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Thread: Re: SPAM-LOW: Re: onchange event in html select

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Number of posts in this thread: 1 (In chronological order)

From: Dawn
Date: Thu, Jan 27 2011 3:36PM
Subject: Re: SPAM-LOW: Re: onchange event in html select
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A few years ago I tested this out for myself using IE6 and JAWS to find out how much was true and how much was accessibility myth. I found that the event didn't trigger with IE6 on its own, but when JAWS was running it did fire when I went to the first item.

Hope that helps,
Dawn

On 27 Jan 2011, at 16:52, adam solomon < = EMAIL ADDRESS REMOVED = > wrote:

> Thanks guys for the feedback. As Jason pointed out, I was able to navigate
> the items after opening the list and then using the arrow keys even in IE8,
> but I forgot to try and tab out, and, alas, it fires the select
> event.Firefox, of course, gets even the tab functionality correct.
> Thanks for setting me straight.
>
> On Thu, Jan 27, 2011 at 6:05 PM, Jason Megginson <
> = EMAIL ADDRESS REMOVED = > wrote:
>
>> On Thursday, January 27, 2011 10:22 AM, Jared Smith wrote:
>>
>>> Is it 'technically' accessible? >Yes. Is it functionally very friendly
>> and > usable to many users? No.
>>
>> I think this is a great statement. Users may be able to open the html
>> select list with "alt+down arrow" and navigate (inspect) the options with
>> the arrow keys. A user can cancel a selection with the "Esc" key avoiding
>> the event from being invoked. However if a user presses "Tab" with the
>> list opened the event will fire.
>>
>> Some users may not know to navigate the lists in this manner. We also
>> suggest that an adjacent button (sans onchange event) is the most
>> accessible and usable option.
>>
>> Jason Megginson
>> SSB BART Group
>> (O):703-637-8964
>> (C):703-244-7755
>>
>>
>>
>> -----Original Message-----
>> From: = EMAIL ADDRESS REMOVED =
>> [mailto: = EMAIL ADDRESS REMOVED = ] On Behalf Of Jared Smith
>> Sent: Thursday, January 27, 2011 10:22 AM
>> To: WebAIM Discussion List
>> Subject: Re: [WebAIM] onchange event in html select
>>
>> On Thu, Jan 27, 2011 at 4:15 AM, adam solomon wrote:
>>
>>> I know that traditionally we have always heard that a
>>> button must be provided with the select in such a case, yet is it really
>>> inaccessible without the button?
>>
>> You must have something enabled that is overriding IE's default
>> behavior. Do you have JavaScript enabled?
>>
>> In my installations with IE8, simply arrowing up or down through the
>> controls at http://webaim.org/techniques/javascript/eventhandlers#onchange
>> results in the page automatically changing. Additionally, if you
>> navigate the control with the keyboard in any browser and then hit the
>> tab key the page unexpectedly changes. Clicking on it in IE and
>> scrolling with a mouse wheel also results in an unexpected change.
>> Clicking on it with the mouse and simply selecting an option results
>> in a potentially unexpected change.
>>
>> In all of these situations the page changes location in a non-standard
>> way - via changing or blurring a select menu rather than a form
>> submission. Any time your page changes location or context via
>> something other than a link or form submission, it has potential to
>> introduce confusion and frustration. Is it 'technically' accessible?
>> Yes. Is it functionally very friendly and usable to many users? No.
>>
>> Jared Smith
>> WebAIM.org
>>