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Re: search-submit button -- required or not

for

From: Wright, Eric [USA]
Date: Apr 26, 2016 9:42AM

Hi Jenn,

To your question regarding the user experience for someone using speech recognition,

>How do folks who use text-input, such as Dragon Naturally Speaking,
>handle the lack of a button (with a name to speak)?

Dragon (and most speech recognition software) makes it fairly easy to send a keystroke (or combination of keystrokes) by saying, "Press [keys]." "Press Enter Key" can be preferable here to "Click Submit" if there are multiple submit buttons on the screen. In that case, submission involves saying "Click Submit" and then issuing a separate "choose" command to select your desired button among many. "Press Enter Key" takes this two step process and turns it into a one step process.

Still, Leonie's point holds. Submission of the form via the enter key needs to be discoverable and understandable for it to be useful.

Eric Wright
Lead Technologist
Booz Allen Hamilton
Mobile (802) 310-9138
www.boozallen.com

From: WebAIM-Forum [ <EMAIL REMOVED> ] on behalf of Jennifer Sutton [ <EMAIL REMOVED> ]
Sent: Monday, April 25, 2016 6:02 PM
To: WebAIM Discussion List
Subject: [External] [WebAIM] search-submit button -- required or not

Greetings, WebAIM folks:

What's the current thinking regarding whether a search "submit" button
is required? Is there a specific Success Criterion that should be cited?

I'm wondering about this because, increasingly, I'm seeing search edit
boxes that are activated by simply using the enter key.

Is this practice becoming accepted/known?

How do folks who use text-input, such as Dragon Naturally Speaking,
handle the lack of a button (with a name to speak)?

Though it is not relevant to the particular use case I'm currently
looking at, I also find myself thinking about the kinds of search
mechanisms that autocomplete/suggest, as you type. These typically, as
far as I recall, do not have "submit" buttons. I guess the idea with
them is that once you stop typing, you've essentially "submitted." But I
bring these search-suggestion mechanisms up because I wonder if they're
contributing to the perception that "submit" buttons are no longer
necessary for searches (whether or not suggestions are offered).

In the end, I want to be sure I'm clear about whether the lack of a
search submission button is a WCAG 2.0 issue, considered to be a general
usability issue (for people with disabilities and/or people without), or
both?

Thank you.

Best,
Jennifer