'Browse mode' not correctly supported.

[brennanyoung]

We had some accessibility problems with this, reproducible on the demo page: I tried the "rank the bands" thing with NVDA running, but because it uses an OL to group the elements, the screen reader is in browse mode, which means it 'eats' the arrow keystrokes. (OL is not an operable element type).

Lots of accessibility jargon there, you might need guidance, so there is some background on screen reader interaction modes here.

So it means that if you have NVDA running, you can grab and drop the items, but not actually move them. Other screen readers and assistive tech (notably JAWS) will have the same problem.

Possible Solution: Add role=application to the OL, and 'it just works' because it puts the assistive tech into 'forms mode' (also known as 'application mode'). Other operable roles might be more appropriate in a given case. Screen reader announcements are a bit chatty but communicate the right info otherwise.

I am not sure if this is the perfect solution, because it depends on the semantic context where this gadget will end up, but it's relatively easy to do and certainly makes dragon-drop work with NVDA, probably JAWS too. Accessible drag-and-drop is quite tricky, so that's a win, I should think!