RE: Spacing Between Touch Targets

Based on the start of the SC text:
“Adjacent targets, combined with spacing between targets, have a minimum height and minimum width of at least 44 CSS pixels each except when:”
Wilco wrote:
>  The issue is that if two elements are on the same x-axis, there is no space between them on the y-axis. To me, that means the vertical space is 0, and if the elements have a height of 33px, they both fail, regardless of how much horizontal space is between them.
With two horizontally adjacent targets the vertical spacing is irrelevant. The vertical spacing is not zero, it is infinate. (Obviously there could be other targets in the vertical direction, so that is why it needs both.)
I wonder if the reference to “adjacent” triggered that interpretation?
Wilco suggested using an approach of exclusion to other targets:
> “For each target, there is an area of the display of 44 by 44 CSS pixels that includes it, and no other targets, except when:”
I don’t think we need “of the display”, and saying 44 x 44px means you can interpret it as 1,936px, which could mean 5px by 385, which is not the intent.
Detlev suggested incorporating dimension/area:
> “The dimension of the area of a target and any spacing around it is at least 44px height and 44 width except when:”
I think we should rely on the concept of ‘target’, i.e. the clickable/tapable area. With that in place, if a target has height/width+spacing, that is the same as area/dimension.

Trying to synthesise, I tried:
“Target size, including spacing between adjacent targets, is at least 44 CSS pixels horizontally and 44 CSS pixels vertically except when:”

Does that help?

-Alastair

BTW, PR created for the potential target definition errata.