Re: Spawned browsers, one more time

Thanks you for detailed descriptions.  I think your suggests are important
issues and we need to discuss these as a group.  The first two issues are
clearly under the control of the browser.  The third is dependent on
whether the browser supports multiple windows, if not it maybe a more at an
operating system level to know how many copies of a browser are running.

Jon


At 09:08 AM 10/6/98 -0500, Paul Adelson wrote:
>Is it possible to get feedback from the group as a whole on whether the
>following items should be included in the UA guidelines? I've gotten mixed
>reactions to earlier versions. One of our esteemed members has seemed
>uncomfortable with the ideas, but I've also gotten email that supports the
ideas
>strongly (emails from some PWD's re new browser windows that are unannounced,
>re-sized, etc, have included words like 'confusing', 'annoying', and
>'arrogant'.)
>
>1) [Priority 1] When new browsers are spawned, give users the option of
>overriding author-designated changes to window size, window positioning, and
>display of menus and toolbars.
>
>    This is no different than stating that the user's stylesheet should
have the
>right to override the author's stylesheet, except that this is at a browser
>level instead of a stylesheet level. Try using a headwand when a spawned
browser
>window covers all of your 'Always On Top' tools and taskbars, or within a
>non-resizable menuless window that's larger than your current screen size.
(Both
>circumstances are possible to create with current browsers.)
>
>2) [Priority 2 (1?)] Browsers that are capable of spawning new browser
windows
>should give users the option of not spawning new browser windows and the
option
>of being asked before a new browser window is spawned, while still allowing
>javascript and apps to run if the user desires.
>
>    This is analogous to current browser options regarding Cookies, which are
>also managed by scripts or apps and can be controlled at the browser level
>without disabling scripts or apps.
>    Asking the user before spawning a new browser would at least provide a
>mechanism to let blind users know that a new browser window was being
generated,
>and reduce related user disorientation.
>
>3) [Priority 3?] Provide a mechanism for the user to readily identify how
many
>browser windows are open, and to easily differentiate the browser windows
from
>one another.
>
>    To understand why this is an access issue, try this with current
>browser/screen-reader combinations (and without looking at the monitor): open
>four browser windows, each pointing to a different article in the same
section
>of the Chicago Tribune site, for instance. Now try to activate the second
>browser window, and then the first. At least part of the problem is the
>authoring -- the page titles will all be the same. But one could argue
that part
>of the problem is that the browser provides no hints to the user about the
order
>of window creation or anything else to distinguish one window from another.
>
>(BTW - I've been given the impression that Opera 3.x already meets all of the
>above, though I have not used Opera myself.)
>
>  -- Paul Adelson
>------
>* The views expressed are those of the
>* author and do not necessarily reflect the
>* position of Citibank or its parent
>* company.
> 
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 Tuesday, 6 October 1998 12:15:22 UTC