Fw: [SEC508] Fw: 508 Form fields question

----- Original Message ----- 
From: "Jon Avila" <javila@bartsite.com>
To: <sec508@trace.wisc.edu>
Sent: Monday, December 29, 2003 8:32 PM
Subject: RE: [SEC508] Fw: 508 Form fields question


Dave/Kim,
  Screen readers have a function called screen echo.  Users can set this
function to speak all newly written text to the screen, so as the user
types they could hear that number decreasing.  They might hear other data
such as the clock changing or the letters that they type but they will be
able to hear the numbers decrement.  This does not appear to be a section
508 issue.  However, as Don mentioned you do need to label that form
field.

Jonathan

On Mon, 29 Dec 2003, Barrett, Don wrote:

> Hey Dave,
>
> I would say your answer to the first question is yes.  Whether or not a
user
> can modify text in a form field does not affect the importance of ensuring
> that the given field has a label.
>
> As far as making the counter box compliant, if you can arrow to it and
read
> it and thus ascertain the number of characters, it should be fine.  I
> wouldn't say that one has to hear the change every time a character is
> entered in the other box; that would be nice, but not a requirement.  As
> long as the counter is accessible via the keyboard, the standard has been
> met.  Does this mean someone may have to go in and out of forms mode a few
> times to keep checking the counter?  Probably, but that's life.  (My
opinion
> only).
>
> Don
>
>
> -----Original Message-----
> From: David Poehlman [mailto:poehlman1@comcast.net]
> Sent: Monday, December 29, 2003 11:08 AM
> To: section 508 discussion list
> Subject: [SEC508] Fw: 508 Form fields question
>
>
>
> ----- Original Message -----
> From: "Beheler Kim" <beheler_kim@bah.com>
> To: <w3c-wai-ig@w3.org>
> Sent: Monday, December 29, 2003 10:28 AM
> Subject: 508 Form fields question
>
>
>
> Hi everyone,
>
> I am new to the list serve so I'm sorry if this question has already
> been asked.  I have a textarea that the user can fill in.  As they add
> characters to the textarea, the number of characters the user can add is
> counted down in another textbox.  The form looks like below:
>
> Number of Characters Left: <input type="textbox">   Question: <textarea>
>
> My first question is does the textbox that counts down "number of
> characters left" need to have a label associated with it since the text
> cannot be modified by the user?  My second question is how do I make
> this compliant?  I understand that when a blind person enters text in
> the textarea they will not know that the textbox is changing.  Any
> feedback is greatly appreciated.
>
> Thanks in advance for your help,
>
> Kim
>
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Jonathan Avila
Access Technology Manager
Bartimaeus Group
jon@bartsite.com
www.bartsite.com
phone 703-442-5023
fax 703-734-8381

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Received on Monday, 29 December 2003 21:09:04 UTC