Re: [csswg-drafts] [css-scrollbars] `scrollbar-width` should support custom measurements (#6263)

I am one of the users of scrollbar add-ons / user style sheets and also a developer with some focus on usability.

My main point is:
Scrollbars (should!) show how much content is visible (including if there is more), and they should be draggable.

This also means, the width (and also the min length of the thumb) should be under control of the user, just like the font size.

Important: Unlike Buttons on a web page, the scrollbars don't zoom!
This is another problem with accessibility, and it might be related to the lack of a numeric width.

If scrollbar-width can't be specified in units, it's not possible to override the width by a user style sheet or an add-on or a browser setting.

Adding it would
* allow web page developers to specify their preferred size
* allow the user/browser to override it
which means both worlds are happy like it is for fonts and similar elements.
Instead now, it's inconvenient for both parties.

Also, scrollbar-width simply doesn't follow other width specifications. It's kind of non-standard in my opinion. If I read "width" I shouldn't have to read a document to set one.

I don't see any good reason against it.

Especially this one is kind of weird (meant in the direction of browser implementors):

> Multiple browser implementors objected to allowing arbitrary sizes, as it would interfere with usage of the browser-default scrollbars

It's quite similar to the situation for fonts or buttons or anything else.
I think the same solutions should be used here. Browsers and users can override the size. And they can do it with all the power of css (conditionally, e.g. for single websites, or in certain situations, etc.).

It's not a new thing that some css properties cannot be fully supported and are replaced by something near to it or even stay fixed. That's especially a no-brainer for scrollbars, they usually don't disturb website layout.

Please do something for users this time.

Websites are already creating their own scrollbar implementations (I think some do it on user demand, because thin might be looking fancy, but usability is bad) and this creates even more diversity, which is the opposite of a standard.

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Received on Tuesday, 2 August 2022 17:09:40 UTC