ARIA authoring practice: 4.1.1 aria-labelledby

WG,

Refer to WAI-ARIA authoring practices
http://www.w3.org/TR/2010/WD-wai-aria-practices-20100916/
It should be noted that (X)HTML provides a < label for> element which you can use to label form controls. For all visual objects, including (X)HTML form elements, you should use the WAI-ARIA  aria-labelledby property for labeling.
Comment:
The second statement above suggests that one “should” use the aria-labelledby for (X)HTML form controls too instead of the ‘LABEL for’? If the HTMl LABEL is sufficient and works with browsers and AT old and new, why should one switch to aria-labelledby if there is a one to one relationship?  
Maybe it should clarify that it is useful for html form elements when multiple labels need to be associated because the labelledby attribute can have multiple ids.

Example:
<table border="1">
<tr><th>Question</th><th id="yes">Yes</th><th id="no">No</th><th id="dnk">Do not know</th></tr>
<tr><th id="q1">Are there enough bond fund choices in your 401k?</th>
<td><input type="radio" aria-labelledby="q1 yes" name="q1ans" />
<td><input type="radio" aria-labelledby="q1 no" name="q1ans" />
<td><input type="radio" aria-labelledby="q1 dnk" name="q1ans" />
</tr>
<tr><th id="q2">Are there enough index fund choices in your 401k?</th>
<td><input type="radio" aria-labelledby="q2 yes" name="q2ans" />
<td><input type="radio" aria-labelledby="q2 no" name="q2ans" />
<td><input type="radio" aria-labelledby="q2 dnk" name="q2ans" />
</tr>
</table>

Thanks,
Sailesh Panchang
Accessibility Services Lead
www.deque.com

Received on Thursday, 21 October 2010 17:54:01 UTC