Build accessible faceted search

POM supplies native inputs and interaction semantics for its facet controls. Editors still determine whether labels, layout, wording, and custom wrappers produce an understandable experience.

Preserve visible names

Give every facet a concise Label in the context editor. In Faceted Search Facet, leave Label empty to use the configured name or enter a purposeful override.

For Search Gateway fields, Show label? may hide the visible label; the field still receives that label as its accessible name. Do not replace meaningful labels with placeholder-only instructions in the live faceted interface.

Use the supplied controls

Do not replace checkboxes, radio choices, selects, pager links, or buttons with clickable decorative containers. The supplied templates expose state such as checked, disabled, expanded, or current page to assistive technology.

When placing controls inside a custom panel, ensure the panel trigger:

• is a button;
• announces whether the panel is expanded;
• can close with the keyboard;
• does not trap focus;
• returns focus predictably.

Make status understandable

Use Faceted Search Counts to communicate the current range and total. Write an explicit Empty label. Keep reset and active selections reachable after a zero-result response.

Loading imagery is status support, but it should not be the only way the surrounding page explains that results may change.

Keyboard acceptance test

Without a pointer:

1. move through every facet in a logical order;
2. open and close searchable and hierarchical controls;
3. select and remove values;
4. submit a manual search;
5. reset the filters;
6. change sort and page size;
7. traverse the pager;
8. operate any mobile filter disclosure.

Focus must remain visible and no control should require hover.

Content and visual checks

Keep count text readable at zoom, retain sufficient color contrast, and never communicate selected or disabled state through color alone. For a map-based directory, provide equivalent result cards; the map must not be the only way to discover or open an item.