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Re: form "auto tab"

for

From: Birkir R. Gunnarsson
Date: Nov 10, 2011 8:51AM

As a screen reader user, I have no issues with the auto tab features
if -- and this is an important if -- I am expecting it.
Problems come up as soon as I do press tab to get to the next field,
but auto tab has already sent me there, so I jump to the wrong field,
and chaos ensues.
I find it quite convenient to, for instance, enter phone numbers into
these kind of fields, that way I don't have to worry about where to
put the dashes, or whether to type phone number without dashes etc (of
course this could be done just as well without the auto tab feature).
Basically, I find it somewhat convenient, and not necessarily a
barrier, if I expect it, and I think people need to have the choice to
turn this off.
Assistive Technology, perhaps, should have a feature to block these,
or handle them differently, like screen readers do for onSelect/jump
menus, that is one possible solution.


On 11/10/11, <EMAIL REMOVED>
< <EMAIL REMOVED> > wrote:
> Guys,
>
> Usability professionals think that they are very smart and thought of
> including this feature, so that the users can avoid couple of
> clicks/tabbing.
> However they don't think how this feature will lead a accessibility
> barrier for non-visual users.
>
> Even I found this "Irritating Auto Tabbing" thing when I was doing a
> credit card transaction where it requires the card number in 4 sets(each
> 4 no.) of text fields.
> As a sighted user, I managed to enter the card number. But non-visual
> users will struggle a lot.
>
> My Thought - Developers can provide a check box with a label associated
> to it stating "Disable Auto Tabbing" (before the text fields).
> Doing so, this could be usable and also break the accessibility barrier.
>
> Comments, Thoughts, Suggestion...?
>
>
> cheers,
> Saran
>
>
> -----Original Message-----
> From: Kevin Chao [mailto: <EMAIL REMOVED> ]
> Sent: Thursday, November 10, 2011 4:04 AM
> To: WebAIM Discussion List
> Subject: Re: [WebAIM] form "auto tab"
>
> Auto-tab from a screen reader/keyboard user point is absolutely awful,
> annoying, and I think should never be used.
>
> Kevin
>
> On 11/9/11, Ryan Hemphill < <EMAIL REMOVED> > wrote:
>> Having looked into it further, you are correct - but only for IE and
> only
>> through 8.
>>
>> cancelBubble is the IE equivalent of stopPropagation (of course, being
> MS,
>> they don't follow the standards, surprise surprise.)
>>
>> In my case (and some may find this interesting) I am using jQuery and
>> thanks to myvery well informed fellow dev I found out that jQuery
> insures
>> that it works for IE as well without doing the cancelBubble which is
> why I
>> haven't had problems.
>>
>> stopPropagation is supported by IE 9.
>>
>> On Wed, Nov 9, 2011 at 3:30 PM, Bryan Garaventa <
>> <EMAIL REMOVED> > wrote:
>>
>>> Would it be benefitial to add cancelBubble=true to this as well?
>>>
>>>
>>> ----- Original Message -----
>>> From: "Ryan Hemphill" < <EMAIL REMOVED> >
>>> To: "WebAIM Discussion List" < <EMAIL REMOVED> >
>>> Sent: Wednesday, November 09, 2011 12:01 PM
>>> Subject: Re: [WebAIM] form "auto tab"
>>>
>>>
>>> > The skipping of form fields is probably happening because the tab
> key
>>> > event
>>> > is getting passed to the focus target. It's easy enough to avoid
> by a
>>> > event.preventDefault() et al of bubbling. Here's my little
> catchall
>>> which
>>> > seems to knock out pretty much everything..
>>> >
>>> > function preventEvents(event)
>>> > {
>>> > /* NOTE: insures that keyup event doesn't fire on target as well.
> */
>>> > event.preventDefault();
>>> > event.stopPropagation();
>>> > event.stopImmediatePropagation(); /* you may not want this one,
>>> depending
>>> > on your situation, so comment it out if things are not in a happy
> place
>>> */
>>> > }
>>> >
>>> > That being said, I still hate the idea of auto-tab. I don't blame
>>> > anyone
>>> > who ends up complaining about it's use either. They aren't whining
> - it
>>> > really is annoying and a bad idea.
>>> >
>>> >
>>> >
>>> >
>>> > On Wed, Nov 9, 2011 at 2:51 PM, Paul Adam < <EMAIL REMOVED> >
> wrote:
>>> >
>>> >> I also find the auto-advancing form fields annoying and recommend
>>> >> avoiding
>>> >> it. I can't find the exact location in WCAG but I thought it
>>> >> recommended
>>> >> that if you use this sort of feature to warn the users before
> hand.
>>> Makes
>>> >> sense to me. I often end up hitting the TAB button and wind up 2
> form
>>> >> fields ahead and have to go back to correct my mistakes.
>>> >>
>>> >> On Wed, Nov 9, 2011 at 2:35 PM, Jon Brundage
> < <EMAIL REMOVED> >
>>> >> wrote:
>>> >>
>>> >> > hi All,
>>> >> >
>>> >> > I'd like to get input on the use of "auto tab" in form field
>>> >> > navigation.
>>> >> I
>>> >> > generally feel it is a poor practice, but would like to know the
>>> >> > general
>>> >> > consensus on its use.
>>> >> >
>>> >> > Thanks,
>>> >> >
>>> >> > Jon
>>> >> >
>>> >> >