WebAIM - Web Accessibility In Mind

E-mail List Archives

Re: Footnotes

for

From: Brandon Keith Biggs
Date: Aug 22, 2018 10:17AM


Hello,
I really like it when footnotes are links and the link takes me to the
footnote.
The problem is then that it is hard to get back to your place.
Could a modal pop up with the footnote when you click on the link and then
allow the user to read the note, then hit escape when they are done?
Thanks,

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


On Wed, Aug 22, 2018 at 7:53 AM Isabel Holdsworth < <EMAIL REMOVED> >
wrote:

> Hi all,
>
> We're creating an exam test whose answer options have associated
> footnotes, sometimes more than one.
>
> We have a multiple choice question that has four possible answers and
> three footnotes at the bottom of the page.
>
> Answer 1 is associated with footnote 1.
> Answer 2 doesn't have any footnotes.
> Answer 3 is associated with footnotes 1 and 2.
> Answer 4 is associated with footnote 3.
>
> What would be the most accessible way of associating each option with
> its footnote(s)? Using aria-describedby could work, but I don't feel
> it's reliable enough. I'm using JAWS in expert mode and can't seem to
> get access to descriptions marked up in this way. And it could get
> confusing if an option is associated with more than one footnote.
>
> I could ensure that the footnotes are located directly after the
> answer options in the DOM. Would this be enough? Screenreaders in
> forms mode would skip over the footnotes and straight to the submit
> button, and users might never realise they are present. So this
> doesn't feel like an acceptable solution.
>
> I'd really appreciate your thoughts on this.
>
> Cheers, Isabel
> > > > >