Offer a usable alternative to dragging

What to change

Ask for another way to achieve each essential drag action, using ordinary controls that make the resulting change clear.

A worked example

Illustrative example

A portal lets someone reorder preferred contact methods using Move up and Move down actions beside each item, as well as dragging.

How to check the result

Accept when the essential outcome is achievable without dragging and the user can verify the final order or selected value.

A mistake to avoid

Providing an alternative that requires substantially more precision than dragging does not meaningfully remove the original interaction difficulty.

Your action checklist

Use these checks to prepare a discussion with your team or supplier. Tick a check when you have recorded the decision or evidence, rather than when a feature has simply been promised.

Decisions to recordIdentify any sortable list, movable panel or range selector in the journey. Write down the actual task that dragging is intended to perform.Complete that task using only the alternative controls. Ask the supplier to demonstrate keyboard access and whether the resulting position or value is announced appropriately.Repeat near the first and last allowed positions. Check that unavailable moves are understandable and that the alternative does not silently produce a different result.

Evidence, open questions and decisionsNext action and responsible role

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