RE: Semantic implications of tabindex="0"?

Carl wrote:

“As a consequence, JAWS will read "editable" for the following  <h1 tabindex="0">Some heading</h1>”

 

Just did some testing with JFW 15 & NVDA  2013 on Windows 7 using IE11, GC, FF: both JAWS and NVDA ‘activate’ a phantom forms mode (i.e., the corresponding sound is played), but only in IE. 

 

Neither screen reader announces ‘editable’ when the element receives focus in any of the browsers. 

 

Also, JAWS (not NVDA) only activates this phantom forms mode in IE11 when the tabindex=”0” is the first, not necessarily  focusable element on a page. 

 

Cheers, 

Adam

 

 

 

 

From: karlgroves@gmail.com [mailto:karlgroves@gmail.com] On Behalf Of Karl Groves
Sent: Wednesday, January 08, 2014 9:13 AM
To: Mike Elledge
Cc: w3c-wai-ig@w3.org
Subject: Re: Semantic implications of tabindex="0"?

 

Mike,

Natively tabbable items are a[href], area[href], button, input, object, select, and textarea. HTML5 adds menuitem.  IOW, things people can interact with.

Consequently, if focus arrives on something the assumption on the part of the user is likely to be "I can act on this.".   In fact when an element that is not focusable by default has a tabindex="0" (most elements that have no mapping), the element is mapped as 'editable text' in MSAA.  As a consequence, JAWS will read "editable" for the following  <h1 tabindex="0">Some heading</h1>

 

On Tue, Jan 7, 2014 at 4:27 PM, Mike Elledge <melledge@yahoo.com> wrote:

Hi All--

 

I have a question I hope you can answer. In reading about tabindex="0" it seems as if there are no limits to its application to non-focusable elements. I wonder, however, when it makes the most sense to use it. For example, are there assumptions that users will have based on the traditional targets of tabbing (i.e., form fields and links)?

 

Any thoughts on this?

 

Many thanks,

 

Mike Elledge




-- 

Karl Groves
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@karlgroves
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Phone: +1 410.541.6829