[Dom3Events] Re: DOMActivate vs. Activation Behavior

aloha, doug & janina!

thank you, doug, for making such a clear and important distinction 
between the deprecation of DOMActivate and "activation behavior" -- 
and, having the draft to refer to makes it easier to flush out any 
remaining devils that might be in the details, if any still exist...

janina, how should PF proceed?  discuss at an upcoming PF meeting after 
ascertaining if there is anything that needs to be discussed or explored
further with doug and the WebApps WG?  i know that with the heavy ARIA 
review, there haven't been many available cycles for WG members to 
digest:

http://dev.w3.org/2006/webapi/DOM-Level-3-Events/html/DOM3-
Events.html#event-flow-activation

let alone discuss it, but at what point do we want to try and arrange 
another slice of joint teleconference time?  it was REALLY helpful to 
speak directly with doug, and i think that including doug in our 
deliberations (if he has the time/availability) would expedite our 
review of one of the issues which the WebApps WG and editors of the DOM3 
Events spec asked us to review, namely, the switch in nomenclature and 
the deprecation of DOMActivate.

gregory.

---------- Original Message -----------
From: Doug Schepers <schepers@w3.org>
To: "w3c-wai-pf@w3.org PF" <w3c-wai-pf@w3.org>, "www-dom@w3.org" <www-
dom@w3.org>, public-hypertext-cg@w3.org
Sent: Mon, 08 Feb 2010 04:20:39 -0500
Subject: DOMActivate vs. Activation Behavior

> Hi, PFWG-
> 
> I had a nice chat with Gregory Rosmaita the other day, and he 
> and I cleared up some possible disconnects on both our parts 
> regarding the deprecation of 'DOMActivate'.  I incorporated the 
> fruits of our discussion in the current editor's draft of the 
> DOM3 Events spec [1], which I hope clarifies not only the 
> details of activation behavior, but the intent and implications 
> of deprecating 'DOMActivate'.
> 
> Here are a couple more important points that Gregory advised me 
> to emphasize:
> 
> * 'DOMActivate' is not the same as "activation behavior".  
> Deprecating the 'DOMActivate' event type does not imply removing 
> "activation behavior" (note that activation behavior is not 
> defined merely in terms of event flow, but in terms of user and 
> UA behavior, as well).  On the contrary, I have expanded and 
> clarified activation behavior, with a much more precise and 
> interoperably-implementable definition that distinguishes 
> between activation triggers and activation behavior, with clear 
> instructions on how a "host language" (i.e. a markup language 
> which uses DOM3 Events) should specify any activation behaviors 
> for that language, and a ordered list of events and default 
> actions that UAs must follow sequentially to correctly allow for 
> activation, in particular with regards to keyboard activation.
> 
> * With regards to the vernacular use of "click", especially in 
> other languages, a distinction must be drawn between how people 
> speak about a user interface and what event types correspond to 
> those user actions. For example, it's common to say "press the 
> 'Enter' key", but the 'keypress' event does not register events 
> on the 'Enter' key, only events from character-producing keys; 
> thus, developers must use the 'keydown' event type.  Providing 
> developers with clear instructions regarding the necessary 
> jargon is the way to yield consistent user experience, and I 
> believe the current DOM3 Events spec does that with regards to 
> device-independent activation.  The name of the event type is 
> unfortunate, but inconsequential.
> 
> * Existing content and languages which use 'DOMActivate' should 
> not be adversely affected by this; languages which use 
> 'DOMActivate' (such as XForms) can continue to define that event 
> type going forward [2].
> 
> * The most important goal here is to make sure that all users 
> are able to benefit from equal access; insisting that authors 
> use 'DOMActivate' rather than 'click' makes content creation 
> more difficult, and in fact ghettoizes users of AT to those 
> sites and UAs that use 'DOMActivate' 
> (and those resources are very few).
> 
> [1] 
> http://dev.w3.org//2006/webapi/DOM-Level-3-Events/html/DOM3-
> Events.html#event-flow-activation
> 
> [2] 
> http://lists.w3.org/Archives/Public/public-hypertext-
cg/2010JanMar/0002.html
> 
> Regards-
> -Doug Schepers
> W3C Team Contact, SVG and WebApps WGs
------- End of Original Message -------

Received on Tuesday, 9 February 2010 19:42:42 UTC