Date Picker Combobox Example

The below date picker demonstrates an implementation of the combobox design pattern that opens a dialog. The date picker dialog is opened by activating the choose date button or by moving keyboard focus to the combobox and pressing Down Arrow or Alt + Down Arrow. The dialog contains an implementation of the grid pattern for displaying a calendar and enabling selection of a date. Additional buttons in the dialog are available for changing the month and year shown in the grid.

Similar examples include:

Example

(date format: mm/dd/yyyy)

Accessibility Features

Keyboard Support

Combobox

Key Function
Down Arrow,
ALT + Down Arrow
  • Open the date picker dialog.
  • If the combobox contains a valid date, moves focus to that date in the calendar grid. Otherwise, moves focus to current date, i.e., today's date.

Date Picker Dialog

Key Function
ESC Closes the dialog and moves focus to the combobox.
TAB
  • Moves focus to next element in the dialog Tab sequence.
  • Note that, as specified in the grid design pattern, only one element in the calendar grid is in the Tab sequence.
  • If focus is on the last button (i.e., "OK"), moves focus to the first button (i.e. "Previous Year").
Shift + TAB
  • Moves focus to previous element in the dialog Tab sequence.
  • Note that, as specified in the grid design pattern, only one element in the calendar grid is in the Tab sequence.
  • If focus is on the first button (i.e., "Previous Year"), moves focus to the last button (i.e. "OK").

Date Picker Dialog: Calendar Buttons

Key Function
Space,
Enter
Change the month and/or year displayed in the calendar grid.

Date Picker Dialog: Date Grid

Key Function
Space
  • Selects the date.
  • Updates the value of the combobox with the selected date.
Enter
  • Selects the date.
  • Updates the value of the combobox with the selected date.
  • Closes the dialog and moves focus to the combobox.
Up Arrow Moves focus to the same day of the previous week.
Down Arrow Moves focus to the same day of the next week.
Right Arrow Moves focus to the next day.
Left Arrow Moves focus to the previous day.
Home Moves focus to the first day (e.g. Sunday) of the current week.
End Moves focus to the last day (e.g. Saturday) of the current week.
PageUp
  • Changes the grid of dates to the previous month.
  • Moves focus to the same day of the same week. If that day does not exist, moves focus to the same day of the previous or next week.
Shift+
PageUp
  • Changes the grid of dates to the previous year.
  • Moves focus to the same day of the same week in the previous year. If that day does not exist, moves focus to the same day of the previous or next week.
PageDown
  • Changes the grid of dates to the next month.
  • Moves focus to the same day of the same week. If that day does not exist, moves focus to the same day of previous or next week.
Shift+
PageDown
  • Changes the grid of dates to the next year.
  • Moves focus to the same day of the same week in the next year. If that day does not exist, moves focus to the same day of previous or next week.

Date Picker Dialog: OK and Cancel Buttons

Key Function
Space,
Enter
Activates the button:
  • "Cancel": Closes the dialog, moves focus to combobox, does not update combobox value.
  • "OK": Closes the dialog, moves focus to combobox, updates date in combobox.

Role, Property, State, and Tabindex Attributes

Combobox

Role Attribute Element Usage
combobox input Identifies the input element as a combobox.
aria-haspopup="dialog" input Indicates that the combobox opens a dialog.
aria-expanded="false" input Indicates that the combobox is collapsed, i.e., the "Choose Date" dialog is not displayed.
aria-expanded="true" input Indicates that the combobox is expanded, i.e., the "Choose Date" dialog is open.
aria-autocomplete="none" input Indicates the combobox does not support autocomplete.
aria-controls="IDREF" input Identifies the element controlled by the combobox.
aria-describedby="IDREF" input Identifies the element that provides an accessible description for the combobox, enabling assistive technologies to associate the date format description with the input.

Choose Date Button

Role Attribute Element Usage
tabindex="-1" button Excludes the button (i.e., the down arrow icon) from the Tab sequence as specified by the combobox design pattern.
aria-label="string" button Defines the accessible name as "Choose Date", which matches the title of the dialog opened by activating the button.

Date Picker Dialog

Role Attribute Element Usage
dialog div Identifies the element as a dialog.
aria-modal="true" div Indicates the dialog is modal.
aria-label="Choose Date" div Defines the accessible name for the dialog.
aria-live="polite" h2
  • Indicates that screen readers should automatically announce the element containing the currently displayed month and year when they change.
  • The polite value indicates that other announcements should not be interrupted.
aria-live="polite" div
  • Indicates the element that displays information about keyboard commands for navigating the grid should be automatically announced by screen readers.
  • The script slightly delays display of the information, so screen readers are more likely to announce it after announcing focus change events.
  • The polite value indicates that other announcements should not be interrupted.

Date Picker Dialog: Calendar Navigation Buttons

Role Attribute Element Usage
aria-label="String" button Defines the accessible name of the button (e.g. "Next Year").

Date Picker Dialog: Date Grid

Role Attribute Element Usage
grid table
  • Identifies the table element as a grid widget.
  • Since the grid role is applied to a table element, the row, columnheader, and gridcell roles do not need to be specified because they are implied by tr, th, and td tags.
aria-labelledby="IDREF" table Identifies the element that provides the accessible name for the grid, which is the h2 that shows the month and year of the dates displayed in the grid.
tabindex="0" td
  • Makes the gridcell focusable and includes it in the dialog Tab sequence.
  • Set dynamically by the JavaScript when the element is to be included in the dialog Tab sequence.
  • At any given time, only one gridcell within the grid is in the dialog Tab sequence.
  • This approach to managing focus is described in the section on roving tabindex.
tabindex="-1" td
  • Makes the gridcell focusable and excludes it from the dialog Tab sequence.
  • Changed dynamically to 0 by the JavaScript when the gridcell is to be included in the dialog Tab sequence.
  • At any given time, only one gridcell within the grid is in the dialog Tab sequence.
  • This approach to managing focus is described in the section on roving tabindex.
aria-selected="true" td
  • Indicates the cell is selected.
  • Set on the gridcell representing the current value of the combobox; no other gridcells have aria-selected specified.

Note: Since the names of the days of the week in the column headers are abbreviated to two characters, they may be difficult to understand when announced by a screen reader. An alternative column header name can be provided to screen readers by applying the abbr attribute to the th elements. So, each th element includes an abbr attribute containing the full spelling of the name of the day for that column.

Javascript and CSS Source Code

HTML Source Code