WebAIM - Web Accessibility In Mind

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RE: accessible form feedback

for

From: Paul Bohman
Date: Mar 5, 2003 3:08PM

Sorry. I accidentally sent my last email before finishing it. Here's the
final part:

As far as not being able to select multiple items, this works just fine.
People using a mouse can use a combination of the mouse and the CTRL key (in
Windows). People using the keyboard alone can do the following:

Press SHIFT+F8. Use arrow keys to move between choices and then use the
SPACEBAR to select/de-select individual items (again, in Windows).

Now, it's true that not everyone knows how to do this. It's not an
easily-remembered procedure, but it does work. Some people who use the
keyboard alone will know how to do this, while others will not. I don't have
any statistics, but I'd be willing to guess that most people don't know the
keyboard shortcut for selecting multiple items in this type of list--even
among those who cannot use a mouse. It may not be a bad idea to provide some
information on the page such as this:

Building and classroom accessibility (please indicate all that apply*)
*How to select multiple items in this list

The text "How to select multiple items in this list" would be a link to a
place (either on the same page or a separate page) that explains both the
mouse and the keyboard method of selecting multiple items.

In the past I have not added instructions for how to select multiple items,
but I will admit that there have been several ocassions when I had to
explain how to do it. I may decide to add instructions such as this to
future forms that I create.

Paul Bohman
Technology Coordinator
WebAIM (Web Accessibility in Mind)
www.webaim.org
Center for Persons with Disabilities
www.cpd.usu.edu
Utah State University
www.usu.edu

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