RE: Visual Indicators

Hello Fazio,

You wrote
“Using clear, salient, visual indicators helps users reduce mental fatigue, because the content jumps out at you in a process known as “bottom up attention, which is involuntary. It also helps users understand content (what it is, what it does), and helps prevent performing the wrong action. Text links aren’t typically used to perform processes or functions. Buttons, and controls are, which probably sounds redundant.  “

I fully agree.
Each element (needed in a process) shall indicate what it is and what it does.
I suggest to word the SC on visual indicators accordingly.

For many elements there are conventions and common understanding which are suitable indications.
What is suitable according to our (the working group’s) experience can and should be explained in the understanding.
Several indication options have been mentioned along this week’s emails on the topic.

Best regards,
Gundula

From: David Fazio <dfazio@helixopp.com>
Sent: Mittwoch, 8. April 2020 20:37
To: Niemann, Gundula <gundula.niemann@sap.com>; David MacDonald <david@can-adapt.com>; WCAG <w3c-wai-gl@w3.org>
Subject: Re: Visual Indicators

We have done a lot of work, this past year, to identify and address some critical user needs in COGA. In reference to this SC they would be:

Helping users understand what things are and how to use them;

Using clear and understandable content;

Preventing the user from making mistakes

Also:

As I briefly mentioned, when a user browses a page they rely on “top-down attention”. This is a voluntary, narrow minded, tunnel vision, effort that is driven by internal predispositions of what the user expects to find (what it would look like). In doing so, they filter out most all other information that doesn’t meet their predisposed expectations (we rely on past experiences for this). This creates a high probability of “inattentional blindness, which is failing to notice something because it doesn’t meet your internal, or sub-conscious, expectations. In order for a stimulus to catch your attention it must be “salient”. This means it must have some logical relationship to the background, as well as your internal expectations, while also having prominent characteristics that make it stound out as different.

Using clear, salient, visual indicators helps users reduce mental fatigue, because the content jumps out at you in a process known as “bottom up attention, which is involuntary. It also helps users understand content (what it is, what it does), and helps prevent performing the wrong action. Text links aren’t typically used to perform processes or functions. Buttons, and controls are, which probably sounds redundant.

So, I am in favor of expanding the scope.

David Fazio


From: "Niemann, Gundula" <gundula.niemann@sap.com<mailto:gundula.niemann@sap.com>>
Date: Wednesday, April 8, 2020 at 9:36 AM
To: David MacDonald <david@can-adapt.com<mailto:david@can-adapt.com>>, WCAG <w3c-wai-gl@w3.org<mailto:w3c-wai-gl@w3.org>>
Subject: RE: Visual Indicators
Resent-From: <w3c-wai-gl@w3.org<mailto:w3c-wai-gl@w3.org>>
Resent-Date: Wednesday, April 8, 2020 at 9:36 AM

Hello David, hello all,

in fact we do not agree to widen the scope of the upcoming “Visual Indicators” Success Criterion to inline links in a block of text,
as inline links are handled in SC 1.4.1, and the Success Criteria should be free of overlaps.
For easier reference, I linked some documents which are relevant in this context.
Some are from WCAG 2.0, some are from WCAG 2.1.
Use of Color:
Understanding SC 1.4.1 (in WCAG 2.0)
Section Techniques and Failures for Success Criterion 1.4.1 - Use of Color
https://www.w3.org/TR/UNDERSTANDING-WCAG20/visual-audio-contrast-without-color.html


Understanding Success Criterion 1.4.1: Use of Color
https://www.w3.org/WAI/WCAG21/Understanding/use-of-color.html


Using a contrast ratio of 3:1 with surrounding text and providing additional visual cues on focus for links or controls where color alone is used to identify them
https://www.w3.org/WAI/WCAG21/Techniques/general/G183


F73: Failure of Success Criterion 1.4.1 due to creating links that are not visually evident without color vision
https://www.w3.org/TR/WCAG20-TECHS/F73.html

https://www.w3.org/WAI/WCAG21/Techniques/failures/F73


Best regards,
Gundula

----------
Dr. Gundula Niemann
SAP Accessibility Competence Center
SAP SE





From: David MacDonald <david@can-adapt.com<mailto:david@can-adapt.com>>
Sent: Dienstag, 7. April 2020 19:32
To: WCAG <w3c-wai-gl@w3.org<mailto:w3c-wai-gl@w3.org>>
Subject: Visual Indicators

Hi all

On the call John Avila, John Kirkwood and Brooks said they would like to see the scope of the Visual Indicators SC widened. Here is my attempt to do that while not impacting current design conventions.

      Visual Indicators: For controls needed to progress or complete a process, and inline links in a block of text, differences in spacing between elements, typeface, font size, or font style are not used as the only visual means of conveying interaction.

             Exception: An underline is a sufficient indicator that a control is actionable.

https://docs.google.com/document/d/1WhZAbswvPHs7A3stfqM_ATsaBHPeGbHtARcmaKMck1U/edit?usp=sharing


Cheers,
David MacDonald



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