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Re: avoiding tabbing through drop downs

for

From: Jared Smith
Date: Mar 5, 2010 8:12PM

On Fri, Mar 5, 2010 at 4:22 PM, Geof Collis < <EMAIL REMOVED> > wrote:
> Are you saying that only people who use a mouse can access the whole
> list while screen readers and keyboard users have to take extra
> measures to access the same list/pages?

If by "extra measures" you mean clicking a link, then yes. The
content, links, and overall functionality aren't any different - they
are just presented in slightly different places.

This is just one of several possible approaches (which have been
hashed about on this list several times). This approach does take one
additional step, but my experience has shown that this extra step is
often much less burdensome than the alternatives - either forcing the
user to listen to *every* navigation item (and probably without any
structure or semantics as to the hierarchy) or coming up with some
distinct mechanism of providing keyboard navigation through the menu
(which keys open the menu, which expand and collapse menus, etc. -
there's no standard for these things).

Plus it provides additional functionality for those without javascript
or ARIA-supported technologies, search engines, or those who just
happen to click the main menu item perhaps without noticing the
drop-down menu.

If ARIA can be adequately used to provide navigation through such a
menu, this would be a wonderful way to enhance a standard, accessible
navigation, but I wouldn't yet recommend having ARIA support be a
requirement for something as critical as a main navigation.

> It's like telling a wheelchair user that the building is accessible,
> they just have to come in through the back door.

No, it's like providing a ramp, an escalator, and an elevator. The
user can use the means of getting there that works best for them. Not
providing a fallback would be like forcing a wheelchair user to use
the escalator. The key is to get to the users to the same place - they
just can choose to get there slightly differently. I personally tend
to click main menu items when I see drop-down menus as I prefer
navigating static content over playing the "mouse through the menu
maze" game.

Jared