[WEB4LIB] tabindex in html

[Thomas Dowling]

> Hi all,
>
> Do any of you have experience using the "tabindex" attribute in your
html
> documents?  According to the description at the
> W3C:  http://www.w3.org/TR/html401/interact/forms.html#adef-tabindex I'm
> wondering if one could use this to control how a text browser such as
lynx
> (or a verbal browser such as JAWS) sees a page.  Doesn't work for me
yet,
> though.

Kudos for considering the issue.  BTW, both Lynx and IE have supported
tabindex for years.

Something to consider is that tabindex wasn't really designed as a way to
move around inside a page, but rather as a way to navigate the links in a
page.  Text browsers--including both Lynx and speaking browsers--still
need to work through markup at the beginning of the page for the purposes
of reading the page.

There's an aspect of tabindex that may make it awkward for you to use.
After a browser navigates through all the numbered links, it starts over
with unnumbered links from the top of the document.  So you can't just
designate a "real" starting point with tabindex="1" and be done with it.
Every subsequent link would need to be numbered, or a tab key user would
bounce back to the top of the document.  Contrariwise, assuming your table
chrome has some useful links, a tab user will have to go through the whole
rest of the document before getting to the links at the top.

I'd recommend not using tabindex for this purpose, and concentrate on
keeping the non-"meat" portions of your document as trimmed of fat as
possible.

Thomas Dowling
OhioLINK - Ohio Library and Information Network
tdowling at ohiolink.edu