Hi Marge
Sorry for the delay getting back to you.
I had several false starts on this during the week trying to implement an alternative accessible datepicker, or an accessible text input field with masking for the date format, and I had trouble getting anything to work satisfactorily, while testing using a screen reader.
In the end I decided the most robust solution was to use separate select dropdowns for the day-of-month, the month, and the year, and then use JS to populate a hidden field with the corresponding timestamp (which is what happens behind the scenes with the current implementation with the datepicker).
You will need to make some minor modifications to your existing form.
Before starting, I suggest you make a backup.
Then edit the form.
Remove the existing input for the date of birth field.
In its place, add a custom HTML section, which you can copy and paste the following into:
<div class="form-group">
<label>Enter date of birth:</label>
<select id='date-day' name='date-day' required aria-label="Enter day of month">
<option value="" selected>dd</option>
<option value="01">01</option>
<option value="02">02</option>
<option value="03">03</option>
<option value="04">04</option>
<option value="05">05</option>
<option value="06">06</option>
<option value="07">07</option>
<option value="08">08</option>
<option value="09">09</option>
<option value="10">10</option>
<option value="11">11</option>
<option value="12">12</option>
<option value="13">13</option>
<option value="14">14</option>
<option value="15">15</option>
<option value="16">16</option>
<option value="17">17</option>
<option value="18">18</option>
<option value="19">19</option>
<option value="20">20</option>
<option value="21">21</option>
<option value="22">22</option>
<option value="23">23</option>
<option value="24">24</option>
<option value="25">25</option>
<option value="26">26</option>
<option value="27">27</option>
<option value="28">28</option>
<option value="29">29</option>
<option value="30">30</option>
<option value="31">31</option>
</select>
<select id='date-month' name='date-month' required aria-label="Enter month of year">
<option value="" selected>mm</option>
<option value="01">01</option>
<option value="02">02</option>
<option value="03">03</option>
<option value="04">04</option>
<option value="05">05</option>
<option value="06">06</option>
<option value="07">07</option>
<option value="08">08</option>
<option value="09">09</option>
<option value="10">10</option>
<option value="11">11</option>
<option value="12">12</option>
</select>
<select id='date-year' name='date-year' required aria-label="Enter year">
<option value="" selected>yyyy</option>
<option value="1940">1940</option>
<option value="1941">1941</option>
<option value="1942">1942</option>
<option value="1943">1943</option>
<option value="1944">1944</option>
<option value="1945">1945</option>
<option value="1946">1946</option>
<option value="1947">1947</option>
<option value="1948">1948</option>
<option value="1949">1949</option>
<option value="1950">1950</option>
<option value="1951">1951</option>
<option value="1952">1952</option>
<option value="1953">1953</option>
<option value="1954">1954</option>
<option value="1955">1955</option>
<option value="1956">1956</option>
<option value="1957">1957</option>
<option value="1958">1958</option>
<option value="1959">1959</option>
<option value="1960">1960</option>
<option value="1961">1961</option>
<option value="1962">1962</option>
<option value="1963">1963</option>
<option value="1964">1964</option>
<option value="1965">1965</option>
<option value="1966">1966</option>
<option value="1967">1967</option>
<option value="1968">1968</option>
<option value="1969">1969</option>
<option value="1970">1970</option>
<option value="1971">1971</option>
<option value="1972">1972</option>
<option value="1973">1973</option>
<option value="1974">1974</option>
<option value="1975">1975</option>
<option value="1976">1976</option>
<option value="1977">1977</option>
<option value="1978">1978</option>
<option value="1979">1979</option>
<option value="1980">1980</option>
<option value="1981">1981</option>
<option value="1982">1982</option>
<option value="1983">1983</option>
<option value="1984">1984</option>
<option value="1985">1985</option>
<option value="1986">1986</option>
<option value="1987">1987</option>
<option value="1988">1988</option>
<option value="1989">1989</option>
<option value="1990">1990</option>
<option value="1991">1991</option>
<option value="1992">1992</option>
<option value="1993">1993</option>
<option value="1994">1994</option>
<option value="1995">1995</option>
<option value="1996">1996</option>
<option value="1997">1997</option>
<option value="1998">1998</option>
<option value="1999">1999</option>
<option value="2000">2000</option>
<option value="2001">2001</option>
<option value="2002">2002</option>
<option value="2003">2003</option>
<option value="2004">2004</option>
<option value="2005">2005</option>
<option value="2006">2006</option>
<option value="2007">2007</option>
<option value="2008">2008</option>
<option value="2009">2009</option>
<option value="2010">2010</option>
<option value="2011">2011</option>
<option value="2012">2012</option>
<option value="2013">2013</option>
<option value="2014">2014</option>
<option value="2015">2015</option>
<option value="2016">2016</option>
<option value="2017">2017</option>
<option value="2018">2018</option>
<option value="2019">2019</option>
<option value="2020">2020</option>
<option value="2021">2021</option>
<option value="2022">2022</option>
<option value="2023">2023</option>
<option value="2024">2024</option>
<option value="2025">2025</option>
<option value="2026">2026</option>
<option value="2027">2027</option>
<option value="2028">2028</option>
<option value="2029">2029</option>
</select>
</div>
That will add select dropdowns for day, month, and year, and these work with screen readers.
Then add a generic hidden field to the form.
For the slug use the key of the date field, i.e. "wpcf-date-of-birth".
At this point you need to switch to Expert mode. In the form markup, locate the generic field you just added, and edit the JSON settings to add a "persist":1 setting, e.g.
[cred_generic_field type='hidden' field='wpcf-date-of-birth']
{
"default":"",
"persist":1
}
[/cred_generic_field]
Finally, you need to add the following custom JS:
document.addEventListener("DOMContentLoaded", function (event) {
(function ($) {
$('select[name="date-day"],select[name="date-month"],select[name="date-year"]').change(function () {
var day = $('select[name="date-day"]').val();
var month = $('select[name="date-month"]').val();
var year = $('select[name="date-year"]').val();
if (day != "" && month != "" && year != "") {
var timestamp = Date.UTC(year, month - 1, day);
$('input[name="wpcf-date-of-birth"]').val(timestamp/1000);
}
});
})(jQuery);
});
Test your form and verify that it works as you would expect normally. If you are able to you can also test using a screen reader. I did this and confirm that it should work, because it is using standard browser form inputs.
Let me know how you get on.
