Making a slideshow assessable.

[MarcMiller]

I am still working on making a timed slide changing JavaScript inpowered slideshow accessible however all that stuff I was saying and saying and saying previously on this post seems like nonsense now that I have gotten some more insights into how you make things accessible from accessibility web sites. So if anybody has some good links to exactly how one may make a timed JavaScript slideshow accessible I would be interested in them however I am deleting all of what I have said before because I am wiser now.

Sincerely
Marc Miller

[tfennelly]

Could you statically add the desc for the first slide, and have the javascript toggle them there after? This should make the page pass the static analysis while still give you the dynamic desc.

In terms of hiding the text from the non-visually impared, I wonder would putting the desc in a title attribute do the trick for you?? Not sure if this will get "read out" for you.

[toicontien]

The idea behind making JavaScript accessible is to start with a whole, usable HTML document. In your case, have the entire slideshow displayed on the page, then use JavaScript to change the class names of certain HTML tags. Then, using the class names, create CSS styles to make only one slide appear at once. Numerous times I've heard the most accurate way to describe the relationship between an image and it's cutline is using a definition list:

<dl class="slideshow" id="someName">
 <dt class="slideImage" id="someNameImg1"><img /></dt>
 <dd class="slideCaption" id="someNameCap1">Text</dl>
 <dt class="slideImage" id="someNameImg2"><img /></dt>
 <dd class="slideCaption" id="someNameCap2">Text</dl>
 <dt class="slideImage" id="someNameImg3"><img /></dt>
 <dd class="slideCaption" id="someNameCap3">Text</dl>
</dl>

Then use javascript to change the class names for the DT tags to slideImageOff and the DD tags to slideCaptionOff. Set the first slide's DT tag's class name to slideImageOn and the first slide's DD tag's class name to slideCaptionOn. Apply the right CSS and you've got the beginnings of a slideshow.

[kiwibrit]

I would have thought that "accessible javascript slide show" was an oxymoron.

[toicontien]

No, not really. An accessible script of any sort needs to accomplish a few basic goals:

1. There are no javascript: pseudo links. The href attribute of all link tags goes to a web page or a page anchor, unless javascript interferes.

2. Any clickable item that changes the page must be keyboard navigable.

3. Any item that, when hovered over, changes its appearance or content should also be keyboard navigable.

4. When JavaScript is disabled, all of your intended content is available, and all links and buttons do something meaningfull. The exception to this rule seems to be AJAX, which as of yet is a headache for accessibility.

I'm sure people could come up with other rules, but these are the basics for accessible javascripting.

[Robert Wellock]

It can be accessible to an extent but the you would have give the user control of the timing mechanism.