WebAIM - Web Accessibility In Mind

E-mail List Archives

RE: Javascript alerts versus popup windows

for

From: Hoffman, David
Date: Apr 1, 2003 1:36PM

Hi Rachel,

I am not aware of any issues that relate to which type of pop-up you use.
However, I have discovered a serious JAWS issue with both alert and
showModalDialog pop-ups. (I have not experimented with opening new windows,
but showModalDialog may be a better solution anyway.) The issue is that JAWS
fails to read some alert windows and fails to enter Forms Mode in some
showModalDialog boxes.

The JavaScript code causes problems for JAWS when "window." is explicitly
included, as follows:

window.showModalDialog("The html page to open". . .)

or

window.alert("The alert to open". . .)

However, if the code omits the "window.", as follows, JAWS functions
properly:

showModalDialog("The html page to open", . . . )

or

alert("The alert to open"...)

Does anyone know if any other screen readers experience this issue?

Take care,
David

-----Original Message-----
From: Rachel [mailto: <EMAIL REMOVED> ]
Sent: Tuesday, April 01, 2003 12:14 PM
To: <EMAIL REMOVED>
Subject: Javascript alerts versus popup windows


We're working on a web-based application that will be
used in an intranet situation, where we can specify
that users use newer, JavaScript-enabled browsers and
assistive technologies.

In some areas, we want to give the user an "are you
sure you want to do this" type of message when they
hit submit buttons.

Sometimes, this message is simple. We can use a plain,
simple JavaScript alert for these.

But other times, the message has a lot of information
in it that would be more readable if it was
HTML-formatted. Since we cannot do that in a
JavaScript alert, we would need to do it in a popup
window (window.open), instead.

My question is: is there any difference in support,
among assistive technologies, for the JavaScript alert
versus a popup window? Any difference in
accessibility? Will people who are visually-impaired
or mobility-impaired be able to handle JavaScript
alerts better than popup windows?

Thanks
Rachel Sengers


__________________________________________________
Do you Yahoo!?
Yahoo! Tax Center - File online, calculators, forms, and more
http://platinum.yahoo.com


----
To subscribe, unsubscribe, or view list archives,
visit http://www.webaim.org/discussion/


----
To subscribe, unsubscribe, or view list archives,
visit http://www.webaim.org/discussion/