Pointer gestures

Silktide identifies pages that appear to use custom touch or pointer gestures, such as pinching to zoom or swiping along a path, and asks you to confirm that each gesture can also be performed with simple taps or clicks.

Why this matters

Gestures like pinch-to-zoom, two-finger rotate, or tracing a path assume the visitor can coordinate multiple contact points or move a pointer precisely. Many people cannot: those with tremors or limited dexterity, and those who operate a computer through a head pointer, eye tracker, or speech control, which produce only single clicks. If a map can only be zoomed by pinching, or a carousel only advanced by swiping, these visitors are locked out of that content.

This is success criterion 2.5.1 (Pointer Gestures), a requirement - part of the most basic conformance level.

How to fix it

Silktide cannot verify gesture alternatives automatically, so this check asks you to review the page:

Find any feature operated by a multipoint gesture (pinch, rotate) or a path-based gesture (swipe, drag along a route).
Confirm each one can also be operated with single taps or clicks. Typical alternatives: zoom in and out buttons on a map, previous and next buttons on a swipeable carousel, and buttons or menus that replace drag reordering.
Add simple controls wherever no alternative exists. Gestures may stay - they just cannot be the only way.
When the page checks out, or the gesture is essential (such as a signature pad), the finding.

How Silktide tests this

Examine each page for signs of custom gesture handling: a drawing surface (the <canvas> element, common in maps and charts), a well-known touch gesture library, gesture-specific keywords in the page's , or touch-action values that indicate the page handles touch itself.
Deliberately ignore generic words like "swipe" and "drag" in code, since they often describe single-pointer interactions that already comply.
Raise at most one review prompt per page when any signal is found. This check flags pages for manual review; it does not assert a failure.

Troubleshooting

The page has no gestures

The signals are indirect - a decorative <canvas> animation or a bundled library the page never uses for gestures can trigger the prompt. If nothing on the page needs a multipoint or path-based gesture, approve the finding.

Gestures exist but come from an embedded map

Embedded maps and similar widgets often provide their own single-pointer controls, such as zoom buttons. If the embed includes them, the page complies; verify they are enabled in your embed settings.