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

for

From: Paul J. Adam
Date: May 6, 2015 7:45PM

According to PCAG, Paul's Content Accessibility Guidelines, :) yes of course you must match the keyboard behavior to the role used on that element.

If you say role=button then you are saying "I work with the spacebar!" if you don't work with the space bar then you're just lying to the user and the Accessibility API ;)

I'm calling them WCAG failures if the keyboard interaction does not match the role. You can be flexible with complex ARIA menubar mega menu type widgets and allow both arrow navigation and tab key navigation through all elements so all users know how to work the control and power users can skip through it faster if desired.

Things I'd consider a fail would be using an ARIA role that implies spacebar, arrow key, or escape key behavior without actually implementing that behavior. Seems like a 4.1.2 failure, i.e. you are using the incorrect role for this element since the behavior does not match the standard native element.

Paul J. Adam
Accessibility Evangelist
www.deque.com <http://www.deque.com/>;
> On May 6, 2015, at 8:37 PM, Birkir R. Gunnarsson < <EMAIL REMOVED> > wrote:
>
> Yeah, that is the core of my question basically.
> WCAG says that all page elements have to be keyboard operable, but the
> standard does not specify a manner in which they have to be keyboard
> operable.
> I have always recommended space bar activation for buttons (because
> that is a function supported by native html button elements).
> It has never really come to a head for me, but I would have stopped
> short of demanding it if buttons are made keyboard accessible in a
> predictable or documented manner.
> Cheers
>
>
>
>
>
> On 5/6/15, Jonathan Avila < <EMAIL REMOVED> > wrote:
>>> I was asking if it was an absolute requirement of WCAG that all buttons be
>>> coded so that either enter or spacebar activates them. My guess from
>>> where this discussion has gone is no.
>>
>> It depends who you talk too -- so -- at this point there is no consensus
>> that I am aware of on this being a requirement. I'd assume we all agree
>> it's at least advisory though. There are many other techniques that fall
>> into this category and over time techniques may move from not having
>> consensus into having consensus. For example, do banner and footer content
>> have to be marked as such as with HTML5 or ARIA -- do groups of links have
>> to be within a nav or use navigation role, etc. My thoughts are my own and
>> I'm not speaking for any working groups.
>>
>> Jonathan
>>
>> --
>> Jonathan Avila
>> Chief Accessibility Officer
>> SSB BART Group
>> <EMAIL REMOVED>
>>
>> 703-637-8957 (o)
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>>
>>
>>