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Document within a document: how to mark up?

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From: Isabel Holdsworth
Date: Jun 21, 2019 4:18AM


Hi all,

We have situations where a document is opened within a webpage. Say,
for example, a test question that asks the candidate to comment on a
piece of prose.

Currently, on the click of a button we present the prose in a panel
that sits on top of the existing page and can be dragged around the
screen and dismissed when it's no longer needed. We've marked this up
as a non-modal dialog (I keep trying to put a "ye" on the end of that
word).

But the information in the dialog can be long and complex, and I'm not
convinced a dialog is the correct container. I'm not convinced it's
the wrong container either. The panel needs to be movable and
closable, and AFAIK more than one panel can be visible at a time.

But if not a dialog, what should it be? An article? An aside? A
document? A document within a widget? What would be the best way to
help screenreader users understand what's going on and interact with
the different contexts on the page?

I'd really appreciate your thoughts on this.

Does anyone have an accessible example of a scenario like this? If so
would you be able to share it?

Thanks as always, Isabel