Re: [Spam] Re: Success Criterion 2.4.7. Focus Order

Hi Mag,

Thanks for that, it is interesting,  Jaws 7 does announce hidden anchors, but I have done a bit of research (http://juicystudio.com/article/screen-readers-display-none.php) and you are right. It seems that display:none is not reliable with some screen readers. I need to do some thinking about this because it is not only blind users who need to use the skip links anchor. It needs to be available to anyone who does not have access to a mouse. 

I also use display:none for headings of lists (e.g navigation menus) in the belief that all screen readers will read the heading. Headings for navigation menus is a WAI requirement.

Richard
  ----- Original Message ----- 
  From: Mag Leahy 
  To: richarduserite 
  Cc: Ramón Corominas ; WAI Interest Group 
  Sent: Thursday, April 30, 2009 12:23 PM
  Subject: [Spam] Re: Success Criterion 2.4.7. Focus Order


  Hello all, 

  Please note, do not use display:none as it will not be available to screen reader users. 
  Use negative positioning e.g. 

  .removed {
      left:-900000px; /* accessible display:none - read by screenreaders */
      position:absolute !important;
      width:1px;
      font-size:1px;
  }

  Note this assumes it will never be visually on the page when css is on hence the width and font-size.

  Cheers, 
  Mag



  On Thu, Apr 30, 2009 at 12:13 PM, richarduserite <richard@userite.com> wrote:

    Hi,

    By hiding the link using CSS hides it from visual users, but not from
    assistive software such as screen readers. Thus the link is still accessible
    for blind people. However a sighted user who uses the keyboard (there are
    many) will not see the link and be forced to tab through all your navigation
    links in order to reach your content. Ideally, therefore, the "Skip to
    content" link should be visible so that sighted keyboard users can make use
    of it as well as blind users.

    If you need to use CSS to hide the link from mouse users the easiest
    solution is to use the CSS pseudoclass a:active to make the link text
    visible when it is focused by the keyboard user. Note that positioning the
    link off the page as you suggest is not the best way to hide such a link.
    Some visual browsers do not accept negative dimensions and therefore can
    distort your page layout. It is much safer to use CSS to hide an element
    (display:none), perhaps create a class to do this

    .skip a:link {display: none ; }
    .skip a:active { display:block ; }

    then you link would be
    <a href="#content" class="skip" tabindex="1" >Skip to content</a>

    Also note that you do not need to use the tabindex attribute. In fact it is
    better if you avoid tabindex altogether (it takes control away from the
    user).

    Best wishes
    Richard


    ----- Original Message -----
    From: "Ramón Corominas" <listas@ramoncorominas.com>
    To: "WAI Interest Group" <w3c-wai-ig@w3.org>
    Sent: Wednesday, April 29, 2009 3:38 PM
    Subject: Success Criterion 2.4.7. Focus Order


    > Hi, all.
    >
    > I'm reading the Understanding SC 2.4.7 about Focus Order, and I'm in
    > doubt about what is the meaning of "having a mode of operation that...".
    >
    > For instance, if I have a hidden "skip to contents" link (via css
    > off-left), when a user tabs to this link the focus will not be visible;
    > but if the user disables CSS, in this "mode" the link will be visible
    > and also the focus. My question is: would this be considered valid?
    > Should we show all the links to comply with this criterion? Are
    > css-hidden links forbidden?
    >
    > Thanks in advance,
    > Ramón.
    >
    >
    >







  -- 
  Mag