Functional Images - Icons - 3.2.4 Consistent Identification

Dear Group Members, 

Further to my recent email on Clarifying User Journeys using SEO User Intents… (https://lists.w3.org/Archives/Public/w3c-wai-gl/2022AprJun/0224.html).

I am constantly amazed at the massive number of sometimes wildly different icons (functional images) used across the web to represent the exact same user intent supporting function.

Under 3.2.4 we expressly say: 

"The intent of this Success Criterion is to ensure consistent identification of functional components that appear repeatedly within a set of Web pages. A strategy that people who use screen readers use when operating a Web site is to rely heavily on their familiarity with functions that may appear on different Web pages. If identical functions have different labels (or, more generally, a different accessible name) on different Web pages, the site will be considerably more difficult to use. It may also be confusing and increase the cognitive load for people with cognitive limitations. Therefore, consistent labeling will help."

The problem, however, is that that is limited to consistency within a single website; when we know already that the user is likely to experience inconsistencies with the very next website they visit.  Essentially, to my mind, 3.2.4 is at too low a level (intra-website only) to be as beneficial to users as it potentially might be.

In the "Measuring Alt Text Quality" paper I presented earlier to this group (https://docs.google.com/document/d/1IVCPcfyfnjm2RJRvgV5pbcQLwzxXKHw66V7R-OW3wiE/edit#) I talked about the need for standard labels for standard icons for standard functions. For example, all images of a printer should be given the label “print this page”; and all images of a magnifying glass should be given the label “magnifying lens”.  However, when writing this document I failed to comprehend that there is really no such thing as a “standard icon” for a standard function; even though there are a great many standard functions for servicing standard user intents.

In an article on “Icon Usability” presented by the Nielsen Norman Group a while back (https://www.nngroup.com/articles/icon-usability/) they highlighted the exact same thing, stating "This absence of a standard hurts the adoption of an icon over time, as users cannot rely on it having the same functionality every time it is encountered.”

With this in mind, I wonder if the W3C might consider at some point the creation of a style-guide for standard icons for standard functions supporting standard user intents - possibly under Tutorials. Actually saying in this style-guide what each standard icon should include e.g. that a search icon should contain a visually recognisable magnifying glass symbol; or a print icon should contain a visually recognisable printer symbol. 

This suggestion is made with the best possible intention of trying to unlock the true potential of 3.2.4 for users - so that they can rely on consistent identification of at least some icons from website to website; rather than simply from web page to web page within the same website.

Apologies in advance if this has already been noted; I completed a search within the documents, but did not find anything.

Very best regards

Alistair Garrison
CEO / Founder Accesseo Limited

Received on Tuesday, 14 June 2022 09:12:31 UTC