ARIA BPG Issue: we should not be decreeing complex keyboard interactions

Other than the most basic navigation controls, I don't agree with a  
lot of the mouse and keyboard interaction specified in the ARIA BPG.  
Many of the complex interactions specified (type ahead, Ctrl+Shift 
+F10, Ctrl+Spacebar, Shift+PageDown, etc.) seem to me to be best left  
for the AT vendors to decide how to implement and use to differentiate  
themselves.

This is exactly the reason properties like expanded and  
activedescendant should be expected to be writable by the AT. If a  
screen reader uses a particular key command to controls a widget in a  
desktop application, it should be able to use that same key command to  
control that type of widget in a web application. The interaction  
models in every screen reader are different, and I believe that  
decreeing browser and AT interaction design will stifle innovation.

James

Received on Wednesday, 3 September 2008 19:13:20 UTC