WebAIM - Web Accessibility In Mind

E-mail List Archives

Re: SPAM-LOW: Re: onchange event in html select

for

From: adam solomon
Date: Jan 30, 2011 5:33AM

Thanks. I tested with Jaws 9 and ie8 and found that if I enter the select
and begin navigating with the down arrow, then in fact the first item fires
the onchange. If I press alt-arrow down to open the select and then
navigate, then the onselect does not fire, until I tab out. Either way, it
doesn't matter. I think the lack of a tab out (w/o event) is enough to fail.

On Fri, Jan 28, 2011 at 12:34 AM, Dawn wrote:

> A few years ago I tested this out for myself using IE6 and JAWS to find out
> how much was true and how much was accessibility myth. I found that the
> event didn't trigger with IE6 on its own, but when JAWS was running it did
> fire when I went to the first item.
>
> Hope that helps,
> Dawn
>
> On 27 Jan 2011, at 16:52, adam solomon < <EMAIL REMOVED> >
> wrote:
>
> > Thanks guys for the feedback. As Jason pointed out, I was able to
> navigate
> > the items after opening the list and then using the arrow keys even in
> IE8,
> > but I forgot to try and tab out, and, alas, it fires the select
> > event.Firefox, of course, gets even the tab functionality correct.
> > Thanks for setting me straight.
> >
> > On Thu, Jan 27, 2011 at 6:05 PM, Jason Megginson <
> > <EMAIL REMOVED> > wrote:
> >
> >> On Thursday, January 27, 2011 10:22 AM, Jared Smith wrote:
> >>
> >>> Is it 'technically' accessible? >Yes. Is it functionally very friendly
> >> and > usable to many users? No.
> >>
> >> I think this is a great statement. Users may be able to open the html
> >> select list with "alt+down arrow" and navigate (inspect) the options
> with
> >> the arrow keys. A user can cancel a selection with the "Esc" key
> avoiding
> >> the event from being invoked. However if a user presses "Tab" with the
> >> list opened the event will fire.
> >>
> >> Some users may not know to navigate the lists in this manner. We also
> >> suggest that an adjacent button (sans onchange event) is the most
> >> accessible and usable option.
> >>
> >> Jason Megginson
> >> SSB BART Group
> >> (O):703-637-8964
> >> (C):703-244-7755
> >>
> >>
> >>
> >> -----Original Message-----
> >> From: <EMAIL REMOVED>
> >> [mailto: <EMAIL REMOVED> ] On Behalf Of Jared Smith
> >> Sent: Thursday, January 27, 2011 10:22 AM
> >> To: WebAIM Discussion List
> >> Subject: Re: [WebAIM] onchange event in html select
> >>
> >> On Thu, Jan 27, 2011 at 4:15 AM, adam solomon wrote:
> >>
> >>> I know that traditionally we have always heard that a
> >>> button must be provided with the select in such a case, yet is it
> really
> >>> inaccessible without the button?
> >>
> >> You must have something enabled that is overriding IE's default
> >> behavior. Do you have JavaScript enabled?
> >>
> >> In my installations with IE8, simply arrowing up or down through the
> >> controls at
> http://webaim.org/techniques/javascript/eventhandlers#onchange
> >> results in the page automatically changing. Additionally, if you
> >> navigate the control with the keyboard in any browser and then hit the
> >> tab key the page unexpectedly changes. Clicking on it in IE and
> >> scrolling with a mouse wheel also results in an unexpected change.
> >> Clicking on it with the mouse and simply selecting an option results
> >> in a potentially unexpected change.
> >>
> >> In all of these situations the page changes location in a non-standard
> >> way - via changing or blurring a select menu rather than a form
> >> submission. Any time your page changes location or context via
> >> something other than a link or form submission, it has potential to
> >> introduce confusion and frustration. Is it 'technically' accessible?
> >> Yes. Is it functionally very friendly and usable to many users? No.
> >>
> >> Jared Smith
> >> WebAIM.org
> >>