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Re: Screenreader Forms Mode as Only Interaction Method?

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From: Michael Bullis
Date: Mar 3, 2017 6:37AM

I typically start in forms mode but often find that fields are not labeled clearly or correctly so jump out of forms mode to see the title of the form which is usually determinable and then fill in the information for that field.

-----Original Message-----
From: WebAIM-Forum [mailto: <EMAIL REMOVED> ] On Behalf Of Dan Holbrook
Sent: Thursday, March 2, 2017 1:36 PM
To: <EMAIL REMOVED>
Subject: [WebAIM] Screenreader Forms Mode as Only Interaction Method?

This was touched upon in the previous thread "Forms, forms mode and static text interaction with Jaws" but forms mode requires extra care to be taken in order to make sure certain information (e.g. disabled fields with data, field instructions, legal disclaimers) is read.

In our testing of forms right now (NVDA and JAWS) we browse to the form, enter data in the first field, then tab through the form, which requires developers to attempt to make forms fully accessible to users who use tabbing alone for form navigation.

I have talked to a few people who use browse mode to go through the form and used forms mode only for entry, which would make this extra work unnecessary. I'd like to see if there is a consensus or trend around how screen reader users navigate forms: do you tab through fields once in a form (remaining in forms mode) or do you navigate forms with a combination of forms mode and browsing?

*Dan Holbrook**QA Engineer and Co-President <http://www.nerdery.com/copresident>;**The
Nerdery**http://www.nerdery.com/people#hz <http://www.nerdery.com/Xx>;*