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Re: The title attribute and screen readers

for

From: Paul Collins
Date: Jun 25, 2007 12:40PM

> Most screen readers now indicate when new windows open. This does not
> remove the need to identify that they will open, but it's important to
> know that most screen reader users will be alerted when the window
> does open.

Very good point. Perhaps you are right about the WCAG Samurai
considering it not vital to put it in the text then. Still, if you
were going to warn one group of users by putting it in the title,
perhaps we should warn everyone, but then it seems impossible to
please everyone :)

> > Interesting that they only read the title if there is no label
> > available. Good to know.
>
> This is very useful for complex forms. However, we've found label to
> be much better supported and it should be used when possible. The fact
> that screen readers read title for unlabeled forms is mostly arbitrary
> - it isn't recommended or required by any specification. Label on the
> other hand, is clearly defined in its use.

Right you are, just handy for when you would associate multiple fields
with one label, such as the example given for phone no, or date of
birth as another. You can't wrap a label around multiple fields of
course so it would be useful as a last resort.

Well, thanks for your help everyone.


On 25/06/07, Jared Smith < <EMAIL REMOVED> > wrote:
> On 6/25/07, Paul Collins < <EMAIL REMOVED> > wrote:
>
> > I found it interesting here that the WCAG condone using the title to
> > warn people about a popup window, even though user agents won't read
> > it out by default.
>
> It doesn't exactly say that. This is simply is an example of providing
> supplementary information for a link that opens in a new window.
> There's nothing that indicates that this is a sufficient method in and
> of itself. For example, there may be an additional text cue about the
> pop-up windows in addition to providing this information in title.
> This is something that should be clarified in the example.
>
> Most screen readers now indicate when new windows open. This does not
> remove the need to identify that they will open, but it's important to
> know that most screen reader users will be alerted when the window
> does open.
>
> > http://www.w3.org/TR/2007/WD-WCAG20-TECHS-20070517/Overview.html#H65
> > "f no label is available, JAWS, Window-Eyes, and Home Page Reader
> > speak the title attribute when the form control receives focus"
> >
> > Interesting that they only read the title if there is no label
> > available. Good to know.
>
> This is very useful for complex forms. However, we've found label to
> be much better supported and it should be used when possible. The fact
> that screen readers read title for unlabeled forms is mostly arbitrary
> - it isn't recommended or required by any specification. Label on the
> other hand, is clearly defined in its use.
>
> > An interesting read. I guess the extra stuff I wanted to know was how
> > assistive technologies other than screen readers react to the title
>
> This is the real problem. There is no defined way in which they
> *should* behave. And because title is entirely ignored by many user
> agents, is not keyboard accessible, and is not read by most screen
> readers, it would be wise to not use it for vital information, despite
> what WCAG Samurai might recommend. Or perhaps the Samurai simply
> deemed the new window information as NOT vital but supplementary
> because it is typically obvious to sighted and screen reader users
> that a new window has been opened after the fact.
>
> Jared Smith
> WebAIM
>