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Warn SR users that clicking "Add New" button adds form dynamically and sets focus to first field?

for

From: Robert Fentress
Date: Nov 14, 2016 10:14AM

*Scenario:* In a rich internet application, you have an "Add New Entry"
button that creates a new text entry of some sort. Clicking the button
causes a new form to dynamically appear on the page, and focus is moved to
the first field in that new form, for instance, the title of the entry.

*Questions:* Should screen reader users be warned of this behavior ahead of
time, perhaps with hidden text in the button, or is this an obvious
behavior that one would expect at this point? Would it be appropriate or
useful to have an aria-controls relationship here, where the button
references the labelled region wherein the form would appear? Does it make
a difference if the region where the form appears precedes the button in
the DOM? For instance, suppose the "Add New" button is one of a number of
controls that appears in a column on the right, but the form it creates
appears in the main content area to the left of it? I worry that this,
especially, might be disorienting.

Best,
Rob


--
Robert Fentress
Senior Accessibility Solutions Designer
540.231.1255

Technology-enhanced Learning & Online Strategies
Assistive Technologies
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