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Introduction to WAI ARIA
The elephant in the corner of modern web development has been Ajax accessibility.The W3C has been working on a new technology called ARIA - Accessible Rich Internet Applications - that provides a way for "Web 2.0" developers to bridge the gap between desktop-like interaction and accessibility.
When I was reading up on ARIA, I found that I couldn't see the big picture because the specifications focus on the detail. So we asked Gez Lemon of The Paciello Group, Juicy Studio and the Web Standards Project's Accessibility Task Force to write us an overview that would help developers understand what ARIA is, why it's important, and how they can use it right now to help users with disabilities.
( Read the article )
Editor's note: there is also a discussion of this article on the Accessify forum http://www.accessifyforum.com/viewtopic.php?p=61544
Great article, Gez. It has your usual great flow and is a nice easy read.
Do you have any information regarding planned browser support for CSS3's nav-index property (http://www.w3.org/TR/css3-ui/#nav-index) and conflict resolution with ARIA's (or even HTML4.01's) use of tabindex?
One of the great things that will come from controlling keyboard navigation order in the CSS is that it allows authors to provide different visual presentations of content (through alternate style sheets) and implement a navigation order to suit.
An illogical tab order can result if visual presentation order is changed without a corresponding change in keyboard navigation order. In fact, this can occur by simply turning off the author's style sheet in situations where the style sheet determines the visual order and the source code determines the navigation order.
P.S. I could not get any of the formatting functions to work, hence the lack of clickable link and monospaced font for code items... and *irked* smiley
Do you have any information regarding planned browser support for CSS3's nav-index property (http://www.w3.org/TR/css3-ui/#nav-index) and conflict resolution with ARIA's (or even HTML4.01's) use of tabindex?
One of the great things that will come from controlling keyboard navigation order in the CSS is that it allows authors to provide different visual presentations of content (through alternate style sheets) and implement a navigation order to suit.
An illogical tab order can result if visual presentation order is changed without a corresponding change in keyboard navigation order. In fact, this can occur by simply turning off the author's style sheet in situations where the style sheet determines the visual order and the source code determines the navigation order.
P.S. I could not get any of the formatting functions to work, hence the lack of clickable link and monospaced font for code items... and *irked* smiley
10. August 2008, 18:20:15 (edited)
Thank you for all for the kind comments.
It's a great question, Sofia, but unfortunately, I don't have any any information regarding planned browser support for CSS3's nav-index property and conflict resolution with ARIA's use of tabindex.
From an ARIA perspective, negative tabindex attribute values, or a value of zero are the most useful. A negative tabindex attribute value allows elements to be programmatically focusable without including the element in the browser's natural tab order. That has obvious advantages in that it's easier for users to tab over items such as tree views and menus that might have loads of focusable child elements, and allow users to navigate quickly through the widget using cursor keys. As the elements are not in the natural tab order, there is no conflict resolution. Similarly, a tabindex attribute value of zero just makes the element focusable, but leaves the order the element is visited up to the user agent, which, again, wouldn't cause a conflict.
The conflict arises when positive tabindex attribute values have been provided to determine the order elements should be visited. Personally, I would advise authors to avoid using positive tabindex attribute values, as they're usually an indication of poor design, and cause issues with maintenance in ensuring the tab order remains logical as content is added and removed. That way, CSS3's nav-index property could be used without fear of conflict. I would also suggest that authors only use CSS3's nav-index property (when it's widely supported) in alternate style sheets, so that the default rendering has a logical tab order without depending on CSS.
It's a great question, Sofia, but unfortunately, I don't have any any information regarding planned browser support for CSS3's nav-index property and conflict resolution with ARIA's use of tabindex.
From an ARIA perspective, negative tabindex attribute values, or a value of zero are the most useful. A negative tabindex attribute value allows elements to be programmatically focusable without including the element in the browser's natural tab order. That has obvious advantages in that it's easier for users to tab over items such as tree views and menus that might have loads of focusable child elements, and allow users to navigate quickly through the widget using cursor keys. As the elements are not in the natural tab order, there is no conflict resolution. Similarly, a tabindex attribute value of zero just makes the element focusable, but leaves the order the element is visited up to the user agent, which, again, wouldn't cause a conflict.
The conflict arises when positive tabindex attribute values have been provided to determine the order elements should be visited. Personally, I would advise authors to avoid using positive tabindex attribute values, as they're usually an indication of poor design, and cause issues with maintenance in ensuring the tab order remains logical as content is added and removed. That way, CSS3's nav-index property could be used without fear of conflict. I would also suggest that authors only use CSS3's nav-index property (when it's widely supported) in alternate style sheets, so that the default rendering has a logical tab order without depending on CSS.
Something I´m not clear on...
I read the following article on 'List Apart' and it is mentioned here that one needs to extend XHTML 1.x. to include the ARIA attributes by 'bolting' them on via XML Schema namespaces, DOM Scripting or DTD extension.
Apparently the most common method to extend XHTML is through namespaces, by modifying the namespace like this:
<html xmlns="http://www.w3.org/1999/xhtml"
xmlns:wairole="http://www.w3.org/2005/01/wai-rdf/GUIRoleTaxonomy#"
xmlns:x2="http://www.w3.org/2002/06/xhtml2"
xmlns:aaa="http://www.w3.org/2005/07/aaa">
Does one have to do this as a rule to start incorporating ARIA attributes on pages, because pages do not validate with any of these techniques?
I´m a bit lost here and would appreciate some advice.
Thanks
P.s. Page is here: http://www.alistapart.com/articles/waiaria
I read the following article on 'List Apart' and it is mentioned here that one needs to extend XHTML 1.x. to include the ARIA attributes by 'bolting' them on via XML Schema namespaces, DOM Scripting or DTD extension.
Apparently the most common method to extend XHTML is through namespaces, by modifying the namespace like this:
<html xmlns="http://www.w3.org/1999/xhtml"
xmlns:wairole="http://www.w3.org/2005/01/wai-rdf/GUIRoleTaxonomy#"
xmlns:x2="http://www.w3.org/2002/06/xhtml2"
xmlns:aaa="http://www.w3.org/2005/07/aaa">
Does one have to do this as a rule to start incorporating ARIA attributes on pages, because pages do not validate with any of these techniques?
I´m a bit lost here and would appreciate some advice.
Thanks
P.s. Page is here: http://www.alistapart.com/articles/waiaria
Hello
I found WAI-ARIA is very useful for front end engineer. I also learn a lot from this article. And Because the lack of Chinese information talking about this topic. I translated this article into Chinese. It will be kind if you can add the link to the page. People who using Chinese can find Chinese version more easily.
I found WAI-ARIA is very useful for front end engineer. I also learn a lot from this article. And Because the lack of Chinese information talking about this topic. I translated this article into Chinese. It will be kind if you can add the link to the page. People who using Chinese can find Chinese version more easily.