Re: form failure

On Wed, 26 Mar 2003, Donna m87 wrote:

> I am trying to teach myself how to construct accessible forms.  FAILURE.

Well, how can we judge that without a link to your forms?

> I have been wandering around w3.org like a mouse in a maze, losing 
> all sense of direction on this issue.

That could be taken as a comment about accessibility - and I
fancy you're not alone.

> I need suggestions and an example of a simple form that is 
> accessible, one that displays different types of form inputs like 
> menu, list, button, text etc.

I think you're approaching it the wrong way.  There's no magic
bullet that says Form A is accessible while Form B isn't.
The basic requirements are
 (1) users should be able to use the form's fields as intended, even
     if they don't have the usual equipment (eg a mouse).  This
     puts some restrictions on use of javascript in forms;
     bottom line is the UI should (also) work without it.
 (2) users should be able to identify each form field easily and
     navigate between them, even if your conventional form layout
     is lost.
 (3) The overall purpose and function should be clear.

> Comments on my efforts to date are appreciated, you can see where I 
> am going wrong here: <http://members.rogers.com/dm87>

Ugh.  What a ghastly report!  I'd say that's pretty inaccessible:
looks like you have to work hard just to figure out what in your
page it's talking about!

Can I recommend you to my own company's accessibility testing
product at <URL:http://valet.webthing.com/access/>.  If its reports
aren't a great deal more helpful than the one you posted, then
it's failing in its purpose.

-- 
Nick Kew

Received on Wednesday, 26 March 2003 13:35:30 UTC