RE: placeholder text in input controls

Hi All -- Reverting to the original post from Bart:
Bart wrote:
Now some sites start to use placeholder text instead of visible labels
next to the control. I don't see this technique in WCAG2.0. Do you
consider this sufficient to comply with success criterium 3.3.2 labels
or instructions?
Example:
<input title="What is your first name?" type="text" name="f"
placeholder="First name">
<input title="What is your last name?" type="text" name="l"
placeholder="Last name">

***When I tested the code with JAWS 10 on IE7 and Firefox 3.6, (using
different screen reader settings), the forms list utility displayed
the placeholder attribute. MAGic 11 gave the same result (Note: MAGic
does not detect the title attribute – only the label). My previous
post suggested that the form would be inaccessible when the settings
favor the label, but it is not the case—it is accessible. If possible,
could someone reconfirm this?***

John Foliot wrote:
(*In a related question(s), _should_ the placeholder value be exposed
to the AAPI? Would this end up being redundant information? Would the
user experience be improved or hindered if it were exposed? I'm not
sure at this time...)

***You make a good point. However, based on the results above, I have
a question: As the AT picks up the placeholder name and displays it
just as it would a label, isn’t the AAPI already exposing the
placeholder attribute?***

Thanks,
Devarshi

Received on Monday, 12 December 2011 16:59:28 UTC