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Re: Selects with drop downs

for

From: Steve Green
Date: Mar 14, 2018 12:46PM


Hi Bryan,

I will reply off-list. At this stage all I really want is a replacement for a native combobox, so I have only been testing the Country combobox at http://whatsock.com/tsg/Coding%20Arena/ARIA%20Comboboxes/ARIA%20Comboboxes%20(Native%20Inputs,%20Multiselect%20Editable%20with%20Substring%20Match)/demo.htm. All the other whizzy features such as autocomplete can wait until we get the basic widget working.

Steve

-----Original Message-----
From: WebAIM-Forum [mailto: <EMAIL REMOVED> ] On Behalf Of Bryan Garaventa
Sent: 14 March 2018 18:09
To: WebAIM Discussion List < <EMAIL REMOVED> >
Subject: Re: [WebAIM] Selects with drop downs

"and the Whatsock designs don't work at all well in some cases. In one specific case, JAWS 2018 announces that the combobox has been set to a different value than has actually been selected."

Hi,
There are many possibilities which may be causing this confusion, not just the programming of the widget. E.G The purpose you are trying to use the combobox for, support level differences between browsers or screen reader bugs, or configuration settings available within the combobox widget that you may not be aware of.

So, when you get a chance, can you please reply with steps to reproduce, including the version of JAWS and which browser you are using plus the widget example you are testing? Also please explain the negative behavior that you are experiencing, which will give me a sense of where to home in specifically.

Thanks,
Bryan



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

-----Original Message-----
From: WebAIM-Forum < <EMAIL REMOVED> > On Behalf Of Steve Green
Sent: Wednesday, March 14, 2018 7:31 AM
To: WebAIM Discussion List < <EMAIL REMOVED> >
Subject: Re: [WebAIM] Selects with drop downs

I have been testing those Whatsock comboboxes recently and I find that they only work well under certain specific circumstances. There are many ways in which a user can interact with even a simple combobox (I have tested ten ways but there are potentially more), and the Whatsock designs don't work at all well in some cases. In one specific case, JAWS 2018 announces that the combobox has been set to a different value than has actually been selected.

It's worth noting that even when the behaviour is acceptable, the user experience is substantially different from a native combobox. I find it disappointing and frustrating that the HTML5 and ARIA specifications have not been written such that it is possible to closely or exactly emulate a native combobox. It would be interesting to know if there is a reason for this. It seems such an obvious thing to want to do.

I hadn't planned to post these comments yet but I felt obliged to since you were recommending these designs. I will send Bryan Garaventa my report as soon as it is complete. I very much hope that he can fix his designs because they are better than any other combobox replacements I have tested. However, I don't regard them as being good enough to recommend to our clients yet.

Steve Green
Managing Director
Test Partners Ltd


-----Original Message-----
From: WebAIM-Forum [mailto: <EMAIL REMOVED> ] On Behalf Of Brandon Keith Biggs
Sent: 14 March 2018 14:03
To: WebAIM Discussion List < <EMAIL REMOVED> >
Subject: Re: [WebAIM] Selects with drop downs

Are these datalists?
https://www.w3schools.com/tags/tag_datalist.asp

Otherwise, AccDC has some fantastic comboboxes:
http://whatsock.com/tsg/Coding%20Arena/ARIA%20Comboboxes/ARIA%20Comboboxes%20(Native%20Inputs,%20Editable%20and%20Readonly)/demo.htm

http://whatsock.com/tsg/Coding%20Arena/ARIA%20Comboboxes/ARIA%20Comboboxes%20(Native%20Inputs,%20Multiselect%20Editable%20with%20Substring%20Match)/demo.htm

http://whatsock.com/tsg/Coding%20Arena/ARIA%20Comboboxes/ARIA%20Comboboxes%20(Simulated,%20Readonly)/demo.htm

There are several others, but you can find them in the technical style guide.
Thanks,


Brandon Keith Biggs <http://brandonkeithbiggs.com/>;

On Wed, Mar 14, 2018 at 5:54 AM, Ryan E. Benson < <EMAIL REMOVED> >
wrote:

> Pardon the title, I am not sure what these things are officially called.
> There's a group bent on using select elements aka dropdowns with
> built-in search/filter functions. I believe there was a thread here a
> while ago, but can't find it. Unless I am mistaken, the thread leaned
> towards not using them, even though they can be made accessible. The
> PM and the second developer didn't know what framework they were
> using, and have yet to hear back from the lead, but they think Bootstrap "or based on it."
>
> Any pointers would be great, since i have yet to get access to their code.
>
> --
> Ryan E. Benson
> > > archives at http://webaim.org/discussion/archives
> >