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Re: onchange event in html select

for

From: adam solomon
Date: Jan 27, 2011 9:54AM


Thanks guys for the feedback. As Jason pointed out, I was able to navigate
the items after opening the list and then using the arrow keys even in IE8,
but I forgot to try and tab out, and, alas, it fires the select
event.Firefox, of course, gets even the tab functionality correct.
Thanks for setting me straight.

On Thu, Jan 27, 2011 at 6:05 PM, Jason Megginson <
<EMAIL REMOVED> > wrote:

> On Thursday, January 27, 2011 10:22 AM, Jared Smith wrote:
>
> > Is it 'technically' accessible? >Yes. Is it functionally very friendly
> and > usable to many users? No.
>
> I think this is a great statement. Users may be able to open the html
> select list with "alt+down arrow" and navigate (inspect) the options with
> the arrow keys. A user can cancel a selection with the "Esc" key avoiding
> the event from being invoked. However if a user presses "Tab" with the
> list opened the event will fire.
>
> Some users may not know to navigate the lists in this manner. We also
> suggest that an adjacent button (sans onchange event) is the most
> accessible and usable option.
>
> Jason Megginson
> SSB BART Group
> (O):703-637-8964
> (C):703-244-7755
>
>
>
> -----Original Message-----
> From: <EMAIL REMOVED>
> [mailto: <EMAIL REMOVED> ] On Behalf Of Jared Smith
> Sent: Thursday, January 27, 2011 10:22 AM
> To: WebAIM Discussion List
> Subject: Re: [WebAIM] onchange event in html select
>
> On Thu, Jan 27, 2011 at 4:15 AM, adam solomon wrote:
>
> > I know that traditionally we have always heard that a
> > button must be provided with the select in such a case, yet is it really
> > inaccessible without the button?
>
> You must have something enabled that is overriding IE's default
> behavior. Do you have JavaScript enabled?
>
> In my installations with IE8, simply arrowing up or down through the
> controls at http://webaim.org/techniques/javascript/eventhandlers#onchange
> results in the page automatically changing. Additionally, if you
> navigate the control with the keyboard in any browser and then hit the
> tab key the page unexpectedly changes. Clicking on it in IE and
> scrolling with a mouse wheel also results in an unexpected change.
> Clicking on it with the mouse and simply selecting an option results
> in a potentially unexpected change.
>
> In all of these situations the page changes location in a non-standard
> way - via changing or blurring a select menu rather than a form
> submission. Any time your page changes location or context via
> something other than a link or form submission, it has potential to
> introduce confusion and frustration. Is it 'technically' accessible?
> Yes. Is it functionally very friendly and usable to many users? No.
>
> Jared Smith
> WebAIM.org
>