[webwatch] Web Pages That Set Focus

Hi All,

I'd be interested in people's thoughts on web pages that attempt to set
the focus on a particular part of the page.  For example if you visit
<<http://www.m-w.com/>http://www.m-w.com> the page tries to place focus in the
edit box to type
in a word to look up.

Because both JAWS and Window-Eyes are tuned to load web pages in the
Virtual PC and MSAA modes respectively, this means that when the page
loads, reading starts at the edit box and continues from there.

Now suppose you have a web page that is mostly instructions with just a
single button to move on once the instructions have been read.  It might
be common for the web designer to set the focus on this button.  In many
cases this would mean the screen reader would try and jump immediately to
that button.

If the user is skilled with a screen reader, none of this is a big deal.
But for the person who doesn't know this is one of the quirks of access
technology it is an issue.

So what do people think?  Is setting the focus bad web design,
inaccessible web design or something that access technology should be
better at handling?

In theory setting the focus might be viewed as a help because the web
designer is trying to get you past the clutter.  Turning off the Virtual
PC or MSAA mode in JAWS and Window-Eyes and the
<<http://www.m-w.com/>http://www.m-w.com> jumps
directly to the edit box, speaks just the prompt and functions
beautifully.

I'd also be interested in hearing from people who use screen enlargement
on this issue.


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Received on Tuesday, 20 February 2001 14:09:39 UTC