Re: Accesskey - spec proposal

On Tue, 03 Jul 2007 23:25:01 +0200, Robert Burns <rob@robburns.com> wrote:

> I don't think accesskey is meant to (nor should be required to) work on  
> every device. To me this would be like saying we shouldn't add gestures  
> to a browser on a phone because no one can use those gestures on their  
> desktop browser. Instead they're forced to use the keyboard or the  
> mouse. So I think the accesskey merely needs to address the  
> problems/use-cases it wants to address. It doesn't have to meet the  
> needs of all users working with all devices.

The needs it addresses may not be needs of all users on all devices.  
However, the proposal is designed with the range of devices Opera ships  
for. That is far more diverse than any other browser I know and a strict  
superset of almost every other browser (we don't have a line-mode console  
browser) from touch screen and voice-interaction through basic phones and  
games consoles to desktops and set-top boxes.

It addresses the problem of dealing with existing markup and techniques  
that existing authors have been using, or which have been recommended, in  
a way that ensures backward and forward compatibility. It also addresses  
the basic problem accesskey was designed for - providing a mechanism to  
prioritise an arbitrary collection of controls in a page as requiring  
extremely rapid access.

This is essentially a problem in situations where input and navigation are  
expensive operations for the user - such as browsing with a phone, or  
using specialised input systems designed for people with disabilities.

For a limited set of situations, the browser developer may feel that in  
fact activating and using an accesskey mechanism is always harder than  
finding the relevant control. Given that the implementation can be one  
gesture, plus navigating a list on screen of only the things that have  
accesskey set, this seems like it would be a very limited set of  
situations indeed. However, the proposal does allow for that case.

cheers

Chaals

-- 
   Charles McCathieNevile, Opera Software: Standards Group
   hablo español  -  je parle français  -  jeg lærer norsk
chaals@opera.com    Catch up: Speed Dial   http://opera.com

Received on Wednesday, 4 July 2007 09:16:37 UTC