Re: Clarify G167

On Mon, Dec 8, 2008 at 7:03 AM, Sailesh Panchang
<sailesh.panchang@deque.com> wrote:
>
> G167: Using an adjacent button to label the purpose of a field
> G167 is documented as a sufficient technique for SC3.3.2  - Labels or
> Instructions.
> As I understand this technique, it is alright for a text input field, (say
> for search-phrase), not to have a label or title  to explicitly identify the
> purpose of the field so long as the search button placed after it is
> properly labeled.   Is this interpretation correct?
> So a screen reader user is expected to tab to next control, exercise
> judgment to determine if the label associated  with that control can be
> related to the earlier control?
> The note  that requires compliance with 4.1.2 is not clear. Perhaps an HTML
> example might help.
> Thanks,
> Sailesh Panchang
> Accessibility Services Manager (Web and Software)
> Deque Systems Inc. (www.deque.com)
> 11130 Sunrise Valley Drive, Suite #140,
> Reston VA 20191
> Phone: 703-225-0380 (ext 105)
> E-mail: sailesh.panchang@deque.com
>

You are correct regarding the screen reader's experience if only
Success Criterion 3.3.2 is considered. However, both Success Criteria
3.3.2 and 4.1.2 are required for Level A conformance. This means that,
with a Level A conforming web page, the screen reader user will have
the input control's label information available when the control
attains focus (as required by Success Criterion 4.1.2).

In your example, a field without an HTML LABEL element or title
attribute followed by a button that identifies the purpose of the
field would meet SC 3.3.2. However, it would not meet SC 4.1.2 because
screen reader users would not be able to programmatically determine
the name of the field.

We have added the following note to the technique:

Note 2: In WCAG 2.0, the term label is not limited to the label
element in HTML. Refer to the [definition of label] for more
information.

We have also added the following sentence to example 1 to help clarify this:

"In this example, the button acts as a visual label for the input
field. Note that the field is also required to have a programatically
determinable name per 4.1.2, which may be different than the visible
label."

Received on Friday, 27 February 2009 22:22:39 UTC