Keyboard Navigation Question - Mail Grid Headers

[Ana von Klopp]

Hi,

I'm trying to figure out how to provide access to grid headers in a mail
grid via keyboard navigation.

When I read the instructions for a grid in

http://dev.aol.com/dhtml_style_guide#grid

the suggestion is that tabbing into the grid should land on the first
cell, typically the grid header. However, for the email scenario, the
tabbing action should probably land on the row corresponding to the
first unread message or the most recent message (depending on the
listing order).

The instructions then suggest implicitly that arrow key navigation would
get you up and down, including up to the headers. However, that is not
appropriate for a mail grid, where the user should be able to retain the
message selection when they use the grid headers to resort the message
list.

I was trying to figure out what Thunderbird does, but I have as yet
failed to get to the message headers without actually clicking on them
:) HOME goes to the first message (not the headers) which seems like the
right thing to do, and using the up arrow from there does not do anything.

Appreciate any help,

Ana

[Mike Pedersen]

Hi Ana, normally the screen reader user doesn't want to move into the
header the behavior they expect is as follows:

The user should be able to left and right arrow between the cells in the
table. When he/she does this the screen reader will look at the header
above the cell with focus to determine which column has focus.

Hope this helps

Mike

> _______________________________________________
> dev-accessibility mailing list
> dev-acce...@lists.mozilla.org
> https://lists.mozilla.org/listinfo/dev-accessibility

[David Bolter]

Hi Ana,

Right the column headers in the message list pane of Thunderbird do not
follow this style guide suggestion. Instead Thunderbird provides access
to the mouse+header functions in the "View" menu (at least in
Thunderbird 3 beta, I can't confirm Thunderbird 2).

That said, if you can make a compelling case for adding direct keyboard
manipulation of the headers please file a bug. Thanks!

> I was trying to figure out what Thunderbird does, but I have as yet
> failed to get to the message headers without actually clicking on them
> :) HOME goes to the first message (not the headers) which seems like
> the right thing to do, and using the up arrow from there does not do
> anything.

cheers,
David

[Ana von Klopp]

Hi Mike,

thanks!

I'm also wondering specifically about getting to some actions that are
available by clicking on the header. For example, what if clicking on
the header resorts the mail grid, or if clicking on a checkbox selects
all messages.

Ana

Mike Pedersen wrote:
> Hi Ana, normally the screen reader user doesn't want to move into the
> header the behavior they expect is as follows:
>
> The user should be able to left and right arrow between the cells in the
> table. When he/she does this the screen reader will look at the header
> above the cell with focus to determine which column has focus.
>
> Hope this helps
>
> Mike
> On Thu, 2009-10-29 at 17:08 +0100, Ana von Klopp wrote:
>
>> Hi,
>>
>> I'm trying to figure out how to provide access to grid headers in a mail
>> grid via keyboard navigation.
>>
>> When I read the instructions for a grid in
>>
>> http://dev.aol.com/dhtml_style_guide#grid
>>
>> the suggestion is that tabbing into the grid should land on the first
>> cell, typically the grid header. However, for the email scenario, the
>> tabbing action should probably land on the row corresponding to the
>> first unread message or the most recent message (depending on the
>> listing order).
>>
>> The instructions then suggest implicitly that arrow key navigation would
>> get you up and down, including up to the headers. However, that is not
>> appropriate for a mail grid, where the user should be able to retain the
>> message selection when they use the grid headers to resort the message
>> list.
>>

>> I was trying to figure out what Thunderbird does, but I have as yet
>> failed to get to the message headers without actually clicking on them
>> :) HOME goes to the first message (not the headers) which seems like the
>> right thing to do, and using the up arrow from there does not do anything.
>>

[Mike Pedersen]

Hi Ana,

> I'm also wondering specifically about getting to some actions that are
> available by clicking on the header. For example, what if clicking on
> the header resorts the mail grid, or if clicking on a checkbox selects
> all messages.
>

What we would like here is the following:

If you could allow the user to tab into the headers probably one tab
stop before the message list would be great.
When the user has tabbed to the headers they should be able to right and
left arrow between them and press enter or space to perform the allowed
function of that header.

Hope this helps

Mike