cell. A range of cells can be selected with shift + arrow keys

6. An additional context menu based on the focused or selected cells can be opened with ctrl + shift + m.

Note

Our accessibility improvements are being rolled out slowly to our users. You can opt in by reaching out to [email protected].

Keyboard shortcuts

A list of keyboard shortcuts can be opened by holding CMD or CTRL  & /. This article covers the keyboard shortcuts available in Airtable.

FAQs