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Re: Examples of comboboxes supporting multiple selected options

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From: Bryan Garaventa
Date: Jan 30, 2018 4:55PM

Hi,
This implementation combines the ARIA Combobox design pattern plus the checkable ARIA Listbox patterns to accomplish this accessibly.
http://whatsock.com/tsg/Coding%20Arena/ARIA%20Comboboxes/ARIA%20Comboboxes%20(Simulated,%20Readonly%20Multiselect)/demo.htm

This is included within the TSG Combobox section at
http://whatsock.com/tsg/#tgl-2-22
And within the Coding Arena archive at
https://github.com/accdc/tsg

Best wishes,
Bryan


Bryan Garaventa
Accessibility Fellow
Level Access, Inc.
<EMAIL REMOVED>
415.624.2709 (o)
www.LevelAccess.com

-----Original Message-----
From: WebAIM-Forum [mailto: <EMAIL REMOVED> ] On Behalf Of Sean Curtis
Sent: Tuesday, January 30, 2018 2:35 PM
To: WebAIM Discussion List < <EMAIL REMOVED> >
Subject: [WebAIM] Examples of comboboxes supporting multiple selected options

I've found many examples of accessible autocompletes, some single-choice combobox components, but I've yet to find one that handles multiple selected options. I'm trying to work out the best pattern for interacting with selected values. Often they appear as a bunch of lozenges beside the input field, with little "X" buttons to clear the values. This is a pattern used often in address fields when composing an email.

I've looked at the one used by Gmail, and iCloud mail, but while they do highlight a selected option visually when hitting left/right with the keyboard, that selection is not announced to a screen reader.

Ideally they wouldn't be a focusable element as it'd make tabbing through a form exhausting. Is using left/right (and aria-activedescendant) to highlight currently selected values, and up/down to open and navigate additional, as-yet-unselected options a decent compromise?

Are there any good examples around that I've just missed?

Cheers,

Sean