RE: 2.4.3, 1.3.2

Tabindex is listed as one of the techniques in
http://www.w3.org/WAI/GL/wiki/Techniques/HTML5 for 2.4.3, focus order. Use
of tabindex in html5 is basically the same as in 4, except that it applies
to all elements. In the html4 techniques,
http://www.w3.org/WAI/GL/2011/WD-WCAG20-TECHS-20110621/H4 uses specifically
set tabindex values as a means of fulfilling SC 2.4.3. In the understanding
document for 2.4.3, it states that care must be taken to make sure the focus
order matches the programmatically determined reading order. As a result,
all the examples in H4 are fairly harmless. In other words, it seems that in
all of the examples, there is no necessity to add tabindex values to change
the focus order, rather a slight preference by the author to do so. The
reason for this is that inherently, where there is a necessity to add
tabindex values to straighten out the tab order, we must assume that the
programmatically determined reading order is incorrect, otherwise it
wouldn't be necessary to add those values in the first place. The point of
all this is that in all the examples even if the author did not choose to
add tabindex values, the page would still fulfill 2.4.3. I can't think of a
case where adding tabindex is actually fulfilling 2.4.3, except in a case
where only sighted users were viewing the page and the only thing that
counted was the tab order, and not the programmatically determined reading
order. Is H4 really a sufficient technique for 2.4.3?

 

From: Loretta Guarino Reid [mailto:lorettaguarino@google.com] 
Sent: Tuesday, August 02, 2011 4:43 PM
To: adam solomon
Cc: WCAG
Subject: Re: 2.4.3, 1.3.2

 

Andrew should weigh in on this, but I believe this is the way things work in
Flash, that tabindex can be used to control the reading order of all the
content, not just interactive content.

Using tabindex in HTML is not a sufficient technique for 1.3.2.

On Tue, Aug 2, 2011 at 2:03 AM, adam solomon <adam.solomon2@gmail.com>
wrote:

We have Using tabindex in flash
<http://www.w3.org/TR/2010/NOTE-WCAG20-TECHS-20101014/FLASH37>  as a
sufficient technique in 2.4.3 and 1.3.2. 1.3.2 stipulates meaningful
sequence to be programmatically determined. Can someone explain how tabindex
facilitates this? Tabindex will never fix a bad sequence for screen readers,
so how can it satisfy 1.3.2?