Interactive rating component

What are you most proud of, and what would you do differently next time?

I'm most proud of building a fully interactive and accessible rating component using semantic HTML, CSS, and JavaScript. I focused on ensuring keyboard accessibility, clear visual feedback, and proper ARIA attributes so that users with assistive technologies can easily navigate the component. If I were to do this again, I’d experiment with adding subtle animations or transitions to enhance the user experience and further refine the error handling (for example, offering more descriptive error messages when no rating is selected).

What challenges did you encounter, and how did you overcome them?

One of the main challenges was ensuring the component was both aesthetically pleasing and accessible. Balancing interactive design with semantic markup required careful testing—particularly with keyboard navigation and screen readers. I overcame these challenges by:

• Using semantic elements like <fieldset> and <legend> to group related inputs.
• Implementing aria-hidden and visually-hidden classes where necessary.
• Iteratively testing the component and adjusting the CSS and JavaScript to ensure a smooth, accessible experience.

What specific areas of your project would you like help with?

I would love feedback on:

• Animations and Transitions: Ideas for subtle enhancements that can make the component feel more dynamic.
• Accessibility Best Practices: Suggestions for refining the ARIA roles and attributes, or other techniques to further improve the experience for screen reader users.
• User Experience Enhancements: Insights on any additional interactive features or error-handling improvements that could further polish the component.