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Thread: combobox keyboard interaction?

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Number of posts in this thread: 6 (In chronological order)

From: Tomlins Diane
Date: Wed, May 11 2022 3:00PM
Subject: combobox keyboard interaction?
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Hi folks,
I'm doing some testing on an application that is using a Blazor combobox component. The only keyboard interaction to open the list of options is Alt + Down Arrow, which is not what I'm used to at all. The WAI-ARIA Authoring Practices guidelines lists it as "Optional":

"Alt + Down Arrow (Optional): If the popup is available but not displayed, displays the popup without moving focus".

The first interaction WAI-ARIA Practices has is just Down Arrow.

So my question is - how common is this kb interaction/pattern?

Because this is an application that patients would be using, I'm concerned that if Alt + Down Arrow is not all that common, people may find it frustrating to use.
You can use the arrow keys to go through the items in the list one by one, and (for now) the list isn't that long.

They did not include any informative text on how to open the whole list - except as an aria-label - oof :-/

Thanks,

Diane R. Tomlins
HCA Healthcare

From: jp Jamous
Date: Wed, May 11 2022 3:24PM
Subject: Re: combobox keyboard interaction?
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Hi Diane,

The proper way of opening a combobox is using alt + down-arrow. This was the norm and still is for today. Using the down-arrow alone was added to comboboxes in the last decade to make it easier to expand the combobox with one key.

I just started learning Blazor and that is typically how Microsoft has always handled combo boxes even with asp.net forms. Alt + down-arrow to expand and alt + up-arrow to close the combobox and select the item the cursor is on. If I were you, I would not worry about it for the following reasons:

1. It is accessible and still follows the proper way of expanding a combo box
2. Because of the above, ARIA left it optional. A good keyboard user should know how to use alt + down-arrow to expand a combobox.

If it is concerning you that much, you can add a visible message when the combobox receives focus. Although, I don't think it is necessary.


From: WebAIM-Forum < = EMAIL ADDRESS REMOVED = > On Behalf Of Tomlins Diane
Sent: Wednesday, May 11, 2022 4:01 PM
To: = EMAIL ADDRESS REMOVED =
Subject: [WebAIM] combobox keyboard interaction?

Hi folks, I'm doing some testing on an application that is using a Blazor combobox component. The only keyboard interaction to open the list of options is Alt + Down Arrow, which is not what I'm used
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Hi folks,

I'm doing some testing on an application that is using a Blazor combobox component. The only keyboard interaction to open the list of options is Alt + Down Arrow, which is not what I'm used to at all. The WAI-ARIA Authoring Practices guidelines lists it as "Optional":

"Alt + Down Arrow (Optional): If the popup is available but not displayed, displays the popup without moving focus".



The first interaction WAI-ARIA Practices has is just Down Arrow.



So my question is - how common is this kb interaction/pattern?

Because this is an application that patients would be using, I'm concerned that if Alt + Down Arrow is not all that common, people may find it frustrating to use.

You can use the arrow keys to go through the items in the list one by one, and (for now) the list isn't that long.



They did not include any informative text on how to open the whole list - except as an aria-label - oof :-/



Thanks,



Diane R. Tomlins

HCA Healthcare

From: Andrews, David B (DEED)
Date: Wed, May 11 2022 4:29PM
Subject: Re: combobox keyboard interaction?
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Alt-down arrow is relatively common, not universal, but not rare either. Most screen reader users know to try it.

Dave



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From: WebAIM-Forum < = EMAIL ADDRESS REMOVED = > On Behalf Of Tomlins Diane
Sent: Wednesday, May 11, 2022 4:01 PM
To: = EMAIL ADDRESS REMOVED =
Subject: [WebAIM] combobox keyboard interaction?

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Hi folks,
I'm doing some testing on an application that is using a Blazor combobox component. The only keyboard interaction to open the list of options is Alt + Down Arrow, which is not what I'm used to at all. The WAI-ARIA Authoring Practices guidelines lists it as "Optional":

"Alt + Down Arrow (Optional): If the popup is available but not displayed, displays the popup without moving focus".

The first interaction WAI-ARIA Practices has is just Down Arrow.

So my question is - how common is this kb interaction/pattern?

Because this is an application that patients would be using, I'm concerned that if Alt + Down Arrow is not all that common, people may find it frustrating to use.
You can use the arrow keys to go through the items in the list one by one, and (for now) the list isn't that long.

They did not include any informative text on how to open the whole list - except as an aria-label - oof :-/

Thanks,

Diane R. Tomlins
HCA Healthcare

From: glen walker
Date: Wed, May 11 2022 4:39PM
Subject: Re: combobox keyboard interaction?
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I expect a plain down (or up) arrow to just change the combobox value
without displaying the dropdown list.

I've been using alt+down to open the dropdown list since the previous
millennium.


On Wed, May 11, 2022 at 4:29 PM Andrews, David B (DEED) via WebAIM-Forum <
= EMAIL ADDRESS REMOVED = > wrote:

> Alt-down arrow is relatively common, not universal, but not rare either.
> Most screen reader users know to try it.
>
> Dave
>
>
>

From: Tomlins Diane
Date: Thu, May 12 2022 7:42AM
Subject: Re: combobox keyboard interaction?
← Previous message | Next message →

Thanks Glen, JP, and David, for the confirmation. I guess I've always just run into the plain old down arrow variety, I haven't been doing this for quite as long as all of you :).

For some reason though, NVDA won't announce the items in the first combobox as you arrow through them. There are 2 comboboxes after it in the form, same code, and it does announce those. I have a few things to try, maybe one of my extensions is interfering, I've had that happen before.

Diane R. Tomlins


-----Original Message-----
From: WebAIM-Forum < = EMAIL ADDRESS REMOVED = > On Behalf Of glen walker
Sent: Wednesday, May 11, 2022 5:40 PM
To: WebAIM Discussion List < = EMAIL ADDRESS REMOVED = >
Subject: {EXTERNAL} Re: [WebAIM] combobox keyboard interaction?

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I expect a plain down (or up) arrow to just change the combobox value without displaying the dropdown list.

I've been using alt+down to open the dropdown list since the previous millennium.


On Wed, May 11, 2022 at 4:29 PM Andrews, David B (DEED) via WebAIM-Forum < = EMAIL ADDRESS REMOVED = > wrote:

> Alt-down arrow is relatively common, not universal, but not rare either.
> Most screen reader users know to try it.
>
> Dave
>
>
>

From: jp Jamous
Date: Thu, May 12 2022 1:02PM
Subject: Re: combobox keyboard interaction?
← Previous message | No next message

Is that first combobox as standard HTML <select> or a custom control?

FYI, clear your browser cache completely before testing to avoid one of those scenarios that can put you through a nightmare. 😊


From: WebAIM-Forum < = EMAIL ADDRESS REMOVED = > On Behalf Of Tomlins Diane
Sent: Thursday, May 12, 2022 8:43 AM
To: WebAIM Discussion List < = EMAIL ADDRESS REMOVED = >
Subject: Re: [WebAIM] combobox keyboard interaction?

Thanks Glen, JP, and David, for the confirmation. I guess I've always just run into the plain old down arrow variety, I haven't been doing this for quite as long as all of you :). For some reason thou
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Thanks Glen, JP, and David, for the confirmation. I guess I've always just run into the plain old down arrow variety, I haven't been doing this for quite as long as all of you :).



For some reason though, NVDA won't announce the items in the first combobox as you arrow through them. There are 2 comboboxes after it in the form, same code, and it does announce those. I have a few things to try, maybe one of my extensions is interfering, I've had that happen before.



Diane R. Tomlins





-----Original Message-----

From: WebAIM-Forum < = EMAIL ADDRESS REMOVED = <mailto: = EMAIL ADDRESS REMOVED = >> On Behalf Of glen walker

Sent: Wednesday, May 11, 2022 5:40 PM

To: WebAIM Discussion List < = EMAIL ADDRESS REMOVED = <mailto: = EMAIL ADDRESS REMOVED = >>

Subject: {EXTERNAL} Re: [WebAIM] combobox keyboard interaction?



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I expect a plain down (or up) arrow to just change the combobox value without displaying the dropdown list.



I've been using alt+down to open the dropdown list since the previous millennium.





On Wed, May 11, 2022 at 4:29 PM Andrews, David B (DEED) via WebAIM-Forum < = EMAIL ADDRESS REMOVED = <mailto: = EMAIL ADDRESS REMOVED = >> wrote:



> Alt-down arrow is relatively common, not universal, but not rare either.

> Most screen reader users know to try it.

>

> Dave

>

>

>