Guide to Guideline 3.2 Level 2 Success Criterion 3

Techniques for addressing 3.2 L2 SC3

Some options deemed sufficient by the working group

• Option 1:
  Use a submit button for changes of context.
• Option 2:
  Clearly describe (Ed note: label?) what will happen when an item is selected.

Technology-Independent techniques for Guideline 3.2 L2 SC3

• Use a submit button for changes in context

Technology-Specific Techniques for Guideline 3.2 L2 SC3

HTML Techniques:

• Do not use select elements that cause change in context.
  Select menus that open a new page with more than one option should use a submit button instead of triggering with the onchange event because they cannot be used with the keyboard.
  
  If some design principle demands the use of onChange, a title attribute can clarify the issue.  For example, this will help the user understand that an action will be taken upon selection:
   title="Use alt down arrow to open a list of languages."
  
• Do not use input elements that cause change in context.
  A click on a radio button or checkbox should not trigger an event that submits a page or pops up a window unless this action is clearly indicated to be the expected action.
  

Optional Techniques (advisory) for 3.2 L2 SC3

Additional Technology-Independent Techniques

Ed note:  do not know any

Additional Technology-specific Techniques

Ed note:  do not know any

Benefits: How 3.2 L2 SC3 helps people with disabilities

• Providing consistent and predictable responses to user actions is important feedback for users. This lets them know that your site is working properly and encourages them to continue interacting with the content. When users receive an unexpected response, they might conclude that something is wrong or broken. Some people might become so confused they will not be able to use your site.

• Individuals who are unable to detect changes of context or may not realize that the context has changed are less likely to become disoriented while navigating a site. This applies to people in the following ways:

  • Individuals who are blind or have low vision may have difficulty knowing when a visual context change, such as a new window popping up, has occurred. In this case, warning users of context changes in advance minimizes confusion when the user discovers that the back button no longer behaves as expected.

• Some individuals with low vision, with dyslexia and who have difficulty interpreting visual cues may benefit from additional cues in order to detect changes of context.

Ed note:  these were copied from WCAG 2.0.  General benefits might be less annoying web pages, but that seems rather weak to mention.

Examples of 3.2 L2 SC3

The following examples that violate the 3.2 L2 SC3 are followed by suggested remedies:

• A form control that automatically takes an action such as submitting a page.  Use a separate submit button.
• A form control that significantly changes the content when selected.  A separate button should be use to change the content.  Small changes to content such as changing explanations based of the value of the selection or revealing more detail are allowed.
  Ed note:  I thought that there might be a related success criteria to link to, but didn't see one. 

Related resources

Ed note:  anybody know anything that should go here?