DHTML Issues

On our last Telecon we discussed issues related to DHTML.  I just want to
summarize some of the main issues and the potential strengths and
limitations of different solution strategies:

UA Issues
1. User identification of a DHTML event(s) associated with a particular
element
a. Importance of event (similar to the description of an image.  We may
need    something to describe events like images are described)
b. Technical aspects of associating events with a particular element

2. Keyboard based emulation of mouse events
3. User orientation to the results of triggering an event

Some solutions:
1. Tab (sequential access) to all elements that have an event associated
with them. 
Advantage: Provides means to identify all elements that have an event
associated with it to the user.
Disadvantage: With event bubbling it may require the user to stop at every
element in a page.
Fix up: Only elements with explicit events are tabbed to.  This would
require page authoring guidelines.

2. Require that all elements that respond to a DHTML event have a ID.
Advantage: All elements that respond to events are marked
Disadvantage: Some elements with IDs may be chnaged by DHML events, but do
not respond to DHTML events themselvs.  For example clicking on a title in
an outline of a book may expose the chapter text.  The chapter text may
have IDs, but the elements do no respond to mouse events.

3. We need someway to mark elements with important DHTML events, so that
the user agent can indentify them easily for alternative presentation and
activation by the user.

Jon

Jon Gunderson, Ph.D., ATP
Coordinator of Assistive Communication and Information Technology
Division of Rehabilitation - Education Services
University of Illinois at Urbana/Champaign
1207 S. Oak Street
Champaign, IL 61820

Voice: 217-244-5870
Fax: 217-333-0248
E-mail: jongund@uiuc.edu
WWW:	http://www.staff.uiuc.edu/~jongund
	http://www.als.uiuc.edu/InfoTechAccess

Received on Thursday, 1 October 1998 23:03:41 UTC