RE: Should we require labels to be always visible?

I think Gregg:

  *   is right to make the warning about the need to only consider things that “disproportionately affect People with disabilities”;
  *   and also completely correct in identifying that this will be a disproportionate problem for many people with cognitive, language and learning disabilities.

This is probably not the only example where what might conventionally be viewed as a usability issue (i.e. something that aids or hinders use for all users) becomes an accessibility issue for many people with cognitive, language and learning disabilities as it will create a barrier to use that they are unable to overcome i.e. they may be totally unable to understand what is happening or they may be sufficiently confused to cause them to abandon what they are trying to do.

Isolating all of the issues that fall into this category and knowing where to draw the line has been the task of the COGA TF and is now the task for everyone to understand and hopefully, in most cases such as this, agree.

Mike

From: Gregg C Vanderheiden [mailto:greggvan@umd.edu]
Sent: 06 January 2017 21:24
To: Katie Haritos-Shea <ryladog@gmail.com>
Cc: Shawn Lauriat <lauriat@google.com>; David MacDonald <david100@sympatico.ca>; Joshue O Connor <josh@interaccess.ie>; lisa.seeman <lisa.seeman@zoho.com>; Detlev Fischer <detlev.fischer@testkreis.de>; GLWAI Guidelines WG org <w3c-wai-gl@w3.org>
Subject: Re: Should we require labels to be always visible?

Good comments


remember that WCAG is only about problems that disproportionately affect People with disabilities.   If this is a problem for all users— it falls outside of WCAG.


In this case — I think it is pretty easy to make a case that for cognitive, language, and learning disabilities — having the cues for what a field means disappear is a disproportionate problem.  But be sure to make the case this way.


g



Gregg C Vanderheiden
greggvan@umd.edu<mailto:greggvan@umd.edu>



On Jan 6, 2017, at 12:17 PM, Katie Haritos-Shea GMAIL <ryladog@gmail.com<mailto:ryladog@gmail.com>> wrote:

+1 Shawn!

​​​​​* katie *

Katie Haritos-Shea
Principal ICT Accessibility Architect (WCAG/Section 508/ADA/AODA)

Cell: 703-371-5545 | ryladog@gmail.com<mailto:ryladog@gmail.com> | Oakton, VA | LinkedIn Profile<http://www.linkedin.com/in/katieharitosshea/> | Office: 703-371-5545 | @ryladog<https://twitter.com/Ryladog>

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From: Shawn Lauriat [mailto:lauriat@google.com]
Sent: Friday, January 6, 2017 11:46 AM
To: David MacDonald <david100@sympatico.ca<mailto:david100@sympatico.ca>>
Cc: josh@interaccess.ie<mailto:josh@interaccess.ie>; lisa.seeman <lisa.seeman@zoho.com<mailto:lisa.seeman@zoho.com>>; Detlev Fischer <detlev.fischer@testkreis.de<mailto:detlev.fischer@testkreis.de>>; WCAG <w3c-wai-gl@w3.org<mailto:w3c-wai-gl@w3.org>>
Subject: Re: Re[2]: Should we require labels to be always visible?

As my two cents, I would say always required, and beyond helping around cognitive and low-vision, to situational impairments:

  *   If the browser helpfully fills in all fields, with duplicate entries in four of them, you have no way of knowing what data really belongs in which field.
  *   If you start to fill out a form and then the phone rings, diverting your attention for an extended period, you won't remember the fields. Even if you just have focus in the field, the placeholder falls off.
Beyond that, using placeholder as a label goes against HTML spec<https://www.w3.org/TR/2011/WD-html5-20110525/common-input-element-attributes.html#the-placeholder-attribute>. I know everyone does it these days, so I always say that the label should move from inside/over the input to above or next to it, so it remains visible.

Limited space comes down to a design challenge, not a reason to forgo a visible label.

-Shawn

On Fri, Jan 6, 2017 at 11:26 AM, David MacDonald <david100@sympatico.ca<mailto:david100@sympatico.ca>> wrote:
I would say it's already a best practice...

Lisa, are those with cognitive disabilities likely to loose track of what the field label is, if it disappears after they click on it? Is that a common complaint out in the wild about placeholder text for labels?

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On Fri, Jan 6, 2017 at 11:15 AM, josh@interaccess.ie<mailto:josh@interaccess.ie> <josh@interaccess.ie<mailto:josh@interaccess.ie>> wrote:
<chair hat off>

 >Would it help the cognitive community if the label is always visible.

I like the demo David :-)

I couldn't see my clients wearing having to do that. On mobile, there are times when screen real estate is so sparse that at best you get an icon and placeholder text.

I just  don't think that would fly as a MUST, as best practice maybe. As long as it fits into the look and feel guidelines etc.

My 2 cents

Josh



------ Original Message ------
From: "Detlev Fischer" <detlev.fischer@testkreis.de<mailto:detlev.fischer@testkreis.de>>
To: w3c-wai-gl@w3.org<mailto:w3c-wai-gl@w3.org>; david100@sympatico.ca<mailto:david100@sympatico.ca>
Sent: 06/01/2017 16:03:31
Subject: Re: Should we require labels to be always visible?
That's one way of doing it, but there will be others. So the requirement might be EITHER have external visible label OR if using placeholder, show label next to field after focussing field.
Note that some implementations keep the placeholder text visible even after focussing (mostly grey text) until you start typing, which I personally find confusing. Not sure whether some SC (COGA?) or technique addresses this yet.

David MacDonald schrieb am 06.01.2017 16:51:

 Most of the sites I evaluate these days seem to have placeholder text for labels. An aria-label helps, but the label still disappears on focus or on clicking into the field.


 Would it help the cognitive community if the label is always visible. So for placeholder labels, should we require that the label appears near the field when the user clicks or tabs to the field? Like this?


 http://davidmacd.com/widgets/floating-label/floating-placeholder1.html <http://davidmacd.com/widgets/floating-label/floating-placeholder1.html>


 Cheers,
 David MacDonald



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