Re: Second thoughts on pointer gestures and drag-and-drop

On 23/05/2018 11:04, Detlev Fischer (TK) wrote:
> I have some (late) second thoughts on the new SC Pointer Gestures.
> 
> If we look at an example of drag-and-drop that has purpose of laying out 
> elements on a two-dimensional plane (as in composing a diagram)
> 
> https://salesforce-ux.github.io/dnd-a11y-patterns/#/canvas?_k=l04mef
> 
> and this construct has been made keyboard-accessible (with added 
> instructions for desktop screen reader users via aria-live) and also 
> allows dragging with a single pointer (including touch), do we really 
> mean there should be an extra mechanism to move the objects with single 
> clicks / tabs? This seems to necessitate either
> 
> - four discrete buttons at each side of a moveable object, or
> 
> - a mechanism whereby the object can be selected / picked up and 
> onscreen controls (arrows) are then available to move the selected 
> element in discrete steps
> 
> I fear we might have gone too far; I fear that adding extra 
> functionality for draggable objects to afford single click/tap operation 
> might decrease the usability / affordance overall, and may not be worth 
> it (quite apart from adding a lot of complexity for developers). Even 
> so, the current SC text seems to mandate exactly that, and would fail 
> the example above. Since accommodations are possible, this does not seem 
> to be a case for the 'essential' exception - but others may disagree.
> 
> Thoughts?

I'd note that the intention for the SC is to prohibit *path-based* 
gestures. i.e. where a user has to follow a specific path / make a 
specific gesture (e.g. a precisely timed and executed swipe or similar). 
Dragging/dropping is more of a freeform interaction...while the user is 
dragging, it doesn't matter if they stray off a specific path or not, 
what counts is only the start and end points. Maybe this should be 
clarified (assuming my take on this is correct).

P
-- 
Patrick H. Lauke

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Received on Wednesday, 23 May 2018 10:20:52 UTC