JAWS accessibility issue with GWT framework

Question

In my application, we have various types of dropdown GWT components used. I am using the JAWS latest version for the accessibility.

JAWS have some default keyboard manager setting for the "Downarrow" which perform the respective function. In my application, when the dropdown is opened, on pressing the "downarrow" JAWS is reading the list of values in dropdown one by one along with the respective highlighted thing.

But on the "enter" keypress, the selection of that particular value is not happening.

When in turned-off the JAWS, the down arrow perform its respective function of moving to the next record and on Enter click, that particular value is selected in dropdown.

somewhere JAWS default settings is overridden by the application setting. I tried various attributes like "aria-labelledby", "role - combobox, menuitem". but no luck. Could somebody help on this?

Answer 1

By default, the up/down arrow keys when JAWS is running will move you to the next element in the DOM. If that element is an interactive component that uses the up/down key for interaction (such as a radio), then JAWS will automatically switch to "forms mode" (kind of like a mini application mode) so that the arrow keys can be interpreted by the compoent instead of the screen reader. (The user has options on whether automatic forms mode is turned on). To get out of forms mode, press Escape.

If you have your own custom component that behaves like a native component, as long as you have the proper ARIA roles and attributes (such as role="radiogroup" and role="radio"), JAWS should switch to forms mode automatically.

See https://www.freedomscientific.com/Support/TechnicalSupport/Bulletin/1665 for more details. The title of that article talks about role="applications" and role="document" but it talks about forms mode and the Enter key.