Re: Simpler Point of Regard?

Ian Jacobs wrote:<snip>

> |[Technique: 5.2.6] [Priority 2]
> |      Provide the user with information about how much of the
> |      document has been viewed (i.e., the location of the point
> |      of regard).
>
> Do we mean "Up to a specific point designated by a cursor, the
> focus, or the selection?" Or "Up to a specific point that is
> the beginning of the data in my viewport?"
>

My personal take on the above was closer to the latter, though not exactly the
same. For someone using a GUI browser, the scrollbar gives an indication of how
far down into the document the current screen-content is, but the indication is
for the full amount of screen content: if you make the window narrower to force
more word-wrapping, the size and position of the scroll-box (the part that
moves up and down) will change because the percentage of the document being
viewed will change. This dual nature of the scroll-box (size and position)
reflects the two-dimensional nature of the displayed document.

For one-dimensional displays such as audio or braille, it's not actually clear
to me whether the above should refer to the word(s) last spoken or the point
just past the word(s) last spoken. Perhaps the latter, since that would be the
'virtual cursor' position.

> |Guideline 5.6: Allow the user to search for information on the page
> |   When a search matches, the point of regard is moved
> |   to the matched location.
>
> Does this mean that the viewport moves to expose the matched search
> text? Or does it mean that the selection is moved to the matched
> search text? Or both?
>

Gut reaction: both.

--
  -- Paul Adelson
------
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Received on Wednesday, 2 December 1998 14:32:22 UTC