- From: Charles McCathieNevile <charles@sidar.org>
- Date: Fri, 23 Jul 2004 16:03:12 +0300
- To: "Jesper Tverskov" <jesper.tverskov@mail.tele.dk>, w3c-wai-ig@w3.org
roughly: There are reasons for being able to open the file in the browser, and browsers generally can give the choice - they certainly should. not very carefully thought out details interspersed below. On Wed, 21 Jul 2004 10:09:38 +0200, Jesper Tverskov <jesper.tverskov@mail.tele.dk> wrote: > www.smackthemouse.com/20030831, I consider the trapping of an > application inside the browser bad for all or most users. > > a) It reduces the area available to the application compared to the > application having a window of its own. This can be a basic usability problem, but shouldn't be a big deal in a decent implementation. > b) Since most users are so used to new windows, most or many of them > will probably close "the application" like a window, loosing the > browser. Yeah, I do this :-( > In my opinion, we should always opt for solutions giving users > legitimate options rather than "one solution serves all". > In my opinion a pdf file, considering how big they often are, should > never just open inside a users browser. Both usability and accessibility > would say that the user should have a choice: do you want to open it or > do you want to save it for later consumption? As a default, I suspect it is generally easier to open it in a browser or seperate application than save it. But browsers are configured to do one or the other, or offer the choice, already. I don't think the size of the file is very relevant to how it should open. But the nature of PDF means that it is generally designed for fixed size print rendering - for which it is very good, rather than reading on a variable-size screen. (Which is what I hate trying to do. Unfortunately I belong to the emergent generation of people without a printer, and getting over the social disconnect with people who assume that printing and reading si what people do causes problems from time to time. > At the moment, the choice of open in the open/save dialog opens the > application in a new window. But that is as far as I know an operating > system problem. The dialog could probably have three options: 1) Open > inside the browser, 2) Open in own window, 3) Save the file. This is roughly what my browser does - although I have to have something configured if I want it to open in the browser. With any link I can save, or eveen open to another application (with a bit of configuration). If people met WCAG checkpoint 13.2 and 11.3 better I coulod set up my system even better... > Conclusion: > > To give the user a choice: you can open or save the file, is of cause > better than just to open a new application trapped inside the browser > right away without even presenting the user with the choice of saving > the file. And Loretta said: In keeping with UAAG Guideline 5 ("Ensure user control of user interface behavior"), the user should be able to control whether the PDF file opens in the browser or in a separate window. There is a preference in Adobe Reader, in the Internet options, that controls whether or not to display a PDF in the browser. I think it is an accessibility error for the author to override that preference. -- Charles McCathieNevile charles@sidar.org Fundción Sidar http://www.sidar.org
Received on Friday, 23 July 2004 10:04:02 UTC