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Thread: combo boxes
Number of posts in this thread: 11 (In chronological order)
From: Stanzel, Susan - FSA, Kansas City, MO
Date: Tue, Feb 03 2015 12:40PM
Subject: combo boxes
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Hi Listers,
When I land on a combo box where should I expect to be? For example, if I have a choice of 1, 2 or 3, should I expect my cursor to be on the first choice or the last choice? I am thinking the first choice.
Susie Stanzel
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From: Wloch, Rob
Date: Tue, Feb 03 2015 12:53PM
Subject: Re: combo boxes
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I think it depends on which option inside the combo box is selected. For example, if choice 3 is selected then you should land on choice 3. So, I guess the answer is that you should land on the selected option which in most cases is the first one.
From: Krack, Joseph
Date: Tue, Feb 03 2015 12:58PM
Subject: Re: combo boxes
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I would vote for the first one in order to meet the standards of
logical reading order, and focus order.
Joe Krack
Digital Accessibility Consultant
Disability Access Services
Department of Rehabilitation
916-558-5766
From: Stanzel, Susan - FSA, Kansas City, MO
Date: Tue, Feb 03 2015 1:08PM
Subject: Re: combo boxes
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Thanks so much. I know when things don't seem right, but I don't know the exact rule.
Susie Stanzel
From: Lynn Holdsworth
Date: Wed, Feb 04 2015 1:30AM
Subject: Re: combo boxes
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Surely it depends on whether it's appropriate to have an option
already selected? For example, if I were filling in an insurance form
and needed to choose the date I want the cover to start, wouldn't it
be appropriate to set the three date select boxes to today's date?
Best, Lynn
On 03/02/2015, Stanzel, Susan - FSA, Kansas City, MO
< = EMAIL ADDRESS REMOVED = > wrote:
> Thanks so much. I know when things don't seem right, but I don't know the
> exact rule.
>
> Susie Stanzel
>
>
From: Lynn Holdsworth
Date: Wed, Feb 04 2015 1:36AM
Subject: Re: combo boxes
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I wish screenreaders would all speak the same role for select boxes.
JAWS annoyingly calls it a combo box, VoiceOver I think calls it a
popup list or a picker item or something ... They're all different.
And now with the advent of combobox widgets things are even more
confusing.
Best, Lynn
On 04/02/2015, Lynn Holdsworth < = EMAIL ADDRESS REMOVED = > wrote:
> Surely it depends on whether it's appropriate to have an option
> already selected? For example, if I were filling in an insurance form
> and needed to choose the date I want the cover to start, wouldn't it
> be appropriate to set the three date select boxes to today's date?
>
> Best, Lynn
>
> On 03/02/2015, Stanzel, Susan - FSA, Kansas City, MO
> < = EMAIL ADDRESS REMOVED = > wrote:
>> Thanks so much. I know when things don't seem right, but I don't know the
>> exact rule.
>>
>> Susie Stanzel
>>
>>
From: Jim Allan
Date: Wed, Feb 04 2015 8:29AM
Subject: Re: combo boxes
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The item you land on first in a select box is determined by the author of
the page not the browser or the screen reader.
I have seen select boxes where the last item is the first choice...when the
user logically hits the down arrow...nothing happens. You had to hit up
arrow to navigate that select list.
On Wed, Feb 4, 2015 at 2:36 AM, Lynn Holdsworth < = EMAIL ADDRESS REMOVED = >
wrote:
> I wish screenreaders would all speak the same role for select boxes.
> JAWS annoyingly calls it a combo box, VoiceOver I think calls it a
> popup list or a picker item or something ... They're all different.
> And now with the advent of combobox widgets things are even more
> confusing.
>
> Best, Lynn
>
> On 04/02/2015, Lynn Holdsworth < = EMAIL ADDRESS REMOVED = > wrote:
> > Surely it depends on whether it's appropriate to have an option
> > already selected? For example, if I were filling in an insurance form
> > and needed to choose the date I want the cover to start, wouldn't it
> > be appropriate to set the three date select boxes to today's date?
> >
> > Best, Lynn
> >
> > On 03/02/2015, Stanzel, Susan - FSA, Kansas City, MO
> > < = EMAIL ADDRESS REMOVED = > wrote:
> >> Thanks so much. I know when things don't seem right, but I don't know
> the
> >> exact rule.
> >>
> >> Susie Stanzel
> >>
> >>
From: Krack, Joseph
Date: Wed, Feb 04 2015 9:02AM
Subject: Re: combo boxes
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But I don't think which select box is landed on first should be decided
simply by the creator or just for screen reader users. Persons with low
vision, physical (keyboard users) and/or cognitive disabilities need to
be addressed also. I would say that the standards should decide which
select box is to be highlighted first. Logical reading order and focus
order should be kept in mind. If there is an option that you want to be
first, then ensure it is listed first on the form/page.
From: Jim Allan
Date: Wed, Feb 04 2015 12:25PM
Subject: Re: combo boxes
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I think there was some confusion. I was trying to say when you open any
select box, the default (selected) option is set by the author. Ideally, it
should be the first (top) option that is "selected". Then the user can open
the select and use the down arrow (the expected behavior) to move through
the list of options.
<select>
<option value="volvo">Volvo</option>
<option value="saab">Saab</option>
<option value="vw">VW</option>
<option value="audi"
â*â*
*selected*>Audi</option>
</select>
On Wed, Feb 4, 2015 at 10:02 AM, Krack, Joseph@DOR < = EMAIL ADDRESS REMOVED = >
wrote:
> But I don't think which select box is landed on first should be decided
> simply by the creator or just for screen reader users. Persons with low
> vision, physical (keyboard users) and/or cognitive disabilities need to
> be addressed also. I would say that the standards should decide which
> select box is to be highlighted first. Logical reading order and focus
> order should be kept in mind. If there is an option that you want to be
> first, then ensure it is listed first on the form/page.
>
>
From: Andrew Kirkpatrick
Date: Wed, Feb 04 2015 12:56PM
Subject: Re: combo boxes
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And it might not always be the first item. For example, if I'm logged into a shopping site so it knows things about me, I might be asked to enter the shipping address for a delivery. Since I live in Massachusetts that option could be selected when the page is rendered, but might still be toward the middle of the list of states in the drop down. If I want to ship a package to a friend in California I'd expect to arrow up to find California in the list.
I might expect to find the same situation in a "select a method of shipping" drop down (or a set of radios for that matter) where free delivery is first and "regular" delivery is second and selected, and overnight delivery is 3rd. There's a logical order to the options, but there is also a logical reason that the site wants me to choose "regular" delivery. I wouldn't view this as an accessibility problem.
AWK
From: _mallory
Date: Thu, Feb 05 2015 12:25AM
Subject: Re: combo boxes
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On Wed, Feb 04, 2015 at 07:56:38PM +0000, Andrew Kirkpatrick wrote:
> And it might not always be the first item. For example, if I'm logged into a shopping site so it knows things about me, I might be asked to enter the shipping address for a delivery. Since I live in Massachusetts that option could be selected when the page is rendered, but might still be toward the middle of the list of states in the drop down. If I want to ship a package to a friend in California I'd expect to arrow up to find California in the list.
>
> I might expect to find the same situation in a "select a method of shipping" drop down (or a set of radios for that matter) where free delivery is first and "regular" delivery is second and selected, and overnight delivery is 3rd. There's a logical order to the options, but there is also a logical reason that the site wants me to choose "regular" delivery. I wouldn't view this as an accessibility problem.
Agreed. This is most common in the wild, at least in e-commerce, so
many users already have this expectation-- to the point that in user
testing (like by Nielsen and Baymard), people will actually complain
when the "logical" option isn't pre-selected and the first thing they
focus on, especially if the lists are long.
_mallory