drag-and-drop?

by Kathy.Farrell(at)esc.edu

 Date:  Wed, 8 May 2002 17:12:57 -0400
 To:  aware-techniques(at)mail.hwg.org
  todo: View Thread, Original
Hi all --

I'd greatly appreciate other folks' thoughts about the use of drag-and-drop
functionality on web pages.  Here's why I'm asking:

Some  colleagues are developing web-based training courses, and the client
has been a stickler for complying with the WAI guideline.  Recently this
same client has begun pushing us to use drag-and-drop functionality on the
self-tests included in the courses.  My colleagues have asked me about
whether drag-and-drop was (or could be made) accessible.  From what I've
read about web accessibility, my sense is that D&D would cause mucho
problems for blind and/or mobility-impaired users (i.e. people who don't
use a mouse), and that we'd have to provide alternatives for such users.
It also sounds as if D&D involves using DHTML that is extremely browser and
platform-dependent, which could cause problems even for people who aren't
disabled.

Am I right in advising my colleagues to advise the client against using
D&D?  Or are there techiques I don't know about that could make it
accessible (short of providing alternate versions of the self-tests)?
Anybody out there have experience with drag-and-drop on the web?  or maybe
know of a web site that uses it in a way that's accessible?

Muchly thanks for any input on this question!

Cheers,

Kathy Farrell, Web Manager
SUNY Empire State College

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