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Forms, forms mode and static text interaction with Jaws.

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From: Ramya Sethuraman
Date: Oct 5, 2012 4:12PM

I am trying to solve a problem which I have come across so many times, I am
tempted to call it a pattern.
What is the best way to deal with free floating static text in the middle
of input fields in a form? This means,
it doesn't make sense to use aria-describedby to associate the free text
with any input field but at the same
time if the screen reader user is navigating the form by tabbing, it is
essential that he read that paragraph of text.

For eg, say you a form within a dialog with a bunch of fields and in
between have a Terms of Agreement section
with a big chunk of static text. How would you let Jaws know this a form
but there is also static text to be read?

Is it acceptable to just set a tabindex of 0 around the static text and
give it a hidden aria-label instructing Jaws
users to arrow down to read the text? How would they know to tab when the
section ends then? I feel like the
existing aria tags do not solve this problem.

Thoughts?

Thanks,
Ramya Sethuraman,
http://www.ramyasethuraman.com/