RE: 2.4.3 focus order and additional content

Keeping focus where it is and adding a description would be the simplest approach based on what you say, and that may be sufficient. But it sounds like you need some user testing to really get some insight into what the most appropriate solution would be.

 

If you do add a description, there isn’t a need to explain how to navigate backwards. That’s a basic command screen reader users will know and just adds excess verbosity.

 

Nick

 

From: Michael Livesey <mike.j.livesey@gmail.com> 
Sent: Tuesday, November 28, 2023 12:09 AM
To: Nick Bromley <nick@redkiteda.com>
Cc: WAI Interest Group discussion list <w3c-wai-ig@w3.org>
Subject: Re: 2.4.3 focus order and additional content

 

Hi Nick,

the new fields would be pre-defined, albeit the user wouldn't know the definition until they had added the first subsection as it could contain zero subforms/subsections. 

So assume you might have a form that has a "+" button that reads "add new action subform". A subform would then appear above to add an action - it might include a title various date fields an owner etc, textarea etc.

I had wondered about whether a fuller description on the button would suffice, e.g. this button will add a new subform immediately above, shift-tab to edit.

The complexity with switching focus is due to virtual DOM frameworks(React/Vue/Angular), it can sometimes be quite tricky to determine when all the subform fields and their children elements have actually rendered. Also, jumping focus could be a substantial change in scroll top due to the size of the subforms.





On Monday, November 27, 2023, Nick Bromley <nick@redkiteda.com <mailto:nick@redkiteda.com> > wrote:
> I’d also lean towards moving focus. The button label is priming users to expect new content to appear and it’s reasonable to assume they’ll want to interact with that new content straight away. But what form would the new section take? Is it predefined fields? Generic fields that the user must customise? That might affect how meaningful it will be for them to suddenly find themselves in an input field.
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> If you leave focus where it is, users may expect the new content to appear immediately after the button not before and so start navigating in the wrong direction. You could consider adding a screen reader only description to the button to clarify what will happen.
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> - - -
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> Nick Bromley
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> Director & Accessibility Consultant
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> Red Kite Digital Accessibility Ltd
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> From: Michael Livesey <mike.j.livesey@gmail.com <mailto:mike.j.livesey@gmail.com> >
> Sent: Friday, November 24, 2023 7:48 PM
> To: WAI Interest Group discussion list <w3c-wai-ig@w3.org <mailto:w3c-wai-ig@w3.org> >
> Subject: 2.4.3 focus order and additional content
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> Hi all,
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> We have been having a discussion about accordions where the user can add additional sections. e.g. see image fig 1. below. Suppose that clicking the add section button adds another section to the form directly under shipping. These sections can also be taller in height than the screen.
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> One member of the team thinks that it would be contrary to 2.4.3 to keep the focus on the button after clicking it because the user would have to reverse tab back into the added content.
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> Another member of the team thinks that to jump focus all the way back to the first field of the added section would be disorientating to the user.
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> Any suggestions would be most appreciated on whether either of the two options meet or contravene the criterion 2.4.3 would be most appreciated.
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> fig 1.
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> </mail/u/0/s/?view=att&th=18c0feee8a3252b8&attid=0.1&disp=emb&zw&atsh=1>