Re: Question on Active state styling for links

I strongly agree with Jonathan. Feedback from electronic controls is 
critical, and has a long history (subtle audio signal clicks on 
telephone lines that many folks assume are part of the process of 
connecting to a call). Users need to distinguish between something going 
wrong (locked up phone, slow phone, connection blip, bad connection, 
website just went down) and it going as expected. I think feedback is 
not only critical but often missing and needs attention. This is an 
accessibility issue because lack of feedback increases cognitive effort 
and can increase steps.

Cheers,
Kim

On 7/8/2015 9:59 AM, Jonathan Avila wrote:
>> Is there a particular value in providing alternative styling for :active links in the mobile environment? That is, when the link is touched or clicked that there is a visible change in appearance.
> My opinion (and this is based on the BBC mobile standards and guidelines project) is that the user would benefit from feedback to know something happened when an interaction has occurred.  For example, if I tap and add button but it's not obvious that something was added to my cart a noticeable visual indicator would be very helpful.  This could be done by the add button changing in a way to show that it was activated or it could be some other visual item nearby changing or moving, etc.
>
> Jonathan
>
> -- 
> Jonathan Avila
> Chief Accessibility Officer
> SSB BART Group
> jon.avila@ssbbartgroup.com
> Phone 703.637.8957
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>
> -----Original Message-----
> From: Jeanne Spellman [mailto:jeanne@w3.org]
> Sent: Wednesday, July 08, 2015 9:52 AM
> To: MATF
> Cc: Michael Cooper; Kevin White; wai-eo-editors
> Subject: Question on Active state styling for links
>
> I received a question that originated with the EO working group where they would like an opinion from the Mobile Accessibility Task Force.
>
> Is there a particular value in providing alternative styling for :active links in the mobile environment? That is, when the link is touched or clicked that there is a visible change in appearance.
>
> An informal opinion from the WCAG WG is that WCAG doesn't address the need for alternative styling -- outside of issues of how it is styled, e.g. for color and contrast.  Is there a particular value from the mobile perspective that merits creating a technique for this?
>
> Here is the example from EO  --the "Getting Started Tips", specifically on "Ensure interactive elements are easy to identify": - http://w3c.github.io/wai-quick-start/designing.html#ensure-interactive-elements-are-easy-to-identify
>
>
> Thanks,
>
> jeanne
>
>

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Kimberly Patch
President
Redstart Systems, Inc.
(617) 325-3966
kim@redstartsystems.com

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