Helping people understand function signature syntax

[hugovk (Hugo van Kemenade)]

Unfortunately <abbr> has accessibility problems.

In the other thread, I posted:

@hugovk

This device test from January says screen readers mostly do not announce <abbr title=>s, except for Android/Chrome/Talkback that only announces the title, and then a couple that might when using virtual cursor.

The title is also not exposed in Braille displays, and can’t be accessed by keyboard or touchscreen (for example, mobile phone) users.

The verdict starts:

Don’t use <abbr> with or without title. Exposure continues to be inconsistent across browsers and assistive technologies. Some set of users will always miss some piece of information.

So even if we think it’s okay the info added via <abbr> is hidden and inaccessible for mobile, most screen readers and Braille displays because it’s extra info that isn’t essential, the problem is that some screen readers will only read out the “hidden” info, and not the linked * or /.

For example, given something like this:

classmethod fromkeys(iterable, value=None, <abbr title="Parameters before the slash (/) are positional-only.">/</abbr>)

One screen reader will say:

classmethod, fromkeys, iterable, value equals none, slash

But another may say:

classmethod, fromkeys, iterable, value equals none, parameters before the slash, slash, are positional-only

And say it everywhere. Which is much worse than just hiding away some additional info.