Hi Matt,
I guess I would prefer verbose and have them fill the form out once than have them have them misinterpret and have to fix errors, [...]
I agree.
[...] which I imagine can be tedious using a screen reader. Is this the case?
Can be a horror show. My understanding is that client side (using JavaScript alerts) is actually pretty accessible.
For server side, my v2 [1] form script bookmarks the success/error message (#results) bringing the user directly to the message. The message tells them what's wrong, they go "back" and fix the issue. Going back doesn't take them directly to the culprit input so they have to navigate to it. This is the version (modified a bit more) I'm using (have to for now) on the site I had mentioned. The error management was noted, favorably.
Even better, dare I say the best way, is how I manage errors on my v3 [2] form. The user is directed to the error, on the same page, and links are provided taking the user directly to the culprit input/s. All errors now do this, and some take it a step further. For example, if the anti-spam question is wrong the script returns the error, a link, and also gives the user the right answer (my attempt to better satisfy the needs of those with cognitive disabilities). Also, there is a "honeypot" input (to lure 'bots). Users are told to keep it empty in the label, but if they mistakenly fill it in they are notified of the error, the input is cleared for them, and they are given a link to the submit and asked to try again. Balancing accessibility and the security is delicate.
It would be great if you could keep us posted about any feedback you get in March when the site goes live.
Will do. Nothing's perfect so I'm sure I'll get useful feedback from people who see it. Hope so anyway.
what I think I will do is run a few simple A\B tests on some of my sites and log the amount of JavaScript errors for each of the different methods described
That'd be great, Matt. Thanks. Mike Live Demo Forms: [1] http://green-beast.com/gbcf/gbcf_form.php [2] http://green-beast.com/gbcf-v3/test-form.php ******************************************************************* List Guidelines: http://webstandardsgroup.org/mail/guidelines.cfm Unsubscribe: http://webstandardsgroup.org/join/unsubscribe.cfm Help: [EMAIL PROTECTED] *******************************************************************
