drop down menus - latest status

[Webskater]

Hi, a general question ... what is the current situation regarding drop down menus and accessibility. Is javascript still 'not allowed' if you want to build an 'accessible' site?

Is there such a thing as a completely 'css based, standards compliant' drop down menu? If so, what are the drawbacks? Where can I start looking for a tutorial?

Thanks for your input.

[Charles]

Search Alist Apart for "suckerfish dropdowns".

[Webskater]

Thanks for your reply.

The suckerfish example uses javascript to cope with IE's inability to implement 'hover'. And, their 'pretty version' at http://www.htmldog.com/articles/suckerfish/example/ flickers badly in IE - when you mouseover the menu items the drop-down is intermittently transparent.

Is a drop-down menu that requires javascript to work in IE 'accessible'? I have a job to price for a government department and they have specified drop-down menus. I don't want to implement something that someone later will reject as not being accessible.

[Charles]

If you turn off the JavaScript in MSIE you can still see the menu, just not the drop down effect. This is called "transitioning well" and it is the verry essence of accessibility. However, do check with the G-men first. They're not known for their understanding.

[kiwibrit]

Actually, the drop-downs reasonably well in IE7 (becoming the predominant browser) albeit they are somewhat displaced. I suspect that could be overcome with a bit of tweaking - but I haven't checked.

[sameer.net.in]

hi,

i am in process of making such drop downs which will work on all major browsers, without adding any invalid html tags to the markup, and still which are 100% W3c compatible.
right now i have developed a select box with similar features( not drop down menus).
you can test it on
PSPL Multi Select Box, Select without pressing ALT key

well i will make those very soon,
most probably the version 1.0.0 of "PSPL drop down menus" will be available on the same URL as above, so stay tuned.