Session timeouts are designed to protect privacy and security, but if they’re implemented incorrectly, they can prevent people from completing tasks on a website.
Typical problems include:
- The session times out too quickly. People with cognitive and learning disabilities, keyboard users, and those who use assistive technologies like screen readers, may need more time to read through a page or to perform specific tasks
- The site has a timeout notification, and an option to extend the session. But the notification is not explicitly announced by assistive technologies – people who use a screen reader may not even be aware of it
- There is an option to extend the timeout, but there is not enough time for a person using a keyboard to activate the option before the timeout ends
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