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Re: changing focus location for screen readers

for

From: Jason Kiss
Date: Feb 8, 2011 1:03PM

On 09/02/11 05:06, adam solomon wrote:
> In the case of the search form I assumed that with width and height 0 the
> screen reader would have it in the buffer, thus solving the focus problem.
> The fact a screen reader user could always get to it shouldn't bother
> anyone. Of course with dialog messages that wouldn't work (since the message
> should only be readable when they are relevant).

Using width and height of 0 might also negatively affect those screen
reader users who are not blind, for example those who use a screen
reader to help with a reading or learning difficulty. If the search form
is not hidden from a screen reader, the screen reader will announce the
search form's <h2>, label and inputs, but the user won't be able to see
them, which could be confusing.

And it might be confusing or frustrating to sighted keyboard users who
will have extra presses of the TAB key required (one for the <h2> with
tabindex=0, one for the text input, and one for the submit input)
whenever they TAB past the search form, all the while not seeing what
these presses of the TAB key are setting focus to. This could be solved
by setting tabindex=-1 on each of the elements to take them out of the
TAB order while the search form is not visible, and then setting
tabindex back to 0 when visible again.

Still, I think that if one is hiding interactive content like a search
form from sighted users, it should be hidden from all users, and that
finding a way to make display:none work is the best bet.


Jason Kiss
Web: www.accessibleculture.org
Mobile: 021 929 238
Email: <EMAIL REMOVED>
Twitter: @jkiss