Flex TextInput Control Labels for Accessibility
What Works
There are two techniques that work:
- Add a toolTip attribute to the TextInput tag in the source code. (Also creates a visual tooltip.)
- Or, give the TextInput an id, and write action script to assign an accessible name to the TextInput, as described by Andrew Kirkpatrick at WebAIM's blog. Note that: creationComplete only worked sporadically, so I switched to using initialize.
What doesn't Work
Placing Label Controls before TextInput elements in the reader order DOES NOT always successfully give the TextInput Control a label. In JAWS, some portion of text before the TextInput is selected as the label, but it is not always limited to the label. In WindowEyes, the textInput is simply unlabeled. Also, I could find no standard way to programmatically connect a Label Control with a TextInput control in Flex.
Example
Tested With and Works as Described With
- Flex Builder 3
- JAWS 11, Window Eyes 7.2
- Internet Explorer 8
- Flash Player 10