Re: techniques for author-defined UI controls

aloha, al!

as regards the 4 points i made, quote

but it is still the responsibility of the UA to (at least):

a) recognize ACCESSKEY
b) provide a well documented method for invoking ACCESSKEY
c) activate elements invoked via an ACCESSKEY in a well-documented and
consistent manner
d) provide a well-documented and consistent mechanism whereby conflicting
accelerator key combinations can either be passed through to the UA or remapped
by the UA
unquote

you remarked,
quote:
Is this the bottom line?  If so, I agree.  I hope it didn't sound as though I
don't agree...
unquote

yes, it is the bottom line, or at least, what i believe the bottom line to
be...

to answer your questions, when i wrote:quote pass conflicting key combinations
through to the UA unquote i meant a mechanism such as that employed by screen
readers which tells the application quote ignore next input unquote so that if
a screen reader command blocks a system or application command from being
executed, one can invoke the pass through keystroke so that the system or
application, and not the screen reader, receives the keyboard command, or vice
versa, depending upon the AT being used and the situation...

you also asked,
quote:
Would it suffice to say "When accelerator keys collide, the UA shall provide a
way for the user to activate either action"?
unquote

i'm not sure that that's much clearer...  this is the cascade issue addressed
ad nauseam in my past posts -- the UA needs to know, upon activation of the
accelerator, to what it should apply the action bound to that keystroke --
itself? the document currently being rendered?  the operating system?

and in what order...  perhaps the fourth point could be worded thus:

Provide a well-documented and consistent mechanism whereby conflicting
accelerator key combinations can either be:passed directly to the user agent
for the activation of an application or OS control, or used to activate the
element for which they have been defined in the document currently being
rendered.

which may necessitate a fifth point:

Provide a well-documented and consistent mechanism whereby conflicting
accelerator key combinations can remapped by the UA. It is essential that the
user be notified of any remappings.

although that option could probably be appended to the fourth point, provided
that the 3 options were listed in a bulleted or ordered list...  in any event,
i'm sure that Ian can coalesce the idea far better than i...

gregory
--------------------------------------------------------
He that lives on Hope, dies farting
     -- Benjamin Franklin, Poor Richard's Almanack, 1763
--------------------------------------------------------
Gregory J. Rosmaita <unagi69@concentric.net>
   WebMaster and Minister of Propaganda, VICUG NYC
        <http://www.hicom.net/~oedipus/vicug/index.html>
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Received on Tuesday, 2 November 1999 17:28:25 UTC