RE: ACTION-1442: Draft spec text for aria-current and aria-currentfor

+1

This is nice and as clear as you can get it.  The discussion on
aria-selected is good. I am not sure authors will understand the subtle
differences between selected and current, but you explain it well.

                                                                     
                                                                     
                       Regards,                         Fred         
                                                                     
                       Fred Esch                                     
           Accessibility, Watson Innovations                         
    AARB Complex Visualization Working Group Chair                   
                   IBM Watson Group                                  
                                                                     
                                                                     






From:	Matthew King/Fishkill/IBM@IBMUS
To:	public-pfwg@w3.org
Date:	11/19/2014 12:36 AM
Subject:	RE: ACTION-1442: Draft spec text for aria-current and
            aria-currentfor



Below is revised draft text I propose based on the draft in Léonie 's last
message on the topic.

Revisions:
1. Clarified that false and undefined can, but do not necessarily,  have
the same meaning.
2. Added that AT, in addition to UAs, AT should not convey the false or
undefined state.
3. Made examples more precise in an attempt to help the first-time reader
more easily understand the primary purpose.
4. Expanded notes to clarify similarities and differences with
aria-selected.

In the following text, phrases in square brackets are intended to be links.


Aria-current attribute

Indicates an element represents the current item within a container or set
of related elements.

The aria-current attribute indicates whether an element represents what is
current (true), or not current (false).  If the aria-current attribute is
false or undefined, the aria-current state of an element SHOULD not be
conveyed by User Agents or assistive technologies.

The aria-current attribute is used when one of the elements in a set of
related elements has a visual style different from other members in the set
to indicate that the element identifies what is current. For example, it
can be used to indicate which [link] in a set of [navigation] links is
visually styled to indicate that it is the link for the currently displayed
page. Similarly, it can be used to indicate which step in a [list] of
wizard steps is visually styled to inform the user that the currently
displayed wizard content is for that step.

Note:
When applied to an element contained in a widget that supports selection,
the meaning of aria-current is different from the meaning of
[aria-selected]. Authors should not use aria-current in lieu of
aria-selected and should avoid using aria-current in circumstances where
the meaning of aria-current would be the same as aria-selected. For
example, in a single-select [tablist] where the selected [tab] element
corresponds to the displayed tabpanel, aria-current is unnecessary.
However, if the selected state of a tab is used to indicate which tab is
selected for an action, such as move, delete, or make current, then
aria-current should be used to indicate which tab represents the currently
displayed tabpanel. Examples that further explain how to use aria-current
and aria-selected are available in the [WAI-ARIA Authoring Practices].

Characteristics of aria-current

Used in roles: All elements of the base markup.

Value: true/false/undefined

Values of aria-current

true: The element is current.
false: The element is not current
undefined: The element is either not current or can not be made current.

Matt King
IBM Senior Technical Staff Member
I/T Chief Accessibility Strategist
IBM BT/CIO - Global Workforce and Web Process Enablement
Phone: (503) 578-2329, Tie line: 731-7398
mattking@us.ibm.com