BlogmyQuery – BMQ

In a response to the Working Group Decision on ISSUE-31 / ISSUE-80 validation survey to make images that have no alt attribute conforming (what we normally call “validâ€�) in HTML5 if they have a title attribute, Steve Faulkner posted a message about device independent title attribute support in browsers.

In his message Steve asks browser vendors if they have any plans on improving their handling of the title attribute to make it more accessible. He raises several issues:

• Keyboard-only users need to be made aware that an element has a title attribute.
• Keyboard-only users need a way of accessing the content of title attributes.
• The display of the title attribute needs to be configurable so that it stays within the viewport for screen magnifier users.
• Users of mobile and touch-screen devices need to be able to access the title attribute.

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Posted in Accessibility, Browsers, Usability.

When creating functionality that depends on JavaScript, many use a simple link (a element) to create a trigger for the function – you click it and something happens.

That may be ok, though often it would be more appropriate to use <button type="button">Do something</button> or <input type="button" value="Do something" />.

What is not ok is inserting an a element without giving it a non-empty href attribute, i.e. <a href="#">Do something</a>. Without a non-empty href attribute, the “linkâ€� will not be focusable and cannot be activated from a keyboard.

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Posted in Accessibility, JavaScript, Quick Tips.

In a recent project I was working on a script interacting with an image map consisting of irregular areas and needed to find the center of each of these areas.

I couldn’t find a function to do that so I wrote my own. It’s pretty simple, but in case anyone else needs this I thought I’d share.

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Posted in JavaScript.

I feel like a broken record (you know, the really old ones made of vinyl) repeating myself over and over about keyboard accessibility, but unfortunately things don’t really seem like they’re getting better. There are so many places on the Web that are annoying, difficult or plain impossible to use without a mouse. And it really shouldn’t be that way.

So please, when you build websites or web apps, or when you showcase a CSS, HTML or JavaScript technique (especially when you showcase a CSS, HTML or JavaScript technique), keep the following in mind:

• Tabbing order
• Visual feedback
• No keyboard traps
• Keyboard operability

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Posted in Accessibility.

Since posting HTML5 sectioning elements, headings, and document outlines I’ve received a fair amount of feedback about my reasoning.

None of the feedback I got has made me change my mind about how to use the sectioning elements in HTML5. So going forward, these are my conclusions.

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Posted in Accessibility, HTML 5.