- From: <tina@greytower.net>
- Date: Wed, 19 Nov 2003 05:20:54 +0100 (CET)
- To: w3c-wai-ig@w3.org
On 18 Nov, Info AT ATutor wrote: > Please learn about transformable content. That is where web > accessibility is going. Could you please elaborate on the term "transformable content" ? I am not familiar with it. > your studies of web accesibility. There is rarely consideration of the > needs of those with learning disabilities in accessibility discussions. Granted. Sadly the issues surrounding quite a few groups in society are left out; one of which being those with learning disabilities, another being the eldery. I believe some of the same issues might actually be present for both groups. > When the new windows issue arises now and again, the needs of a person > with a short term memory disability always seem to be secondary to the > needs of those with sensory disabilities, if their needs arise at all. [...] > A second window can be quite useful for a person who has difficulty > remembering what they've just read. The dynamic help as suggested by ... I have not done extensive work with issues relating to the web AND individuals with learning disabilities; though I have worked with both in isolation. However, I can readily accept your argument on the usefulness of a second window. That said: noone claims that a link should not be able to open in a secondary window/tab/etc. The claim - I'd go so far as "fact" - is that *any* link can do this. Most user agents, graphical and non-graphical, can load a document into a secondary rendering unit (typically a window). Author-decided opening of new windows, however, is difficult. Some thoughts spring to mind: - If an author encodes the link as a Javascript, then the user cannot, usually, open that link in a manner of their own choosing. For instance, when using Mozilla you can set up the middle mouse button to open a link as a new tab. If the link is a Javascript, then you are forced to allow it to open a new window instead. As late as this afternoon I got into trouble with that: images of movie posters were linked by a Javascript which - on Windows and IE - opened a window of the same size as the image; on Unix/Mozilla the window was tiny and had to be resized. Had I now had a motor disability, I'd found myself in the situation of being forced to resize that window instead of - as I would prefer to do - open it in a new tab. - If the link is encoded with target, it might open in a manner not controllable by the user - a good example is if the user employs a virtual monitor that is larger than the physical one, or - a related issue - if the user has a screen magnifying tool. I'd like to suggest that teaching a person with a learning disability how to use their browser to open a new window might be better than creating links which (a) Will create accessibility problems for other groups, and (b) Won't always and consistently work for your student. Am I that far off when I say that teaching a person with a learning disability that "Links may open in new windows, or perhaps new tabs, or perhaps in this window, or ... " would be worse than teaching them that "This movement opens the link in a new window" ? The latter has the benefit for consistency, something I'd think would be a good thing for this particular group of people. As I mentioned, this topic is not my forte. Perhaps you can comment on my thoughts above ? -- - Tina Holmboe Greytower Technologies tina@greytower.net http://www.greytower.net/ [+46] 0708 557 905
Received on Tuesday, 18 November 2003 23:21:02 UTC