ARIA 1.1: Deprecate @aria-grabbed and @aria-dropeffect

In an effort to reduce the author complexity of ARIA, I'd like to propose the spec's first deprecations: @aria-grabbed and @aria-dropeffect.

The primary reason is that the API does not actually provide or even relate to real drag/drop behavior, so the attributes aren't beneficial to the author or end user. Even the best test cases I've seen do not provide any augmented behavior related to drag/drop; the examples act merely as a selection marker button. (E.g. Select this thing with a button; act on it with another button.) We already have a button role that is *much* easier to use.

Accessible drag & drop is a feature that may be better left to native implementations. It could potentially be solved by some future version of ARIA, but I do not believe @aria-grabbed and @aria-dropeffect do the job. It's a bad API that should be culled from the 1.1 spec.

In case there is any objection: I could be convinced to drop the call for deprecation if anyone can point to a single real-world web application (not a test case) that works well in any browser+screenreader combo. The example should use @aria-grabbed and @aria-dropeffect accurately in conjunction with native or scripted drag and drop behavior.

James

Received on Friday, 19 June 2015 09:43:10 UTC