Re: [webwatch] Web Pages That Set Focus

7At 01:59 PM 2001-02-19 -0500, Kelly Ford wrote:
>Hi All,
>
[snip]
>
>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.
>

[Al, here.]

Yes, I think there is some theory that would suggest it could be a benefit. 
And perhaps some theory for why, as it works now, it's not so hot.  May I
speculate about how it should work so as to make it a clear win?

Moving you to start at the author-suggested point in the page could maybe be a
benefit.  It would sure help if they just told you what they had done.  A
simple advisory might do the trick, such as "Starting at the headline in the
main frame."  Replace the phrase "the headline in the main frame" with a
description of wherever you are starting, in the terms you would use giving an
introductory overview of the page.  Then you could move to the head of the
page
or maybe review a page summary if you feel you need to.

The problem with the pages that set focus to some internal element is not that
you aren't likely to find the interior starting point to be close to the thing
that you actually want to do.  But it breaks an assumption that up til now you
have been able to make and which helps to orient you to where you are in the
page.  If you start at the start, that is the default and nothing need be
said.  But if you are starting somewhere other than the default, something
needs to be said about it.

How to identify the reference points to use in this advisory are not well
defined by the web page technology of today.  This is a recognized problem.

[long URL warning]

<<http://lists.w3.org/Archives/Public/wai-tech-comments/2000Oct/0001.html>h
ttp://lists.w3.org/Archives/Public/wai-tech-comments/2000Oct/0001.html>

But it sounds as though we also need to understand the role of screen reader
modes in making this work.  If you have to set the screen reader to a
particular mode to get this to work right, then there could be a
machine-interpretable flag that advises what mode to use on this page.  Of
course the actual mode change should not just happen, but should be
accepted or
rejected by the user based on a quick orientation to why this change is being
offered.  But then if the user says OK it could go automatically through the
mode change and pick up browsing with the focused item.

Al

>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 14:10:23 UTC