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Accessibility

PixiJS includes built-in accessibility support through a DOM-based overlay system that integrates with screen readers, keyboard navigation, and other assistive technologies. It uses <div> overlays to describe visual elements to screen readers

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Accessibility is opt-in to reduce bundle size and must be explicitly enabled.

import 'pixi.js/accessibility';
import { Container } from 'pixi.js';

const button = new Container();
button.accessible = true;

How It Works​

PixiJS places DOM <div> elements over your canvas, aligned to the bounds of accessible objects. These elements:

  • Can receive focus via keyboard (tabIndex)
  • Announce accessibleTitle or accessibleHint to screen readers
  • Dispatch click, mouseover, mouseout events as Pixi pointer events
  • Use aria-live and aria-label where appropriate

Enabling the System​

To enable accessibility, you must import the module before creating your renderer:

import 'pixi.js/accessibility';

PixiJS automatically installs the AccessibilitySystem onto your renderer. You can configure how and when it's activated.

Configuration Options​

You can customize when and how the accessibility system activates by passing options to the Application constructor:

const app = new Application({
  accessibilityOptions: {
    enabledByDefault: true, // Enable on startup
    activateOnTab: false, // Disable auto-activation via tab
    deactivateOnMouseMove: false, // Keep system active with mouse use
    debug: true, // Show div overlays for debugging
  },
});

Or programmatically enable/disable the system:

app.renderer.accessibility.setAccessibilityEnabled(true);

Creating Accessible Objects​

To mark a display object as accessible and add it to the accessibility system, set the accessible property to true. This will create a <div> overlay that screen readers can interact with.

const button = new Container();
button.accessible = true;

app.stage.addChild(button);

Properties for Accessible Containers​

There are several properties you can set on accessible containers to customize their behavior:

PropertyDescription
accessibleEnables accessibility for the object
accessibleTitleSets the title for screen readers
accessibleHintSets the aria-label
accessibleTextAlternative inner text for the div
accessibleTypeTag name used for the shadow element ('button', 'div', etc.)
accessiblePointerEventsCSS pointer-events value ('auto', 'none', etc.)
tabIndexAllows focus with keyboard navigation
accessibleChildrenWhether children of this container are accessible

API Reference​