Comments on: Quiz 5.2.15: Speaking form labels - 3

By: Owen Rodda

Owen Rodda — Mon, 05 Sep 2005 17:15:23 +0000

I’ve found this useful before in the case of form validation. When submitted data does not validate, I return the (pre-filled) form with a summary of errors at the top. Relevant sections of that summary are linked to their respective fields in the form using a secondary label. Unfortunately I can’t think of any publicly-accessible sites using that code at the moment.

I think it should improve accessibility… perhaps screen-reader users won’t have to skip through the form once they reach the error message? I haven’t tested it, so I can’t be sure.

By: Bob Easton

Bob Easton — Mon, 05 Sep 2005 20:14:11 +0000

Excellent! Thanks for pointing out that technique. We have all seen the results many times. I’ve never thought to see how they were done. Good tip!

By: Masklinn

Masklinn — Tue, 06 Sep 2005 12:48:32 +0000

Browser: Firefox 1.0.6/Windows 2000
Language: en
Labels displayed: 4
Behaviour: Any click on any given label focuses the text box

Browser: Opera 8.01/Windows 2000
Language, labels and behaviour identical to Firefox

Browser: IE6 SP1/Windows 2000
Language: fr
Labels and behaviour identical to both browsers above

By: pam

pam — Tue, 06 Sep 2005 13:29:29 +0000

Windows XP

Firefox 1.0.6 and Fire Vox 3.0
Language: en
4 labels displayed
4 labels read

Opera 8.0.2
Language: en
4 labels displayed
4 labels read

IE6 SP2/Windows XP
Language: en
4 labels displayed

For all: clicking on any one of the labels focuses the text box.

By: patrick h. lauke

patrick h. lauke — Thu, 08 Sep 2005 21:41:14 +0000

still no actual screenreader results…anybody?

By: Adrian Higginbotham

Adrian Higginbotham — Fri, 09 Sep 2005 10:17:35 +0000

MSIE v6.0sp1, jfw 6.2, default lang=en - displayed 4 - spoken 1. spoken label was the =fr label which is the last in code order. jfw field info (keystroke jfw key, shift, f1) “Tag INPUT has 1 parameters, id=name, Tag FORM has 1 parameters,
action=none”

By: Adrian Higginbotham

Adrian Higginbotham — Fri, 09 Sep 2005 10:24:07 +0000

msie6sp1 jfw5.0 default lang=en - as with jfw 6.2, displayed 4, spoken 1 =fr.

By: Adrian Higginbotham

Adrian Higginbotham — Fri, 09 Sep 2005 10:39:28 +0000

MSIE6.0sp1, supernova 6.5, default lang=en, displayed 4, spoken 4.

By: Bob Easton

Bob Easton — Fri, 09 Sep 2005 22:44:29 +0000

Jaws 6.1 and IE6 straight through, virtual cursor on.

All 4 labels are displayed.

Only one is read, the last. The simple label Nom: is read as “nom du pla edit” (excuse my poor French).

Listen to a recording.

By: Bob Easton

Bob Easton — Fri, 09 Sep 2005 22:52:35 +0000

Jaws 6.1 and IE6, virtual cursor off

All 4 labels are displayed.

In this mode, one tabs from link to link. Tabbing into the input field produces a different result from straight through. It speaks the first label: “Name colon edit.”

Listen to a recording.

By: Bob Easton

Bob Easton — Fri, 09 Sep 2005 23:15:15 +0000

Jaws 6.1 and IE6, forms/controls reading mode.

All 4 labels are displayed.

This mode places the cursor in the edit field (as with virtual cursor off), but speaks the last label.

Inconsistent? Two modes speak the last label. Another speaks the first.

Listen to a recording.

By: Bob Easton

Bob Easton — Fri, 09 Sep 2005 23:33:07 +0000

IBM Home Page Reader 3.04, straight through reading mode

All four labels are displayed.

All four labels are spoken.

Listen to a recording.

By: Bob Easton

Bob Easton — Fri, 09 Sep 2005 23:35:23 +0000

IBM Home Page Reader 3.04, forms reading mode

All four labels are displayed.

In this mode, the tab key is used to move from link to link and into the form. Alternately, pressing
“Enter” places the page in forms reading mode and “F” is used to move from control to control. All four labels are spoken as the cursor is placed into the input field.

Listen to a recording.

By: Bob Easton

Bob Easton — Fri, 09 Sep 2005 23:51:18 +0000

Window Eyes 5.0 and IE6, straight through reading mode

All four labels are displayed.

All four labels are spoken. The last label is repeated as the cursor passes through the input field.

Listen to a recording.

By: Bob Easton

Bob Easton — Fri, 09 Sep 2005 23:54:05 +0000

Window Eyes 5.0 and IE6, forms reading mode

All four labels are displayed.

In this mode, I used the tab key to move from link to link, then escaped and used “F” for form. All four labels were read and then the last label repeated as the cursor was placed into the input field.

Listen to a recording.

By: Bob Easton

Bob Easton — Sat, 10 Sep 2005 00:01:56 +0000

The most practical use for this feature is the one proposed by Owen Rodda in the first comment. He suggested using additional labels to return the error text after form validation. i.e. “You missed telling us your phone number.”

That technique will work fine in most cases. Jaws is the one that varies, but in two thirds of my trials Jaws reads the last label and therefore will read the error text from Owen’s scenario.

By: Access Matters : Speaking form labels - Summary

Access Matters : Speaking form labels - Summary — Sat, 10 Sep 2005 20:27:50 +0000

[…] Access Matters Seeking Best Practices Previously: Quiz 5.2.15: Speaking form labels - 3 […]

By: Jeff Bush

Jeff Bush — Mon, 07 Aug 2006 05:20:31 +0000

Another use I have found is I have a table with many columns and I have each column’s value be a label for the checkbox for that row so clicking on any text in that row selects the checkbox. All of those labels come AFTER the checkbox though, does JAWS then read the first (the closest to the checkbox) or the last (because it is the last parsed label)? For me I would prefer reading the first or all (all would be best).