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Re: Whether or not to disable form submitbutton

for

From: Geethavani.Shamanna
Date: Dec 18, 2023 2:59AM

There are two scenarios that I have come across with regard to disabled buttons:
1. The disabled button is accessible to mouse users, but is not keyboard focusable, not in the tab order and not accessible to screen reader users.
2. The disabled button is keyboard-focusable and is in the tab order, but not accessible to screen reader users. In this instance we recommend the use of the aria-disabled attribute.

Considering that required fields are not always clearly indicated in forms, validating individual fields might be a better solution than disabling the Submit button.

Geetha

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From: WebAIM-Forum < <EMAIL REMOVED> > On Behalf Of <EMAIL REMOVED>
Sent: 18 December 2023 06:06
To: 'WebAIM Discussion List' < <EMAIL REMOVED> >
Subject: Re: [WebAIM] [EXTERNAL] Re: Whether or not to disable form submit button

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Correct, this is why in the org I work in we encourage designers to hide the submit button until the conditions of the forms are ready to submit or don't disable it and handle via error management.

-----Original Message-----
From: WebAIM-Forum < <EMAIL REMOVED> > On Behalf Of jp Jamous
Sent: Monday, December 18, 2023 8:50 AM
To: WebAIM Discussion List < <EMAIL REMOVED> >
Subject: Re: [WebAIM] [EXTERNAL] Re: Whether or not to disable form submit button

1. Most developers use the disabled attribute and not aria-disabled. It is important to keep an eye on this one.
2. Aria-disabled is rendered through the accessibility tree, which makes it discoverable by assistive technologies. What would happen to keyboard only users?
I am not trying to argue with anyone on the list. I just like to remind folks that WCAG does not only focus on users with assistive technologies. There are many users that fall under the cognitive and motor categories. Many of them do not use Ats. It is important for us as accessibility professionals not to fall in the same trap like UX Designers. We

The approach I mentioned, which validates each form field once focus is lost, can accomplish the following:
1. Informs all users of the invalid field before the user proceeds. This helps keep those with certain cognitive disabilities focused on filling out the various parts of a form, especially if it is lengthy.
2. Reduces overhead navigation, because both screen reader and keyboard only users would not have to navigate from the Submit button back to the various form elements that failed validation. overhead navigation.
3. Provides a client-side validation approach, which would eliminate unnecessary postback to the server. This can be very helpful for mobile users or those with poor internet connections.
4. Standardizes the form validation, which provides an efficient user experience for various types of users and avoids using the disabled attribute on the Submit button.

Again my 2 cents. 😊


-----Original Message-----
From: WebAIM-Forum < <EMAIL REMOVED> > On Behalf Of Hill, Barry (Accessibility Tester) via WebAIM-Forum
Sent: Sunday, December 17, 2023 5:45 AM
To: WebAIM Discussion List < <EMAIL REMOVED> >
Cc: Hill, Barry (Accessibility Tester) < <EMAIL REMOVED> >
Subject: Re: [WebAIM] [EXTERNAL] Re: Whether or not to disable form submit button

Thanks for that, Mark and all. Interesting that it can be made focusable. Does the fact that it's disabled yet focusable become an accessibility issue in itself?

Thanks again in anticipation.

Cheers

Barry


-----Original Message-----
From: WebAIM-Forum < <EMAIL REMOVED> > On Behalf Of Mark Magennis
Sent: Thursday, December 14, 2023 4:04 PM
To: WebAIM Discussion List < <EMAIL REMOVED> >
Subject: Re: [WebAIM] [EXTERNAL] Re: Whether or not to disable form submit button

A disabled Submit button can still be focusable and exposed to AT. Coding-wise, if you add the HTML disabled attribute it will not be focusable in most, if not all, browsers. But if you add aria-disabled="true" it will remain focusable. This makes it discoverable and gives you the opportunity to provide some information in the name or description about why it is currently disabled.
From: WebAIM-Forum < <EMAIL REMOVED> > on behalf of jp Jamous < <EMAIL REMOVED> >
Sent: Thursday 14 December 2023 14:00
To: WebAIM Discussion List < <EMAIL REMOVED> >
Subject: [EXTERNAL] Re: [WebAIM] Whether or not to disable form submit button

What Chat GPT provided is not necessarily WCAG compliant. In fact, it is a UX Design guideline. All of the UX designers I have worked with since 2018 have been implementing this.

While it might work for sighted users, I find it to work against screen reader and keyboard only users. If the form does not display any errors once a form element loses focus and no status alerts are spoken, then the user would tab to the end of the form and there is no Submit button receiving focus. That Throws the user off until the user figures out that something is wrong with the form.

I am not claiming that I am against it. As long as 1. there is a visual alert And 2. status alert

Once the invalid form element loses focus , having the Submit button disabled is okay. Unfortunately, UX Design does not take all users in consideration. That is why my approach with UX Designers is to look at an inclusive approach rather than what is defined by UX Design documentation.

Just my 2 cents on this.
-----Original Message-----
From: WebAIM-Forum < <EMAIL REMOVED> > On Behalf Of <EMAIL REMOVED>
Sent: Thursday, December 14, 2023 7:19 AM
To: WebAIM Discussion List < <EMAIL REMOVED> >
Subject: Re: [WebAIM] Whether or not to disable form submit button

I was actually unsure about this.
So I asked my buddy ChatGPT and this is what he said

While there may not be a universal standard, it's considered a good practice to disable the submit button until all required fields are correctly filled. This helps prevent incomplete or erroneous form submissions and enhances user experience.

Dean Vasile


617-799-1162

> On Dec 14, 2023, at 7:59 AM, Hill, Barry (Accessibility Tester) via WebAIM-Forum < <EMAIL REMOVED> > wrote:
>
> Hi all
>
> I'm looking for a rule or regulation on this, but, if there isn't one, best practice will help. Should a submit button on a form be disabled until after all fields have been correctly completed?
>
> Thanks in anticipation.
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