Re: aria-expanded, is escape key enough?

Hi Bryan, 
I think it is very common knowledge that the Escape key closes a dialog, pop-up menu, or pop-up listbox. 

What we do for our simulations for learning is provide a general “Keyboard Shortcuts” dialog that is available to everyone. This makes sure that learners who need the information know where to find it, and also helps learners curious about keyboard navigation learn the basics.

For us, the “Keyboard Shortcuts” dialog contains both simulation-specific actions and a short list of “Basic Actions”. The button for the dialog is in the same place for each simulation.

Here’s a link to 12 simulations with alternative input https://phet.colorado.edu/en/simulations/filter?type=html&a11yFeatures=alternative-input&sort=alpha&view=list

And other features, too.

You find the button to the Keyboard Shortcuts dialog in the bottom navbar, described as “Sim Resources” section if using a screen reader.

I hope that is a helpful example of one way to address the issue.

Taliesin Smith
~.~.~.~.~
Inclusive Design Researcher
PhET Interactive Simulations 
University of Colorado Boulder


Sent from my iPhone

> On Sep 4, 2021, at 19:27, bryan rasmussen <rasmussen.bryan@gmail.com> wrote:
> 
> Hey,
> 
> So I have an expanded menu, and if a user clicks an escape key it will
> close the menu. Unfortunately I don't have a really great place to put
> the information that the escape key will close the menu because the
> menu is quite verbose, adding more info just seems like it will be
> overkill - is this expected behavior or will people not realize that
> the escape key will close the menu - will they at least hope and
> expect it does?  Should I provide a button inside the expanded area to
> close the expanded area so that you can navigate through the menu and
> then get the message that you can close the menu with the button?
> 
> Thanks,
> Bryan Rasmussen
>