RE: Seeking guidance...

On Fri, 14 Apr 2000, Bruce Bailey wrote:
CMN
  > Hmm. I think we are thinking the same thing and I am explaining it
  > badly. Here goes again...
BB  
  No, I think we just have a different opinion about the way things SHOULD
  work!
CMN
No, I think the way you describe how things should work is what I am trying
to say.

BB  
  onMouseOver is a very reasonable way to tell the computer "I might be
  interested in this, can you give me a little more information before I
  choose it?"  Clicking is a reasonable way to select something.
  
  Tabbing -- and then pausing -- is also a very reasonable way to give the
  computer the same "maybe I'll select this" message.  Enter/return is a
  reasonable way to select something.
CMN

Agreed. It seems that where you are using the term select, I am using the
term activate. Having different terminology is a communication problem - if
we can harmonise our understanding of each others' terms we will have got
most of the way to a solution *smile*

BB  
  Improving the DOM is fine, but this shouldn't be necessary.  I am perplexed
  that (1) onFocus doesn't have the same broad applicability (per the
  specifications) as onMouseOver, and (2) it requires keyboard
  activation/selection rather than the lesser standard of just actual "focus".
  It is rather obvious to me that the 4.01 spec is BROKEN in this regard.  The
  spec should be corrected (4.02) rather than wait for a whole new round of
  standards and technology to fix the problem.  I am sorry that I am about two
  years late bringing this up!
  
CMN Which spec needs to be fixed is only part of the problem. The real reason
it will be difficult is because repairing specificatins is not actually
useful in the real world until they are implemented correctly. Given teh lead
time in development cycles for browsers, the improvement of things like DOM
seems the way to go. (In fact I have worked with several browser developers
to look at this problem and possible solutions.)

Cheers

Charles

--
Charles McCathieNevile    mailto:charles@w3.org    phone: +61 (0) 409 134 136
W3C Web Accessibility Initiative                      http://www.w3.org/WAI
Location: I-cubed, 110 Victoria Street, Carlton VIC 3053
Postal: GPO Box 2476V, Melbourne 3001,  Australia

Received on Friday, 14 April 2000 10:47:47 UTC