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Re: Accessible jQuery UI DatePicker

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From: Alastair Campbell
Date: Sep 30, 2013 10:00AM

Bryan Garaventa wrote:

> Out of curiosity, did you encounter the same level of difficulty at
>
> http://whatsock.com/tsg/Coding%20Arena/ARIA%20Date%20Pickers/ARIA%20Date%20Picker%20(Basic)/demo.htm


I hadn't tried that, it looks much more robust in terms of keyboard
commands, although at the moment there appears to be a bug where it
disappears on keyup? I don't think it's my setup, I tried it in
Chrome/FF/IE10.

It would be a good one to usability-test in situ, I wonder if people would
understand how to use it without instructions? Not that there is anything
wrong with the choices, but just that people will not have come across an
accessible date-picker before (1st-mover disadvantage!)



> Back to the jQuery UI date picker, if the only way to overcome in-built
> accessibility issues is to recommend that people just type the date in
> manually, then it defeats the purpose of an accessible date picker.
>

Agreed, but I wouldn't pitch it as an accessible date-picker, but an
accessible date form-control. I.e. the date-picker is a usability
enhancement that doesn't get in the way. (Worth noting that one of the
options in the jQuery UI version is to disable keyboard entry into the
form-field, which is definitely in-accessible!)


It's not a good accessibility solution to simply state that disabled people
> should just figure it out on their own.


In some cases, booking holidays comes to mind. But not all cases, e.g. date
of birth. That could involved pressing many, many buttons depending on how
old you are! Compared to typing in a date you know very well.

There seems to be two steps here:
1. Don't block people from typing in the date.
2. If useful, make the date-picker itself accessible.

Glad to hear the jQuery UI one is getting a re-write.

-Alastair