Thread Subject: Re: Proposal 21(b) Focus

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From: Jonathan Avila
Date: Wed, Nov 15 2006 8:25 PM

<blockquote>Task: draft a proposal for a web provision on focus indicator
This proposal should remain in Section 21. The content focus is provided by
the software rendering the content, not by the content itself.</blockquote>

I have to disagree on this. I believe web standard should cover focus. Web
applications can provide visual focus and may need to provide programmatic
focus. For example, I can make a simulated menu with div tags. I can make
the menu keyboard accessible by using JavaScript events such as watching for
key presses. However, there is no way for a browser to know that the div
tags should be focusable and it can't be held responsible for providing
visual focus. In this case the web application should be responsible for
exposing the visual focus such as a highlight and for telling the browser to
expose programmatic focus. At the very least we need a standard requiring
web based material to properly identify focusable material to the browser.
However, I think this would allow a loop-hole for inaccessible web content.
If the WAI roadmap was actually implemented by all browsers and there was a
way for simulated controls to tell browsers to expose and show focus this
wouldn't be an issue. However, we must consider that we may need to deal
with older technology where something like this is currently not possible.

In addition, I think any focus standard should cover focus being forcibly
shifted without user knowledge.

Jonathan

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