508 User Focus for Text Caption Box Tabbing with Keyboard

[Morton0101]

Hello all,

New to the community and after doing some research I believe I made a rookie mistake in a project I am working on that I found out needs to be 508 compliant.

My issue is when using the tab feature on the project it automatically goes to smart objects and buttons. However, there is no user focus or tabbing on text boxes. I did some research but there does not look like I can change it or add it and will have to change the text boxes into smart objects is this the case?

Any help will be greatly appreciated.

Thank you and have a nice day

[RodWard]

Yes you are correct.  The objects will need to be some kind of interactive object in order for the tabbing to work.  So the usual method is to use Smart Shapes that are set to Use as Button.  Since you do not usually want these objects to perform any action, you set the Action to No Action.

[Dennis_yep]

Just a thought - it’s worth discussing this question with the client if you can. Different “experts” have different opinions on how the tab sequence should work. I’ve had many clients insist that the text content should NOT be included in the tab sequence, that tabbing should only jump to controls and interactive elements. If you change all the text to non-functional buttons, that might cause a 508-rejection by reviewers with this inclination.

[Justenuf2bdangerous]

The tab order is only for interactives. Text boxes are automatically read my JAWS and most screen readers without being in the tab order, as they are accessible on entry into a c screen. As long as reading the text on entry makes semnse in your design, this shouldn't be an issue for 508.