Re: 1.4.3 Contrast (Minimum) - Sufficient Technique for UI Controls

Marc,
I do not think we should create a sufficient technique which includes a 3:1 ratio for inactive controls. 1.4.3 specifically states that 
"Text or images of text that are part of an inactive user interface component .... have no contrast requirement"
so any sufficient technique should not attempt to impose one on these elements.

Regards,
James
On Mar 24, 2011, at 7:10 AM, Marc Johlic wrote:

> Hi, 
> 
> I'd like to recommend we add a new Sufficient Technique to 1.4.3 Contrast (Minimum), to cover UI controls. In particular, there should be a sufficient technique to meet the contrast ratio of 4.5:1 for active controls, or 3:1 for inactive controls
> 
> The issue is that currently 1.4.3 Contrast (Minimum) doesn't appear to provide clear guidance around UI controls on web pages that do not have any text associated with them (i.e. An icon of a gear for options, an _ to minimize or an 'x' to close a window).
> 
> Most of the techniques are for the minimum contrast requirements of text and images of text.
> 
> There is an Advisory Technique that states: "Making icons using simple line drawings that meet the contrast provisions for text (future link) ". Perhaps that could be expanded on to include UI controls on a page and moved to a Sufficient Technique for UI controls.
> 
> Even with that though, we are seeing more and more web pages that consist of several "portlets" where only one portlet or division on the page might be active at any one time. The remaining portlets / divisions have controls that would be in an inactive or disabled state.
> 
> Where do we find the balance between meeting minimum contrast requirements - especially for inactive controls - and cognitive overload where the user cannot discern between which controls are active or inactive on a page?
> 
> Our recommendation to teams has been that the controls on the page should follow the contrast guidelines, and depending on the size of the actual control, the control would be treated as either large text or small text and follow the associated guideline. Disabled / Inactive controls were included in this recommendation as well.
> 
> 
> Do you think this is something that the WG could take a look at and provide more guidance?
> 
> 
> Unfortunately I couldn't quickly find an external site that had an example of the controls and pages we're seeing lately, but while not a perfect example, the "Basic Form Widgets" and "Sliders" tabs on the Dojo Toolkit Rich UI Widgets page help to give a visual sample of disabled / inactive controls: http://dojotoolkit.org/widgets 
> 
> The types of controls we're running into are similar but without the text on or near the control.
> 
> Marc Johlic 
> Accessibility Consultant
> Human Ability & Accessibility Center, IBM Research
> 
> ( (T/L) 391-5905 | External 813-356-3081 
> * johlic@us.ibm.com	
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Received on Thursday, 24 March 2011 16:01:18 UTC