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Re: Focus for error messages

for

From: tedd
Date: Apr 19, 2007 2:10PM

At 4:16 PM +0100 4/19/07, Joshue O Connor wrote:
>Hi Tedd,
>
>> I may be totally "out to lunch" on this, but in one of my
>>experiments writing an audio captcha,
> >my blind testers reported that when a screen refresh was
>initiated, their screen readers re-read everything.
>>So if something has been ajax'ed to the screen, then would it not
>>be read if a screen reader reads the page again?
>
>I do know that having to re-read an entire page (which could contain a
>lot of content) is not in principle a good way for users to discover
>that there is an error. A sighted user can obviously quickly scan the
>page but a non sighted person relying on a linear output device like a
>screen reader will pretty much have their head wrecked sharpish, to use
>the technical terms :)


I can realize that. I was just saying that my understanding was that
JAWS requires a refresh to present the user with something new.

Is a javascript solution using pop-ups OK, or not? If it is, then js
can evaluate each text field while, or after, the user enters
something and then create a pop-up to tell the user if there is an
error. However, I don't know how JAWS works with pop-ups.

If js is not an option, then a "behind the scenes evaluation" of the
data entered can certainly be done with php which could generate a
window telling the user what was wrong. After which, the original
window could be reopened with all the fields being sticky (i.e.,
containing all the entires except for the error field) with focus on
the field that generated the error. I'm sure I could do that. Would
that work?

Cheers,

tedd


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