Column sort aria labels not updating for multi-column sort

Kuronuma

Hello! I really appreciate the ability to customize the aria labels for the column sort functionality.

However, I did notice that when using multi-column sort, the aria labels do not update when the sort order changes for any column other than the 1st column. I noticed this occurs with both the default aria labels and with custom labels. Does anyone have a solution for this?

allan

This is expected. The ARIA spec says that aria-sort should be applied to a single table header cell only.

This Gthub issue for ARIA discusses changing that (I've already added a comment there and subscribed to that thread). As soon as the spec is updated, I'll be updated DataTables for it.

Allan

allan

Sorry - I've just reread your post, and I've got the wrong end of the stick... You are talking about aria-label, not aria-sort. I agree - there is a bug there that needs to be looked at. Thanks for raising it.

Allan

Kuronuma

Thanks!

allan

I've been thinking about this and the multi-column sorting is a nuance that my aria-label logic and strings do not currently handle. It is a second order effect.

For example, the default text "Activate to sort" is correct - click on that column and it will order the table by that column.

What the text doesn't inform about is what happens if you shift click on a column header.

It could be that the text should be "Activate to sort, or shift click to modify multi-column sort". That can be added using the language string options at the moment.

Changing the aria-label to be completely based off the multi-column sort I think would be wrong (particularly given that aria-sort has single column support only).

The up shot - I don't propose to make any changes in DataTables at the moment. If you need the aria-label to mention multi-column sorting you can update the text using language.aria.orderable and friends.

Allan

Kuronuma

That's fair! I like your suggestion. I'll implement something like that.