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Re: "Error feedback MUST be programmatically-associated with the appropriate element"

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From: Jeremy Echols
Date: Sep 25, 2020 2:31PM

Interesting. I think the Deque training, in this case, may be misusing the "MUST" keyword. One of the major drawbacks to not having budget for in-person training, I suppose.

-----Original Message-----
From: WebAIM-Forum < <EMAIL REMOVED> > On Behalf Of Jared Smith
Sent: Friday, September 25, 2020 13:27
To: WebAIM Discussion List < <EMAIL REMOVED> >
Subject: Re: [WebAIM] "Error feedback MUST be programmatically-associated with the appropriate element"

3.3.1 requires that error information, if detected, be identified and described in text. 3.3.3 does the same for error suggestions. These, however, do not specifically require that this information be associated to the relevant inputs.

This would instead generally fall under 1.3.1. If a visual association between the error information and the relevant input is present, this should also be programmatically defined - probably via aria-describedby (and aria-invalid is a good idea too).

This would not apply for error information that is not presentationally associated to the inputs. For example, if the error message appears at the top of a form, it's not visually associated to the input, so there is no requirement in WCAG to programmatically associate it.

Jared Smith