Question Let's make Kunena better-suited to visually impaired users

Hi, as I posted in Feature request the 2 fields "searchbox" and "jump to" don't have labels in html code generated. Its a big problem for validating a website. For "jump to" it's ok I remove it from the back-office but for now and until the 1.6 solve this problem, how can I remove the searchbox field. Removing it with css with display none is not enought because a screen reader still find the searchbox. So I really need to remove it from my page or add a html label. If you want to understand my problem you can make a test of Kunena with WAVE ( wave.webaim.org ) and you will see the problem.
Thank's

This is not a support question as nothin in kunena is not work, it just you personaly dont want that feature, and you have already asked this in teh correct section so there is no need for the duplicate post here.

I've moved this topic from the Support category because I don't see what's wrong with Kunena in its current form . It was claimed, in another topic by this user [mazde], that "Kunena does not validate." Does not validate against what? And why doesn't it "validate" (what warning/error messages result therefrom)?

The topic title suggest that there is some other component on the user's website that is conflicting with Kunena (?). If that is the case, the problem is generated by the other software, isn't it? :dry: Is this other software certified Joomla 1.5 compliant? Is this a Kunena problem or a Joomla or a WAVE problem? What versions of Joomla and Kunena are we discussing?

I don't fully understand the problem, nor the question, and I have no desire to learn what WAVE is or how it might be integrated into Joomla. So, I've placed this topic in the Hacks, Tips and Tricks category in the hope that one of our users (who has some experience in this area) might be able to assist in this matter.

Good luck

Hi, i'm sorry to see you don't understand my question. I will try to explain more.
Validating mean to be in conformance with the W3C WAI AA level, that mean that websites can be used easily by handicapped persons. Kunena is ok but 2 fields don't validate this level, the "search field" and the "jump to" field, the reason is that in the generated html code there is no "label" tag who's useful for visual impairs. When you "listen" the forum with a screen reader the field search say "text" because no label and the user can't know it's a search field.
About Wave, it's just a tool, like many other who help to check a web page or a web site and give basic informations on troubles with accessibility. Nothing more, nothing less. You can test a page by submitting a website address on their site and it check the page. It's not a component and it can't conflict with Joomla.
My contribution is for helping you as helping me to make Kunena more in conformity with W3C rules, I'm really sorry by your answer. I'm an old man, and used to contribute to make internet more accessible, maybe you can consider accessibility useful for everybody and specially for developers, because it's help to make a code more conform to standards.
I give you my configuration but it has nothing to do with the problem I talk to.
If anybody have a solution for removing the search field ? Not by CSS but directly in PHP code or how to avoid it on the pages.

Joomla 1.5.17
Kunena 1.5.11
PHP5

Thank you for your explanation about the purpose of WAVE. I want to make it clear to you (and to others) that I usually ignore suggestions by users to "test Kunena with 'brand X' software" unless I'm already familiar with "brand X" software. This is similar, in some ways, to users asking us to "register with our site and then you can see the problem". From a personal security viewpoint, we do not register with other sites in order to "see" the problem; it's up to the users to demonstrate that a problem exists (and the mechanics of how to reproduce it) not the other way around.

So that's how I looked at this issue when it was reported in the Kunena Support category: show me the evidence and then I'll offer you some suggestions on ways we can resolve it to your satisfaction.

I understand the situation.

Every now and then all websites fail to properly "validate" against the W3C XHTML standards. Every now and then Internet Explorer spits the dummy because it encounters a piece of Javascript that doesn't satisfy Microsoft's rules even though the site operates perfectly satisfactorily in Firefox. These are the constant problems that plague every website administrator (well, those who try to keep their sites "clean") and sometimes these worries become obsessions. I take the view that, if the site works for the majority of my users then it's good enough.

However, this is a different situation that we're discussing and I understand the needs of the visually impaired or otherwise lacking the same abilities as the rest of us.

There's no short answer to this question, either.

All that I can say is that I am sympathetic to your quesion and that Kunena should be made better suited to visually-impaired users. I think this is more of a question about the overall design goals for Kunena rather than merely trying to get a quick-fix (like removing the search textbox). I don't think that you gain anything by removing the search textbox - you probably lose, in fact - but that's just my opinion.

I hope that the developers of Kunena look at this question and provide you with their response but I also hope that others may be able to contribute with their own suggestions for how you can make Kunena work better for you and for others in your situation.

Regards

sozz

I would be happy to help our users to be able to use Kunena more easily. Search field isn't there anymore in K1.6. I'm not 100% sure if I have fixed forum jump.

If you want to help us to make Kunena better, please join into our testers group (just ask it in this topic and I'm sure somebody will add you into that group).