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Re: mouseover/hover and keyboard accessible expandablemenu?

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From: ckrugman@sbcglobal.net
Date: Nov 6, 2009 2:30PM

Yes, I should have said that when text is presented as an image in Flash
software or at times when it is imbedded it can't be read. I currently use
JAWS and it is sometimes readable. I have tried other solutions and have not
found them satisfactory. Let me know of other suggestions to deal with this
problem.
Chuck
----- Original Message -----
From: "Andrew Kirkpatrick" < <EMAIL REMOVED> >
To: "WebAIM Discussion List" < <EMAIL REMOVED> >
Sent: Friday, November 06, 2009 1:03 PM
Subject: Re: [WebAIM] mouseover/hover and keyboard accessible
expandablemenu?


> Chuck,
> That is not a correct statement. Flash content can be read by many screen
> readers.
>
> Thanks,
> AWK
>
> Andrew Kirkpatrick
>
> Senior Product Manager, Accessibility
>
> Adobe Systems
>
> <EMAIL REMOVED>
>
>
> -----Original Message-----
> From: <EMAIL REMOVED>
> [mailto: <EMAIL REMOVED> ] On Behalf Of
> <EMAIL REMOVED>
> Sent: Friday, November 06, 2009 3:52 PM
> To: WebAIM Discussion List
> Subject: Re: [WebAIM] mouseover/hover and keyboard accessible
> expandablemenu?
>
> Yes, this can sometimes be an issue. The real issue depends on how items
> are
> labeled and the use of text appearing in an image or in Flash format as is
> done on many marketing or internet survey sites. Of course, images or
> Flash
> format is not readable by any screen reader.
> Chuck
> ----- Original Message -----
> From: "Jason Megginson" < <EMAIL REMOVED> >
> To: "'WebAIM Discussion List'" < <EMAIL REMOVED> >
> Sent: Friday, November 06, 2009 12:44 PM
> Subject: Re: [WebAIM] mouseover/hover and keyboard accessible
> expandablemenu?
>
>
>> Hi Chuck,
>>
>> In regards to the arrow keys, there may be no difficulty with navigating
>> this way as long as the menu items are inline with the parent link.
>>
>> The example at HTML Dog provides a good example of this (sidebar: I also
>> like the list structure to denote hierarchy):
>> http://htmldog.com/articles/suckerfish/dropdowns/example/vertical.html
>>
>> The child links are inline with the parent link in the source code in
>> this
>> example. Screen readers like JAWS (virtual cursor) will read the content
>> in the order it appears in the source code.
>>
>> When developers use CSS to display the sub-menu items, the content should
>> appear inline with the parent link(s). I have seen where developers place
>> the menu items at the end of the source code and position it visually in
>> the correct place. A user navigating with arrow keys will not be able to
>> identify the content because it is virtually at the end of the page.
>>
>> I often recommend sighted testers to disable styles on the page (FireFox)
>> and inspect where the dynamic content appears. If the content appears
>> disjointed, that's how users in Virtual Cursor mode (JAWS) will access
>> the
>> information.
>>
>> Thanks
>> Jason
>>
>> -----Original Message-----
>> From: <EMAIL REMOVED>
>> [mailto: <EMAIL REMOVED> ] On Behalf Of
>> <EMAIL REMOVED>
>> Sent: Friday, November 06, 2009 3:19 PM
>> To: WebAIM Discussion List
>> Subject: Re: [WebAIM] mouseover/hover and keyboard accessible
>> expandablemenu?
>>
>> As a screen reader drop down menus are accessible with the use of the up
>> and
>> down arrow keys. There is no difficulty when this format is used.
>> Chuck
>> ----- Original Message -----
>> From: "Jared Smith" < <EMAIL REMOVED> >
>> To: "WebAIM Discussion List" < <EMAIL REMOVED> >
>> Sent: Friday, November 06, 2009 9:49 AM
>> Subject: Re: [WebAIM] mouseover/hover and keyboard accessible
>> expandablemenu?
>>
>>
>>> On Fri, Nov 6, 2009 at 10:27 AM, < <EMAIL REMOVED> > wrote:
>>>
>>>> You build the stairs,
>>>> and you build the elevator, and then you let the person who uses
>>>> a wheelchair DECIDE how she wants to get upstairs.
>>>
>>> Agreed, but it often does not work this way with web accessibility. A
>>> web developer must make decisions and those decisions are usually
>>> forced upon the site visitors. If you provide really bad alternative
>>> text, it WILL be read by screen readers. If you try to make your
>>> complex drop-down menu accessible, keyboard-only and screen reader
>>> users WILL interact with your attempts at accessibility and will
>>> likely have a frustrating experience.
>>>
>>> I am curious though, how you typically interact with such menus using
>>> only your keyboard. Have you found them to generally be accessible? If
>>> so, how do they work? Any examples of good ones? Have you found a
>>> universal convention to making them keyboard accessible? Do you think
>>> they could be made accessible to someone that cannot see them?
>>>
>>> Jared
>>>