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Re: avoiding tabbing through drop downs

for

From: E.J. Zufelt
Date: Mar 5, 2010 8:36PM

Good evening Geof,

My question to you is, can you please explain how you solve the problem of displaying sub-menus on the sites that you develop, or in the open source tools to which you are a contributor? Can you please explain the pros and cons of the approach you take as they relate to universal design and accessibility? In your response can you please explain how you solve the problem of assistive technology and keyboard only users needing to navigate through multiple sub-menus full of links on the main page, and any subsequent pages, of these sites and tools?

Thanks,
Everett Zufelt
http://zufelt.ca

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On 2010-03-05, at 9:26 PM, Geof Collis wrote:

> Then put the ramp at the front of the building so we all have equal
> access, Debbie has the right idea.
>
> You say its just one click but if you have 20 sub menus then that is
> 20 clicks, not 1.
>
>
> cheers
>
> Geof
> At 09:13 PM 3/5/2010, you wrote:
>> 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
>>