I have a form with some read only fields depending on the customer role. As a rule, I use read only fields for those inputs.
have you had any problems with this approach using and assistive technology?
Any other problems or benefits?
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If it isn't inputted by the user, why is it in an input? Why not in a simple span or some other text containing element? – Madara's Ghost Feb 04 '13 at 13:37
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That was my first approach. But the large amount of options and pages and some accessibility problems (form-mode readers) let me to this solution. – Víctor Herraiz Feb 04 '13 at 21:39
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Same question: http://ux.stackexchange.com/q/34055/17023 – unor Feb 06 '13 at 00:32
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I have been using a screen reader since internet explorer 3.0 and have had no issues with read only fields. My screen reader announces that the field is read only before it reads the value so I know that I am unable to edit the field.
Jared
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I think this means that read only inputs *are* an accessibility issue, though not a big one. It would be better if the content were presented as normal content, not as a field of any kind. It would then be read as normal text. If the content needs to be submitted in the form data, it can be duplicated in a hidden field. – Jukka K. Korpela Feb 04 '13 at 14:15
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@JukkaK.Korpela you are correct. This issue is so minor though in general usage that I would put it at the bottom of any backlog. If I were doing an accessibility review of a site I wouldn’t reduce the accessibility of the site based on read only form fields. – Jared Feb 04 '13 at 14:40
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@Jared, do you have any problems with tabbing? or other problems? – Víctor Herraiz Feb 04 '13 at 21:40