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From: Don Raikes
Date: Tue, Feb 18 2020 1:09PM
Subject: edit field max length
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Hi,



I was having a discussion with a colleague about this and we didn't have a good answer.



Suppose there is an edit field in a web form. The field has a maximum length of 20.



Should there be some indication that the user has reached the maximum length, or that at least there is a maximum length?



If some indication should be provided, what is the best mechanism for the nnotification, and which WCAG 2.1 criteria does it reference?



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From: Steve Green
Date: Tue, Feb 18 2020 5:35PM
Subject: Re: edit field max length
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I don't believe there is anything in WCAG that requires the author to generate a notification. The maximum length is conveyed programmatically as long as you use the "maxlength" attribute (as opposed to JavaScript), so it's the user agent's responsibility to generate a notification if one is needed.

Steve Green
Managing Director
Test Partners Ltd



From: Patrick H. Lauke
Date: Tue, Feb 18 2020 5:50PM
Subject: Re: edit field max length
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On 19/02/2020 00:35, Steve Green wrote:
> I don't believe there is anything in WCAG that requires the author to generate a notification. The maximum length is conveyed programmatically as long as you use the "maxlength" attribute (as opposed to JavaScript), so it's the user agent's responsibility to generate a notification if one is needed.

However, for the benefit of all users, it would still be good if the
fact that a field is limited to a particular maximum length were
conveyed as part of the label or appropriately associated instructions
(in light of WCAG 2.1 3.3.2 Labels or Instructions
https://www.w3.org/WAI/WCAG21/Understanding/labels-or-instructions.html
... though it's subjective/debatable if NOT providing this information
is really a hard failure or more of a best practice, as the SC itself is
slightly subjective in its interpretation).

P
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From: Murphy, Sean
Date: Tue, Feb 18 2020 10:52PM
Subject: Re: edit field max length
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One tip. I have seen some edit fields which do show the max length as a description to the screen reader. The issue I have seen is when you type, the number of chars remaining increases. Thus the screen reader gets interrupted. Not a good experiences or I would say is accessible.