[rendall]

Let's just step back and state our terms. Are we agreeing that website placing the cursor in a search box is an example of autofocus?

I believe it is reasonable to do this if there is no other purpose for the page.

If I understand correctly, it is your contention this is unreasonable because it will skip all of the other information about the page for screen readers.

My question is why screen readers cannot, or should not, handle this special case? Isn't there an argument that it helps users with hand-eye coordination problems? I am absolutely for a11y, but when there is a trade-off in degraded experience for the majority, I'd like to hear arguments why the interpretive tools used by the minority cannot handle that interpretation.