Thread Subject: Re: Group A: 21(c) Keyboard focus

Note

This archival content is maintained by WebAIM and NCDAE on behalf of TEITAC and the U.S. Access Board . Additional details on the updates to section 508 and section 255 can be found at the Access Board web site.

From: Barrett, Don
Date: Sat, Oct 28 2006 1:25 PM

"A well-defined on-screen indication of the current focus shall
"be provided that moves among interactive interface elements as
"the input focus changes.
"The focus shall be programmatically exposed so that assistive
"technology can track focus and focus changes.
The whole notion of programmatically exposed has always proven to be a
real problem in 508 implementation and testing. At least to my
knowledge, it isn't testable or measurable and without those qualities,
any standard is worthless. Remember, we are not designing a utopia nor
are we defining what the perfect world of accessibility would look like
in web and software. We are refreshing a Federal standard which must be
reasonable, meetable, measurable, and understandable.

"If you use standard input services, doesn't
"that imply that the keyboard focus is programmatically exposed?"

What are standard input/output services? Does that mean using only MFC
controls? Does it mean only using OS calls? If we can define these, I
think they re very very relevant, but the phrase itself is just too
generic.

"ISO does have a provision on event notification which would
"cover keyboard focus changes and all other type of user
"interaction events: "Software shall provide assistive
"technology with notification of events relevant to user interactions."
"
"It includes the following explanatory note:
"
"Events relevant to user interaction include, but are not
"limited to, changes in user interface element status (such as
"creation of new user interface elements, changes in selection,
"changes in focus and changes in position), changes in
"attributes (such as size, colour and name), and changes of
"relationships between user interface elements (such as when
"one user interface element contains, names, describes or
"affects another). Just as important are input events, such as
"key presses and mouse button presses, and output events, such
"as writing text to the screen or playing audio information.
"This also applies to user interface status values (such as the
"states of toggle keys).
"
"Do we want to make 508 broader and more comprehensive in this area?
"
I think we should, but here again, this is so broad and generic, it is a
principle, not a standard. The question we get most often is "what
exactly is the assistive technology looking for which will ensure
accessibility," so defining just how these events need to be exposed is
very important. Again, as stated before, we need a way to test for its
successful implementation as well.
Don

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