RE: WCAG 2.2 status - Visual indicators

> Is “active” stated to be more clear and direct than making an exception for inactive or disabled elements?

I think it was intended to exclude inactive components, and it could be clarified, but I think the other issues are more pressing.


Can this be described as “visible indicator” instead of “visual indicator”?
As an adjective, visual implies that the indicator is related to sight, whereas visible implies that the indicator is able to be seen.

I agree ‘visible indicator’ would equate to ‘able to be seen’, and then it would encompass any decorative elements that are part of the component.

The closest concept we have in 2.1 is “Visual information required to identify user interface components”. (Which has been particularly difficult to apply across lots of different scenarios.)

To keep it similar we could use something like:
“Each active user interface component provides visual information required to understand its purpose”

However, I suspect that there is not 100% overlap between identifying something, and understanding it’s purpose.

That leads onto the next point:

> Are there any methods, techniques and tests for “conveys its purpose”?

No, nor do we have clear guidance on what appropriate visual indicators would be per component type. See the other thread on gathering examples [1].


> Wrapping that icon with another visible bounding area that has a background or a border might (emphasis on might) indicate that it can be acted upon, but does not at all convey its purpose.

That’s a good point, an icon used within a link may or may not be considered a visual indicator in itself, and whether someone understands it will vary by person/tester. Applying borders (or anything pre-defined) may or may not help.


> Why is the second sentence necessary?

I don’t think it is, unless someone knows why it was there (and doesn’t overlap with 1.4.11) then we can remove it.

Overall, for the SC text aimed at providing visual indicators by default, there is a fair bit of work that needs doing, probably on the Silver timeline:
1] https://lists.w3.org/Archives/Public/w3c-wai-gl/2020JanMar/0031.html


Cheers,

-Alastair