Re: why are we pursuing this idea? (was: Implementation Details request on Issue 204 Decision)

Benjamin Hawkes-Lewis, Tue, 21 Aug 2012 23:59:59 +0100:
> On Tue, Aug 21, 2012 at 11:50 PM, Leif Halvard Silli  wrote:

> Interestingly, James notes that users can access some @longdesc instances:
> 
> "you can already access longdesc for non-linked, non-clickable images
> with NVDA in Firefox if you press enter on the image. The presence of
> longdesc is not reported, however."
> 
> My guess is this is because opening the longdesc is exposed by Firefox
> as an action, and the enter just triggers whatever primary action is
> associated with the accessibility node in focus.

Heh! That was in fact cool to hear. So all NVDA is lacking is the 
announcement! Authors could in fact create polyfills for the 
announcement, e.g. via aria-label or aria-labelledby, so that user can 
use it.

>> * He also says that 'If we do implement this, it will only be as a
>> temporary solution because of the lack of support in current accessible
>> browsers'. This is a technical argument. But it sounds like a incorrect
>> technical argument. At least today - 2 years later - where we hear that
>> Firefox *does* support @longdesc, in the accessibility API - which I
>> assume that NVDA would use.
> 
> I think by support James means "discoverable to *all* users, not just
> users of assistive technology". So just having a hook in the
> accessibility API doesn't count.

Yes. But the world is not going to move if we are all waiting on each 
others.
-- 
Leif Halvard Silli

Received on Tuesday, 21 August 2012 23:17:56 UTC