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Thread: FW: Javascript question
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From: Rick Hill
Date: Wed, Aug 14 2013 3:16PM
Subject: FW: Javascript question
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Folks,
We have assumed that creating content that requires Javascript is now OK under WCAG 2 AA assuming you meet WCAG 2 AA success criteria including proper use of ARIA. And I guess, don't use Javascript where it really isn't needed. Use standard HTML/CSS for what it is designed to do.
I'd avise to research http://www.w3.org/WAI/WCAG20/quickref/ to better acquaint themselves with WCAG 2.0 success criteria.
To paraphrase another comment from this discussion list:
It is not a matter of using one or another technology, but a matter of using them correctly.
Check you abide by the client-side scripting techniques for WCAG 2.0 which deal with recommended and disapproved scripting usages.
Use ARIA Techniques for WCAG 2.0 to define the semantics of non-standard controls, they are widely supported by major browsers
Does this sound like an appropriate response?
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Rick Hill, Web CMS Administrator
Strategic Communications, UC Davis
Subject: Javascript question
Colleagues,
Perhaps you can provide some insight here:
There have been discussions at CDL about the use of Javascript and the contention in some of the documentation we point to (http://webaim.org/techniques/javascript/) that web pages should always have alternatives to using Javascript.
CDL web developers are curious to know if this is still the case since the browser world has moved along pretty significantly since the 10+ years since that was likely written. They feel that it's now pretty rare for any browser NOT to support Javascript and many major sites use Javascript for huge amounts of their core functionality without providing alternatives. Eliminating Javascript would make heavily used sites such as Gmail not work at all (see for example https://support.google.com/mail/answer/96580?hl=en ).
Two questions:
1. What’s the current thinking on using Javascript?
2. Is there more current information we could point to?
Thanks for your help.
From: Alastair Campbell
Date: Thu, Aug 15 2013 7:58AM
Subject: Re: FW: Javascript question
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Rick Hill wrote:
> It is not a matter of using one or another technology, but a matter of
> using them correctly.
> Check you abide by the client-side scripting techniques for WCAG 2.0 which
> deal with recommended and disapproved scripting usages.
> Use ARIA Techniques for WCAG 2.0 to define the semantics of non-standard
> controls, they are widely supported by major browsers
>
> Does this sound like an appropriate response?
It does to me. You might add a line about "Accessibility supported"
technologies, and JavaScript is as available to people with disabilities as
the general population, therefore considered supported by user-agents.
I bookmarked Matt May's post about JavaScript for all future questions on
this topic:
http://lists.w3.org/Archives/Public/w3c-wai-ig/2012OctDec/0223.html
I would probably also add that using 'non-standard' widgets (i.e. ones that
need ARIA) generally need more testing to ensure for compatibility and
usability across assistive technologies. (http://whatsock.com/ should save
you some time there thought.)
Hth,
-Alastair