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Re: Focus and Change Notification in Rich Internet Applications

for

From: Robert Fentress
Date: Mar 3, 2015 7:01AM

Thanks, Birkir. I look forward to your hearing what you have to say on the
matter. Hope you've enjoyed your vacation!

Best,
Rob

On Mon, Mar 2, 2015 at 6:11 PM, Birkir R. Gunnarsson <
<EMAIL REMOVED> > wrote:

> Rob
> That is a quality question which requires a lengthy answer, probably
> an answer published on a blog or a similar place where it can be
> improved and quoted later.
> I have run into a lot of situations wehre I have had to make focus and
> live region announcement judgment calls, and I need to sum up those
> experience in a blog.
> Feel free to bug me off-line, as I will actually try to put together
> an answer for you in the coming days (I am on vacation until tomorrow,
> and web accessibility blogging does not go well with margaritas and
> frozen concoctions, mostly because they are most enjoyably zipped in
> hot tubs).
> This is a huge topic, but we will try to create something useful.
> Needless to say that does not prevent others from posting their
> thoughts, I encourage that and will read all responses with much
> interest myself.
> Cheers
>
>
>
> On 3/2/15, Robert Fentress < <EMAIL REMOVED> > wrote:
> > Hello, all.
> >
> > I was wondering if someone could point me to a resource that discusses,
> in
> > depth and with, in context, non-trivial examples, how focus should be
> > handled in rich internet applications and how best to notify users that
> > something has changed on a page. I've read the WAI-ARIA Authoring
> > Practices document, and it is helpful, but, in practice, I'm unsure of
> how
> > intrusive I should be in managing focus and alerting screen reader users
> to
> > page changes. Examples:
> >
> > - When should regions where elements are added and removed be live
> > regions versus just, for instance, just moving focus to the first
> > focusable
> > element in the thing being added? Perhaps it depends on the kind of
> > thing
> > being added and what it is being added to. What are those
> > circumstances?
> > - When should notifications be provided in regions with role="alert"?
> > When would doing so be too intrusive?
> > - How much guidance should be given to screen reader users about the
> > behavior of widgets?
> > - Certain constructs, like aria-controls seem like they would provide
> > valuable information to screen reader users, but support for them
> seems
> > minimal. Given that, how do you best let users know, for instance,
> that
> > selecting a checkbox causes other options to appear on a page. How
> much
> > can you trust that screen reader users will know what to be on the
> > lookout
> > for?
> > - To what degree have expectations about the standard behavior of rich
> > internet applications filtered down to actual screen reader users?
> >
> > Is there a course or a book that, for instance, walks you through
> examples
> > from actual sites and analyzes their behavior in a thorough way, noting
> how
> > they follow, or fail to follow, best practice. I'm not talking about an
> > hour or two workshop, but something more comprehensive that takes into
> > account the current state of support for things like ARIA and what user
> > expectations are at this point.
> >
> > Thanks,
> > Rob
> >
> > --
> > Robert Fentress
> > Senior Accessibility Solutions Designer
> > 540.231.1255
> >
> > Technology-enhanced Learning & Online Strategies
> > Assistive Technologies
> > 1180 Torgersen Hall
> > 620 Drillfield Drive (0434)
> > Blacksburg, Virginia 24061
> > > > > > > >
>
>
> --
> Work hard. Have fun. Make history.
> > > >



--
Robert Fentress
Senior Accessibility Solutions Designer
540.231.1255

Technology-enhanced Learning & Online Strategies
Assistive Technologies
1180 Torgersen Hall
620 Drillfield Drive (0434)
Blacksburg, Virginia 24061