Easy Checks - A First Review of Web Accessibility

Recommendation:


I think inclusion of AJAX driven and non-AJAX form could be included in the article since many sites these days rely heavily on AJAX.


Error handling:

When human error occurs, such as mandatory information not provided or format mismatch, it is a must to inform users what went wrong and what is expected. The presentation has to be simple and clean and easily visible. There are different ways to do that such as:


Alert messages using message box: Browser default alert message box always appears at the center of the screen so it is a good way to present the error message since we don't have to worry about its position.


On-screen message: This is a bit tricky. In old days or pages which reloads, the messages should appear at the top if the <form> element, because when page loads it loads from top and renders as a fresh request. But in case of AJAX driven form, where page does not post back, we should not display error messages at the top since the page will not lose its visual state. Rather we have to display the error close to where the user currently is so that it is visible immediately without the need to scroll up or down. For this displaying them close to the Submit button is a good choice. In AJAX driven forms, there could be in-line validation checks as well e.g. as an email address is entered and user pressed tab to move to the next control, system checks the availability of the email address. If a message is required to be displayed a good practice to display it close to the input box, and inside the marked up label.


For a non AJAX form, it is recommended to have all fields keep the values already entered, that is pre populated even after the form submits and gets back with errors. People do not want to re-enter all the values over and again. For AJAX driven forms, it is not an issue since the page does not get refreshed and retains its states even after error handling.



---------------------------------------------------------------------------
Regards,
Subrata Sarkar
Emfluence

+12025069125, +12025563514
Alternate email: niladri.sirkar@gmail.com


*** Save tree! Save nature!! Save our Planet!!!