Note: The creation of this article on testing Pause, Stop, Hide was human-based, with the assistance of artificial intelligence.
Explanation of the success criteria
WCAG 2.2.2 Pause, Stop, Hide is a Level A conformance level Success Criterion designed to put users back in control. Any moving, blinking, or auto-updating content, elements that can distract, overwhelm, or even disorient, must offer users the ability to pause, stop, or hide it. This simple yet powerful requirement ensures that dynamic content enhances rather than hinders the user experience, making digital interactions more accessible for people with visual, cognitive, or attention-related disabilities. At its core, the criterion is about giving users agency, preventing motion or updates from interfering with their ability to perceive and engage with content.
Who does this benefit?
- Cognitive and attention-related disabilities: Reduces distraction and prevents cognitive overload.
- Visual sensitivities: Minimizes the impact of flashing, blinking, or moving elements.
- Vestibular or motion sensitivities: Protects against discomfort or disorientation caused by animations.
- Keyboard-only and screen reader users: Ensures pause and stop controls are accessible without a mouse.
- Elderly users: Prevents confusion and frustration from rapidly changing content.
- Users in high-distraction environments: Allows control over competing visual stimuli.
Testing via Automated testing
Automated tools excel at scanning large sites for predictable patterns, autoplay carousels, blinking banners, or CSS animations, and can flag violations with speed and consistency. However, they fall short when controls are subtle, context-dependent, or not fully accessible to assistive technologies.
Testing via Artificial Intelligence (AI)
Artificial intelligence adds a layer of contextual awareness, simulating how real users interact with dynamic content. AI can identify content that increases cognitive load or interferes with usability, flagging subtle issues that automated scripts might miss. Yet AI isn’t perfect: it may generate false positives or overlook edge cases, especially with complex, custom components.
Testing via Manual testing
The human touch remains irreplaceable. Manual testing lets experts interact with content across devices, screen readers, and input methods, verifying that pause, stop, and hide controls work intuitively. While it demands time and effort, manual testing uncovers nuanced accessibility gaps and validates real-world usability.
Which approach is best?
No single approach for testing Pause, Stop, Hide is perfect. A hybrid approach can leverage the strengths of automated, AI-based, and manual testing to maximize efficiency and coverage while ensuring accuracy.
The process begins with automated testing to scan the site for common patterns and known issues, such as autoplaying carousels, blinking content, or dynamic updates, across large numbers of pages. This quickly identifies obvious violations and generates a baseline report. Next, AI-based testing analyzes these flagged instances in context, simulating user interactions to determine whether content can actually be paused, stopped, or hidden and whether dynamic elements interfere with usability or cognitive load. AI can also uncover subtler cases that automated scripts might miss, such as non-standard widgets or complex animations. Finally, manual testing validates the results by having real testers interact with the site using different devices, screen readers, and input methods to ensure that controls are functional, intuitive, and truly accessible. This human layer catches edge cases, evaluates user experience, and confirms that accessibility features work as intended in real-world scenarios.
By combining these approaches, organizations can achieve not only compliance but true accessibility, a digital environment where all users, regardless of ability, remain in control.
Related Resources
- Understanding Success Criterion 2.2.2 Pause, Stop, Hide
- A11y 101: 2.2.2 Pause, Stop, Hide
- Allowing the content to be paused and restarted from where it was paused
- Creating content that blinks for less than 5 seconds
- Setting animated gif images to stop blinking after n cycles (within 5 seconds)
- Using scripts to control blinking and stop it in five seconds or less
- Using a control in the web page that stops moving, blinking, or auto-updating content
- Providing a link, button, or other mechanism that reloads the page without any blinking content