CSS prefers-reduced-motion Media Query
When I started in the web development industry, media queries were limited -- screen and print were the two media queries I was most often using. More than a decade later, media queries have advanced to various screen units, feature checking, and even color scheme preference. I've been so happy to see CSS evolve beyond incredibly generic settings.
One of the CSS media queries I've recently discovered is prefers-reduced-motion, a media query for users sensitive to excessive motion.
Let's use prefers-reduced-motion to show motion to all users but none to sensitive users:
.animation {
animation: vibrate 0.2s;
}
@media (prefers-reduced-motion: reduce) {
.animation {
animation: none;
}
}
The example above illustrates how we can cater to sensitive users by not animating elements for those who have said they don't want them.
It's amazing how media queries like this can really show users that you care. Sure, we love the fancy razzle-dazzle but not everyone can handle that motion.
![Responsive Images: The Ultimate Guide]()
Chances are that any Web designers using our Ghostlab browser testing app, which allows seamless testing across all devices simultaneously, will have worked with responsive design in some shape or form. And as today's websites and devices become ever more varied, a plethora of responsive images...
![How to Create a RetroPie on Raspberry Pi – Graphical Guide]()
Today we get to play amazing games on our super powered game consoles, PCs, VR headsets, and even mobile devices. While I enjoy playing new games these days, I do long for the retro gaming systems I had when I was a kid: the original Nintendo...
![Better Pull Quotes with MooTools]()
Chris Coyier authored a post titled Better Pull Quotes: Don't Repeat Markup a while back. In his post he created great-looking pull quotes without repeating any content -- instead he uses jQuery to dynamically create the pull quotes. The following is the...
![Create a Dynamic Flickr Image Search with the Dojo Toolkit]()
The Dojo Toolkit is a treasure chest of great JavaScript classes. You can find basic JavaScript functionality classes for AJAX, node manipulation, animations, and the like within Dojo. You can find elegant, functional UI widgets like DropDown Menus, tabbed interfaces, and form element replacements within...
Hey David!
As someone that has suffered vestibular disorders before, prefers-reduced-motion is a godsend.
A somewhat better, broader implementation is using the a really short
animation-durationinstead ofanimation: none, as it’s fairly common to implement animations in such a way that starts off screen or otherwise invisible, which could mean the elements don’t show up at all if usinganimation: none. Iteration count will prevent us from getting infinite loops.Same thing can be achieved for transitions.
@media screen and (prefers-reduced-motion: reduce){ * { animation-duration: 0.001ms !important; animation-iteration-count: 1 !important; transition-duration: 0.001ms !important; } }