Re: Question about techniques for 3.3.2

Thanks for the responses everyone. I think you've all validated my
assumption that we don't require "required" fields to be identified
visually. But if they are identified through the visual presentation, then
that's a semantic that needs to be conveyed programmatically somehow.

Andi



                                                                                                                                   
  From:       Ben Caldwell <caldwell@trace.wisc.edu>                                                                               
                                                                                                                                   
  To:         Andi Snow-Weaver/Austin/IBM@IBMUS                                                                                    
                                                                                                                                   
  Cc:         WCAG <w3c-wai-gl@w3.org>                                                                                             
                                                                                                                                   
  Date:       01/07/2010 02:01 PM                                                                                                  
                                                                                                                                   
  Subject:    Re: Question about techniques for 3.3.2                                                                              
                                                                                                                                   
  Sent by:    w3c-wai-gl-request@w3.org                                                                                            
                                                                                                                                   





Hi Andi,

I think you're right that the assumption here was that fields that aren't
identified as required for everyone would fall into the usability category.

Note also that G83 has an "AND" relationship with G131 (provide descriptive
labels), which includes related examples and test procedure steps about
making the form component's purpose clear.

-Ben



On 01/07/2010 10:31 AM, Andi Snow-Weaver wrote:


      A member of my team has raised a question about the techniques for
      3.3.2.

      Specifically, in bullet 1, why is G83 allowed? This technique is
      saying that it's okay to have required form fields that are not
      identified until after the user has failed to enter any data. We have
      an HTML technique (H90) that includes an example of including text in
      the <label> element to indicate required fields. And we have a
      failure technique (F81) that says you can't use color only to
      indicate the required fields. But we apparently have nothing that
      requires required fields to be identified before the user tries to
      submit a form.

      Was this intentional or did we miss something? I guess you could
      rationalize that if the required fields are not identified at all,
      then it's not an accessibility issue. It's a usability issue for
      everyone. So maybe that's why we don't require it.

      Thanks,
      Andi