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Re: Keyboard navigation

for

From: Paul J. Adam
Date: Jan 24, 2014 11:10AM

I don’t think my reply went through due to attaching screenshots, they’ve been removed.

> I’ve considered this idea as well as a method for non-mouse users to bypass repetitive blocks of content, i.e. no more need for a skip link.
>
> So if a keyboard-only user was on a Mac they could turn on VoiceOver and use the Headings quick navigation keys or navigate by other semantic elements. Let’s say I press Control+Option+Command+H then I can cycle through all the headings but I can’t just press TAB to get to the next link, you have to press VO+Command+L for link or arrow to it, once you’re on a focusable element then you can start TABing around again.
>
> Unlike other screen readers, VoiceOver displays a visual Cursor (black outline) around the current screen reader focused element. This makes it a much more visual screen reader and helpful to keep track of where you are on the page. The speech output window (Caption Panel) can be enabled or disabled and the font size adjusted.
>
>
>
> I think VoiceOver for OS X would be great for keyboard-only users, learning/cognitive disabilities, deaf/HOH users doing accessibility testing. I think the other screen readers should have the ability to show your current focus and display the speech output in an adjustable size.
>
> There’s also plugins to enable ARIA Landmark keyboard navigation like this one:
> Enabling landmark-based keyboard navigation in Firefox
> http://blog.paciellogroup.com/2013/07/enabling-landmark-based-keyboard-navigation-in-firefox/
>
> The landmark plugin works great, you press n and p for next/previous landmarks, it flashes a temporary red outline around the current landmark and when you press TAB you’ll be on the next link inside that landmark.
>
>
>
> I agree that keyboard based quick navigation functionality should be built directly into the browsers then maybe skip links could be retired :)
>
> I think there may be some bug reports or feature requests in with some of the browser developers, here’s the bug report for Firefox:
> Bug 670928 - HTML5 element and WAI-ARIA landmark roles easily navigable in Firefox
> https://bugzilla.mozilla.org/show_bug.cgi?id=670928
>
> It’s a good read!
> Check this out from Steve Faulkner:
> Concept for integrating keyboard navigation of HTML5 structural elements/ ARIA landmarks into Firefox
> https://docs.google.com/document/d/11yzSsHorM3mkG8fLk_etdY-jcpYjZIHAKT3qDzkuyMI/edit?pli=1
>
> Paul J. Adam
> Accessibility Evangelist
> www.deque.com



On Jan 24, 2014, at 11:55 AM, <EMAIL REMOVED> wrote:

> In opera, F9 is blur, so in a form field you can always use F9 to enter navigation mode and leave form mode.
>
> The header navigation is great -- when it works. It has a tendency to be confused by some divs; sometimes it gets trapped. But I still use it frequently.
>
> I sometimes use speech off NVDA for element navigation but unexpected things do happen with the viewable elements on the page. Plus reponse time is very slow. I agree that browser builtins or add-ons would be an easier way to handle this.
>
> Deborah Kaplan
> Accessibility Team Co-lead
> Dreamwidth Studios
>
> On Fri, 24 Jan 2014, Bourne, Sarah (ITD) wrote:
>
>> Birkir, when you have focus on a form field, the shortcuts do not work. It enters the letter n or p into the field, or jumps to that letter in a drop-list, etc. When you tab out of the form field, the shortcuts work again.
>>
>> Sarah E. Bourne
>> Director of Assistive Technology &
>> Mass.Gov Chief Technology Strategist
>> Information Technology Division
>> Commonwealth of Massachusetts
>> 1 Ashburton Pl. rm 1601 Boston MA 02108
>> 617-626-4502
>> <EMAIL REMOVED>
>> http://www.mass.gov/itd
>>
>>
>>