Van11y ES2015 accessible simple tooltip, using ARIA

This script will provide an accessible simple tooltip system, using ARIA.

The demo is here: https://van11y.net/downloads/simple-tooltip/demo/index.html

Website is here: https://van11y.net/accessible-simple-tooltip/

La page existe aussi en français : https://van11y.net/fr/infobulles-tooltips-accessibles/

How it works

First round

Basically, the script wraps each class="js-simple-tooltip" into a span class="<your-prefix-class>-container" and adds the content into a hidden content next to it. Once you focus or hover the element with class="js-simple-tooltip", it is displayed.

You can use it on the tag you want (input, button, a…).

Then a bit of styling classes

Then it will generate some classes for you, to allow styling your tooltips as you want.

ARIA is coming

Thanks to aria-describedby and ids generated on the fly, you never loose any information.

And JavaScript does the rest

Some listeners for keyboard and mouse interactions are added, when you activate one, it will updates attributes and manage keyboard, you can close it using Esc.

How to use it

Download the script

You may also use npm command: npm i van11y-accessible-simple-tooltip-aria.

You may also use bower: bower install van11y-accessible-simple-tooltip-aria.

Attributes

Use data-simpletooltip-text or data-simpletooltip-content-id attributes on an element to activate the tooltip.

• Simply put class="js-simpletooltip" on a button to activate the script.
• Attribute data-simpletooltip-prefix-class (non mandatory): the prefix to all style classes of the tooltip (useful to set up different styles).
• Attribute data-simpletooltip-text: the text of your tooltip.
• Attribute data-simpletooltip-content-id: the id of (hidden) content in your page that will be put into your tooltip.

The script is launched when the page is loaded. If you need to execute it on AJAX-inserted content, you may use for example on <div id="newContent">your tooltip launcher source</div>:

var my_tooltip = van11yAccessibleSimpleTooltipAria();
my_expand.attach(document.getElementById('newContent'));

addListeners is a facultative boolean (by default set to true) to add tooltip listeners (should be set up only the first time in most of the cases).

Examples

Here are three examples:

<button class="js-simple-tooltip" data-simpletooltip-text="Cool, it works!">
  Hover or focus me to show the tooltip
</button>

<button class="js-simple-tooltip" data-simpletooltip-content-id="tooltip-case_1">
  Show me another tooltip
</button>
<div id="tooltip-case_1" class="hidden">
  Woot, you can take the content of a hidden block.
</div>

<button class="js-simple-tooltip" data-simpletooltip-prefix-class="minimalist-left"
  data-simpletooltip-text="Yes, with data-simpletooltip-prefix-class, so easy">
 And another one?
</button>

These examples are taken from the demo.

How to style it

These examples are taken from the demo.

/* Tooltip hidden by default */
.simpletooltip[aria-hidden="true"],
.minimalist-simpletooltip[aria-hidden="true"],
.minimalist-left-simpletooltip[aria-hidden="true"] {
  display: none;
}
/* position relative for containers */
.simpletooltip_container,
.minimalist-simpletooltip_container,
.minimalist-left-simpletooltip_container {
  position: relative;
}

/* tooltip styles */
.simpletooltip,
.minimalist-simpletooltip,
.minimalist-left-simpletooltip {
  position: absolute;
  z-index: 666;
  width: 10em;
  border-radius: .5em;
  background: rgba( 0, 0, 0, .9 );
  color: #eee;
  padding: .5em;
  text-align: left;
  line-height: 1.3;
}
.simpletooltip,
.minimalist-simpletooltip {
  right: auto;
  left: 100%;
  margin-left: .5em;
}
.minimalist-left-simpletooltip {
  right: 100%;
  left: auto;
  margin-right: .5em;
}
/* used pseudo-element to make arrows */
.simpletooltip::before,
.minimalist-simpletooltip::before,
.minimalist-left-simpletooltip::before {
  content: '';
  speak: none;
  position: absolute;
  z-index: 666;
  width: 10px;
  height: 10px;
  pointer-events: none;
}
.simpletooltip::before,
.minimalist-simpletooltip::before {
  top: .5em;
  left: -10px;
  margin-left: -10px;
  border: 10px solid transparent;
  border-right: 10px solid rgba( 0, 0, 0, .9 );
}
.minimalist-left-simpletooltip::before {
  top: .5em;
  right: -10px;
  margin-right: -10px;
  border: 10px solid transparent;
  border-left: 10px solid rgba( 0, 0, 0, .9 )
}

/* it can be easily adapted in media-queries for tablets/mobile */

/* for this example: mobile */
@media (max-width: 44.375em) {

  .simpletooltip,
  .minimalist-simpletooltip,
  .minimalist-left-simpletooltip  {
    top: 100%;
    left: 50%;
    right: 0;
    margin: 0;
    margin-top: .7em;
    margin-left: -5em;
  }
  .simpletooltip::before,
  .minimalist-simpletooltip::before,
  .minimalist-left-simpletooltip::before  {
    top: -10px;
    right: auto;
    left: 50%;
    margin-left: -5px;
    margin-top: -10px;
    border: 10px solid transparent;
    border-bottom: 10px solid rgba( 0, 0, 0, .9 );
  }

}

Bonuses

Default config

const CONFIG = {
  TOOLTIP_SIMPLE: 'js-simple-tooltip',
  TOOLTIP_SIMPLE_CONTAINER: 'simpletooltip_container',
  TOOLTIP_SIMPLE_RAW: 'simpletooltip',
  TOOLTIP_SIMPLE_LABEL_ID: 'label_simpletooltip_',
  TOOLTIP_DATA_TEXT: 'data-simpletooltip-text',
  TOOLTIP_DATA_PREFIX_CLASS: 'data-simpletooltip-prefix-class',
  TOOLTIP_DATA_CONTENT_ID: 'data-simpletooltip-content-id',
  ATTR_DESCRIBEDBY: 'aria-describedby',
  ATTR_HIDDEN: 'aria-hidden',
  ATTR_ROLE: 'role',
  ROLE: 'tooltip',
  ...config
};

If you need to use another configuration, you may call the plugin like this:

var other_tooltip = van11yAccessibleSimpleTooltipAria({
  TOOLTIP_SIMPLE: 'js-simple-tooltip2',
  TOOLTIP_DATA_PREFIX_CLASS: 'data-simpletooltip-prefix-class2'
});
other_tooltip.attach();

Of course, you will have to update your CSS by using the good attributes (if you modify them).