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Re: Is a button that does not support space bar activation a violation of WCAG?

for

From: Steve Faulkner
Date: May 6, 2015 3:10PM

How does this one requirement involve 100's of extra hours developer time? It is simple in programming terms

Regards
Steve

> On 6 May 2015, at 21:37, Birkir R. Gunnarsson < <EMAIL REMOVED> > wrote:
>
> Hey guys
>
> Frequently we see the following:
> <code>
> <a href="#" class="btn" role="button">I am a button now</a>
> </code>
> This is all right, except that it does not support activation using
> the space bar key (only enter) ... except with screen readers that
> automatically create that mapping for links and buttons, in my
> testing.
> I know this is not the accepted best practice, some users only use
> space bar to execute buttons, sometimes using enter would accidentally
> submit a form when user intended to activate a button in the form.
> But is there a direct reference in WCAG or aa related W3C document
> that buttons should always be coded so that they can be activated with
> both enter and space bar?
> (ARIA Authoring Practices is not normative(.
> When dealing with large corporate clients this one additional
> requirement can mean hundreds of developer hours, so the argument
> needs to be as strong as possible,or this should be pointed out as a
> best practice if it cannot be explicitly shown as a violation.
>
> Cheers
> -Birkir
>
>
> --
> Work hard. Have fun. Make history.
> > > >