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Re: ARIA role changing browser behavior

for

From: Birkir R. Gunnarsson
Date: Dec 4, 2023 5:17PM

Are there any differences in the keyboard operation if the screen
reader is not running?

On 12/4/23, Jim Allan < <EMAIL REMOVED> > wrote:
> Birkir
> The control was announced as a list box after the role was added. when I
> hit enter on a focused item, it was actually selected.
> Previously, before adding the role, items were announced when focused but
> the enter key did not select the focused item.
> The browser in question is Edge.
> Jim
>
> On Mon, Dec 4, 2023, 5:12 PM Birkir R. Gunnarsson <
> <EMAIL REMOVED> > wrote:
>
>> Did the keyboard behavior also changed when you updated the ARIA role
>> or did it only affect the screen reader announcement of the widget?
>> If the keyboard behavior (with or without screen reader running)
>> changed, that's certinly a departure from the classic principal of
>> "ARIA affects presentation but not functionality".
>> That being said, individaul browser vendors may decide to handle ARIA
>> roles in certain ways, even attach default keyboard behaviors to them,
>> there's nothing that forbids them from doing that.
>> Is this change confined to a single browser or can you reproduce it in
>> multiple browsers?
>>
>> On 12/4/23, Jeremy Echols < <EMAIL REMOVED> > wrote:
>> > Impossible to be certain without seeing the code, but your supposition
>> > is
>> > certainly plausible at least. When I have a control that I know has to
>> > behave a certain way, I like to latch onto ARIA attributes so that I can
>> be
>> > reasonably certain that if the control looks to be working for sighted
>> > users, it is probably working for screen readers.
>> >
>> > You can actually see things like this in the W3C ARIA examples. For
>> > instance, a disclosure menu widget's JS is set up to "attach" itself to
>> any
>> > button with aria-expanded and aria-controls attributes:
>> >
>> https://www.w3.org/WAI/content-assets/wai-aria-practices/patterns/disclosure/examples/js/disclosureMenu.js
>> >
>> > -----Original Message-----
>> > From: WebAIM-Forum < <EMAIL REMOVED> > On Behalf Of
>> Jim
>> > Allan
>> > Sent: Monday, December 4, 2023 13:58
>> > To: WebAIM Discussion List < <EMAIL REMOVED> >
>> > Subject: [WebAIM] ARIA role changing browser behavior
>> >
>> > Hi all
>> > I was testing a webpage that had an input that was readonly, but
>> > visually
>> > functioned like a dropdown (some kind of react control - I am not a
>> > scripter). the items in the 'dropdown' were 5 divs with several 'class'
>> > values and tabindex=-1. the input control was a disaster and did not
>> > function properly.
>> > I hacked around in the Inspect tool. I removed the 'readonly' and added
>> > a
>> > role="listbox" to the <input> and suddenly the input functioned
>> perfectly
>> > from the keyboard with a screenreader.
>> > It has always been my understanding that aria roles change what the
>> screen
>> > reader calls something but does not affect the functioning. I am
>> perplexed.
>> > Could there be something in the JS that is looking for role="listbox"
>> > and
>> > doing different things? Or is something else going on?
>> > Anyone else experienced this?
>> > I can't share the code as its a dev site.
>> > Seeking understanding...
>> > Jim
>> >
>> > --
>> > TSBVI Need assistance? Click this link for help: MOJO HELP DESK
>> > <
>> https://urldefense.com/v3/__https://tsbvi.mojohelpdesk.com/mytickets/create*/ticket-form-selection__;Iw!!C5qS4YX3!C2V98Q8QK0-OKIj__eVOrLFghOrA0tY9qyc14gqWEVZkEeCck00lD0NXq5gn1DQa7NZsVef0hHDHqK7o1tA3mw$
>> >>
>> >
>> > Jim Allan, Accessibility Coordinator
>> > Texas School for the Blind and Visually Impaired
>> > 1100 W. 45th St., Austin, Texas 78756
>> > voice 512.206.9315 fax: 512.206.9452
>> >
>> https://urldefense.com/v3/__http://www.tsbvi.edu/__;!!C5qS4YX3!C2V98Q8QK0-OKIj__eVOrLFghOrA0tY9qyc14gqWEVZkEeCck00lD0NXq5gn1DQa7NZsVef0hHDHqK6128g1GA$
>> >
>> > "We shape our tools and thereafter our tools shape us." McLuhan, 1964
>> > >> > >> >
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>> >
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>> > >> > >> > >> > >> > >> >
>>
>>
>> --
>> Work hard. Have fun. Make history.
>> >> >> >> >>
> > > > >


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Work hard. Have fun. Make history.