[Bug 8717] Usability and Element-level-focus-apis

http://www.w3.org/Bugs/Public/show_bug.cgi?id=8717


Joshue O Connor <joshue.oconnor@cfit.ie> changed:

           What    |Removed                     |Added
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                 CC|                            |joshue.oconnor@cfit.ie




--- Comment #2 from Joshue O Connor <joshue.oconnor@cfit.ie>  2010-02-09 10:56:43 ---
Thanks to Gez for the following example:

There can be usability issues using the JavaScript blur method. Some designers
don't like the dotted rectangle that some browsers place around the
link that currently has focus (either from tabbing to the link, or
clicking through a link and then pressing the back button).

This dotted rectangle is an aid for keyboard only users to
give some kind of visual indication that an element has focus, but
some designers only focus on the mode they're familiar with; using the
mouse to navigate, and rarely think about keyboard only users. Some of
these designers use the blur technique to remove focus so that the
dotted line is removed so as not to ruin their design with
something like:

<a href="..." onfocus="this.blur()">...</a>

The problem with this is that this method effectively renders the page useless
for keyboard users, as it's impossible to navigate to or go past that
link using the keyboard, as the blur method deliberately removes focus
from the element. That could be a typical example that a user agent
would ignore for usability, as this kind of behaviour is not beneficial.


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Received on Tuesday, 9 February 2010 10:56:44 UTC