Determining the status of draft WCAG 2.2 SC 2.5.7 Dragging Movements

Hi,

Now that we are approaching 'last call' for 2.2, I would like to get a
feeling for the WG's position on the draft SC 2.5.7 Dragging Movements.

In a call in early January 2022, there was feedback that currently there
is not sufficient empirical evidence that requiring single point
activation alternatives for dragging movements would be a tangible
benefit for people with motor impairments. These are a few of the points
made:

* People with motor disabilites often use settings of the OS or
specialist assistive technology to lock and then move elements
* There is a significant extra burden on developers in adding
alternative means of interaction to dragging movements. This may cause
strong pushback
* There is a concern that adding alternative means of interaction
increases interface complexity, increasing cognitive load

In the call, I offered to contact some user organisations of people with
motor disabilities to improve the evidence base.

After doing a quick search of suitable organisations, I have written to
five different organisations requesting feedback on the draft SC 2.5.7
Dragging Movements and the underlying user need:

* Paralysis Recovery Foundation (https://www.paralysisfoundation.org/)
* Christopher & Dana Reeve Foundation (https://www.christopherreeve.org/)
* Bundesverband für körper- und mehrfachbehinderte Menschen e.V.
(https://bvkm.de/)
* Bundesverband Selbsthilfe Körperbehinderter e.V. (https://bsk-ev.org)
* Pfennigparade (https://pfennigparade.de)

A couple got back to asking me to qualify my request, saying they would
refer this to people withing the organisation who might be able to
provide feedback.

The only reply I eventually got so far was from Pfennigparade, a large
organisation in Munich where many people with motor impairments work.
(We also work with them directly because they carry out conformance
audits using BIK BITV-Test).

This is what I got from Pfennigparade as feedback:

=== START OF Pfennigparade feedback ===

We sat down today and the requirement was clearly assessed as helpful.

Involved were three people who work with a mobility impairment using
both desktop and smartphone and tablet.
The particular challenge with dragging is that you actually have to do
two movements -- press/click and move -- at the same time. That's
challenging on the one hand, and on the other hand, you don't always
work accurately.
The three also work more with workarounds than with tools. With maps,
for example, you zoom out instead of moving, since that is possible with
a button. Then you can re-center the map with a tab or click and zoom
back in.
All in all, a back button would be great for such interactions, since
the complexity of the movement often makes it difficult to work in a
targeted manner and tasks end up in the wrong bucket.

In addition, Thomas Ernst also has a hint as a speech input user:
Just as an info of a speech input user in the round: For me these
requirements are very helpful. I have been wishing for something like
this for many years.
Especially dragging is often not possible with a speech input. Dragon
Naturally Speaking offers this feature in principle, but it doesn't work
in an estimated 50% of cases. This is thus the biggest limitation I
experience as a speech input user.

=== END OF Pfennigparade feedback ===

So I don't know where this leaves us. I am not aware if of others in the
group have reached out to other organisations. If so, please report on
any feedback you have.

I suggest to bring this up in one of the next WG calls to decide whether
be put this aside for 2.2 or proceed with adding it, checking what
public responses we will get.

Best,
Detlev

-- 
Detlev Fischer
DIAS GmbH
(Testkreis is now part of DIAS GmbH)

Mobil +49 (0)157 57 57 57 45

http://www.dias.de
Beratung, Tests und Schulungen für barrierefreie Websites

Received on Tuesday, 3 May 2022 09:25:42 UTC