Re: [TECHS] Review of Test #63 - propose rejecting this test

Becky_Gibson@notesdev.ibm.com wrote:
> 
> As part of the Techniques Task force I have reviewed Test #63: *input 
> element, type of "text", must have default text.* [1]
> 
> I propose rejecting this test since default text is no longer necessary 
> for accessibility of input elements of type text. As long as the input 
> element is associated with a label there should be no user agent issues. 
>   In fact, the HTML technique for this, *Place-holding characters in 
> empty controls [2]* has been marked as deprecated.  Since all common 
> user agents correctly handle input elements with no default value, this 
> technique is not required for WCAG conformance.  
> 

I agree. For reference, back in May 2003, we made the following 
decisions regarding place-holding characters for input elements:

<blockquote 
cite="http://lists.w3.org/Archives/Public/w3c-wai-gl/2003AprJun/0215.html">

1. It is no longer necessary to provide default text for form controls,
since user agents now support form controls regardless of their 
placeholder text. WCAG 2.0 will not have a requirement for this.

2. Since this guideline is no longer relevant and fulfilling it is 
sometimes problematic for Web pages that otherwise conform to WCAG 1.0, 
it is desirable to remove it from WCAG 1.0. We will therefore issue an 
erratum to WCAG 1.0.

</ blockquote>

Received on Monday, 14 February 2005 19:00:08 UTC