WebAIM - Web Accessibility In Mind

E-mail List Archives

Re: using title attribute as form field label

for

From: Steve Faulkner
Date: Nov 8, 2011 2:57PM

Hi Jared,

you wrote:

>There's nothing in HTML or accessibility specifications that tell AT
>to use the title attribute as a label replacement.

Besides what James has pointed out (ARIA implementation guide), it should
be noted that there is no specification that tells user agents how many
HTML features should be mapped and/or interpreted by the accessibility
layer, thats what the HTML to Platform Accessibility APIs Implementation
Guide
http://dev.w3.org/html5/html-api-map/overview.html is starting to document.
Note in the section titled accessible name and description calculation (
http://dev.w3.org/html5/html-api-map/overview.html#calc) the title
attribute is included in accessible name calculation. The main reason for
this is that every browser maps the title attribute to the accessible name
property in every accessibility API and have done so for many versions ( i
would suggest for as long as they have had accessibility support).

For AT that use information exposed via an accessibility API, it is the
accessible name property they use regardless of whether the source of the
name is from the label element, aria attribute, element content or title
attribute.

regards
Stevef






On 8 November 2011 15:56, Jared Smith < <EMAIL REMOVED> > wrote:

> I have several concerns over the use of the title attribute value for
> labeling controls:
>
> - It shouldn't be used if a visible text label is present on the page.
> <label> should be used instead - it works in old browsers, and also
> provides enhanced mouse accessibility, primarily for users with motor
> disabilities.
>
> - As defined in the HTML spec, title attribute is for "advisory
> information". If a form field is inaccessible without the title
> attribute value, this sure sounds like more than "advisory
> information".
>
> - There's nothing in HTML or accessibility specifications that tell AT
> to use the title attribute as a label replacement. They just happen to
> do this on their own. This behavior is really no different than IE
> showing alt text in tooltips which everyone railed against as being a
> violation of the spec. It makes me uncomfortable relying on the
> non-standard quirks of screen readers for accessibility. As has been
> noted, different screen readers treat the presentation of title
> differently - and understandably so because a standard behavior is not
> documented anywhere because the attribute is not even intended to work
> this way.
>
>
> With all of this said, it works relatively well. It just makes me
> squirm a little bit. I tend to use off-screen <label> to ensure
> accessibility in these situations.
>
> Jared
>