Page Refreshes While User Navigates Combo Box
Short Description
Navigating the selections in a combo box with a keyboard leads to unintended page changes
Long Description
- When a mouse user moves to an item in one of these menus, it automatically triggers a change in the page. When a keyboard user navigates one of these menus, arrowing through the list essentially selects each option and thus triggers a change in the page, when the user only intended to read through the options.
- The Firefox browser does not automatically trigger the change, so this problem only exists in Internet Explorer and Chrome. Also, the Mac system does not have this problem.
Example of Issue
Recommendations
- Add a "submit" or "go" button outside of the menu so the changes are only triggered when a user clicks on the button.
- Alt + up or down arrow will allow a keyboard user to navigate these menus without triggering the change in IE, so adding these directions to the menu is an accessibility work around. It still does not solve the problem for Chrome.
- Learn more about changing content in the article Dynamic Content on the Accessibility and Usability site.
Related Issues
WCAG Reference
Accessibility/Usability
Accessibility
Usability
Impacted Assistive Technology
Screen Reader
Impacted Type of Device
Computer
Mobile