Re: Please clarify ARIA definition of "grid" role

Maciej,

That's fair. I have opened issue 421 to address this change with your
suggested text. http://www.w3.org/WAI/PF/Group/track/issues/421

Thank you,
Rich

Rich Schwerdtfeger
CTO Accessibility Software Group



From:	Maciej Stachowiak <mjs@apple.com>
To:	Richard Schwerdtfeger/Austin/IBM@IBMUS
Cc:	public-pfwg-comments@w3.org,
            public-pfwg-comments-request@w3.org, Steve Faulkner
            <sfaulkner@paciellogroup.com>
Date:	08/28/2010 08:45 PM
Subject:	Re: Please clarify ARIA definition of "grid" role




On Aug 26, 2010, at 7:51 PM, Richard Schwerdtfeger wrote:

> Tables do NOT allow users to move focus between cells using two
dimensional navigation.
>
My reading of that sentence was that it was a statement of fact about what
would happen if you apply the grid role (that the assistive technology
would provide two-dimentional navigation), not a limitation on when it may
be applied. Since multiple people misunderstood this definition on first
reading, I think a clarification would still be helpful, even if you think
it is not strictly necessary. For example:

"A grid is an interactive control which contains cells of tabular data
arranged in rows and columns, like a table."

I think that simple change to ARIA would have prevented all confusion.

Regards,
Maciej

>
>
> Rich Schwerdtfeger
> CTO Accessibility Software Group
>
> <graycol.gif>Maciej Stachowiak ---08/26/2010 05:03:10 AM---ARIA has the
following definition of the "grid" role: ------------
>
> From:		 Maciej Stachowiak <mjs@apple.com>
> To:		 public-pfwg-comments@w3.org
> Cc:		 Steve Faulkner <sfaulkner@paciellogroup.com>
> Date:		 08/26/2010 05:03 AM
> Subject:		 Please clarify ARIA definition of "grid" role
> Sent by:		 public-pfwg-comments-request@w3.org
>
>
>
>
> ARIA has the following definition of the "grid" role:
>
> ------------
> <http://www.w3.org/TR/wai-aria/roles#grid>
> A grid contains cells of tabular data arranged in rows and columns, like
a table.
>
> Grids do not necessarily imply presentation. The grid construct describes
relationships between data such that it may be used for different
presentations. Grids allow the user to move focus between cells using two
dimensional navigation. For example, grid might be used as the invisible
data model (hidden with CSS but still operable by assistive technologies)
for a presentational chart.
> ------------
>
> This seems like an exact match for the HTML <table> element, which
contains cells of tabular data arranged in rows and columns, like a table.
According to Steve Faulkner, however, this role is only supposed to be used
for *interactive* presentations of tabular data arranged in rows and
columns. Please update the ARIA draft to make this clear. Or, if the grid
role is in fact supposed to be applicable even to non-interactive
presentations of tabular data, please reply with this information ASAP,
since it is relevant to the ARIA role mapping in the HTML5 spec.
>
> Regards,
> Maciej
>
>
>