AW: Inactive buttons, contrast and accessibility

Hello All,

> I think it isn’t a good practice to make the submit button inactive 
> when the user hasn’t filled in all fields.


Good or not, it is a kind of early validation. And if it is used on a page, it hast to be accessible.
This means two things:
1. The button is still in Tab order = disabled not hidden 
2. The reason for disabling has to be clear for ALL users.

Considerations:

Where, when and how is the validation error displayed?

Or - thought the other way around:

If the button is disabled from the start, how, when and in what way will be reported, that it is available now?

Think of an online order where there can be optional fields such as voucher number, gift packaging and note between the last mandatory field. 

Knowing that all required fields are filled out, a screenreader user could use the "Go to next button" command and would be at "OK" / "Order".

And when should something happen?

It happens exactly when the validation of all mandatory fields has been completed positively. 
It is impossible to predict where the focus will be at this point. 
Consequently, we need a live region that outputs innocuous text.

Such an innocuous text could read as follows: "You can now press Alt+Shift+N to go to the next page.". 


And what is the message at the beginning?
"Not all mandatory fields have been filled in correctly.".

This is simple, clear, easy to build and would even have added value for all users who are not otherwise dependent on accessibility and would therefore be the best of all forms of accessibility.

Ad Astra 

Yeti

Received on Wednesday, 24 April 2024 09:42:34 UTC