[techs] Action to test WCAG 1.0 10.2 - form labels

I had an action to report on the results of testing I did with form labels
some time ago, to help determine if we can deprecate WCAG 1.0 Checkpoint
10.2 (until <label> supported in user agents, position form controls
properly). The results of this testing are at
http://trace.wisc.edu/bugzilla_wcag/show_bug.cgi?id=273. I tested IE6,
Mozilla 1.2, Opera 7, Lynx 2.8, JAWS 4.5 on IE6, and WindowsEyes 4.2 on IE6.
All on the Windows OS unfortunately.

The conclusion I would draw is that the two screenreaders provide support
for the <label> element when used with the "for" attribute ("explicit"
<label>s). Part of my test file was a ridiculous test in which all the form
controls were at the top of the page and all the labels at the bottom, to
make sure no positioning heuristic was confounding the results - and the
screen readers still found them. One wouldn't expect the graphical browsers
or Lynx to provide any special support for finding the label (though the
three graphical browsers did provide the expected support of putting the
focus on the form control when the label is clicked). My feeling is that
this means it is now appropriate to deprecate Checkpoint 10.2.

Michael

--- Signature ---

Michael Cooper
Accessibility Product Manager, Watchfire
1 Hines Rd, Kanata, ON  K2K 3C7  Canada
Tel: +1 (613) 599-3888 x4019
Fax: +1 (613) 599-4661
Email: michaelc@watchfire.com
Web: http://www.watchfire.com/

Received on Friday, 27 February 2004 10:03:25 UTC