Re: JFW 3.5 Window List & Description

Hi Gregory,

What you propose below is that user agents bypass
the standard Windows task control mechanism (which is apparently
buggy). I have problems with this technique since it seems
to contract the checkpoint that requires user agents to
use standard controls of the operating system. If the Windows
mechanism is buggy, it should be fixed. I don't think we
should ask Windows UAs to reimplement something as basic
as the task navigation tool. Furthermore, this seems to
be out of scope for user agents - we should not require them
to track all Windows of the operating system. 

 - Ian

"Gregory J. Rosmaita" wrote:
> 
> aloha, y'all!
> 
> in fulfillment of one of the action items i took at the Princeton face2face
> meeting, i am sending to the list a screen-shot of the JFW "Task List"
> dialog/application window, along with a description of the screen shot and
> the functionality of the Task List, for inclusion in the UAAG Techniques
> document
> 
> NOTE TO THE UA WORKING GROUP:
> The JAWS Task List utility is more reliable than the native
> Windows95 task switching utility/sub-routine invoked and
> navigated using the ALT+TAB and ALT+SHIFT+TAB key combinations.
> The JAWS Task List utility enables the user to "Switch To"
> applications of which the Windows95 desktop task manager has
> lost track, and which might otherwise be inaccessible to the
> user, due to one of the inherent limitations of the Off-Screen
> Model (OSM)--that it can only scrape the screen which currently
> has the operating system's focus. Thus, when Windows loses track
> of a running application (i.e. it fails to appear in the Windows95
> Desktop task manager), JFW (which relies on the OSM to communicate
> to the user the content of the application window with focus) is
> unable to perceive, and, hence, read, the document.  Minimizing all
> applications brings focus to the Desktop, although in many
> instances, I have had sighted colleagues report that what was
> drawn to the screen was not the Desktop--as JFW reported, and which
> JFW could navigate--but the lost application window. Which is why
> the JAWS Task List utility is necessary--for although the Windows95
> Desktop loses track of running applications, the JAWS Task Utility
> does not.
> 
> The WG should ask Henter-Joyce, the manufacturer of JFW, for more
> information about the JAWS Task List--in particular, what exactly
> it monitors which enables it to perceive running applications
> of which the Windows95 task manager (explorer.exe) utility has lost
> track.  This would be very pertinent information to include not only
> for the focus-related checkpoints, but for the Techniques for UAAG
> Guideline 1, as well, as it is clear that developers cannot rely on
> the OSM under quite a number of circumstances.
> 
> ===
> 
> DESCRIPTION OF THE JFW Task List
> The JAWS Task List (also known, due to the application window's
> title, simply as the JFW "Window List") is a simple task
> management utility that comes as part of the JAWS for Windows
> (JFW) screen reader, The JAWS Task List runs in a standard
> Microsoft Windows dialog box, and is invoked using the
> INSERT+F10 key combination.  When the JAWS Task List is spawned,
> the user hears:
> 
>     Window List
>     Running Applications
>     List Box
>     CD Player Restored
>     1 of 7
> 
> Thereby alerting/informing the user that:
> 
>    1. There are 7 applications currently running
>    2. The last application with focus was the
>       Microsoft Windows95 CD Player utility.
> 
> A more detailed description of the applications that are
> currently running can be obtained using JFW's "Read Box
> in TAB Order" command (INSERT+B).  When this hotkey
> is invoked, one hears:
> 
>     Window List
>     Running Applications
>     CD Player Restored
>     Desktop
>     JAWS - Minimized
>     Exploring C:\computer\isp - Minimized
>     more_frames_techniques.txt - NotePad - Minimized
>     pr-uaag-10-10march2000.txt - WordPad - Maximized
>     PR-uaag-10-tech-10march2000.txt - WordPad - Maximized
>     Switch To button
>     Cancel button
>     About button
> 
> Individual items in the list box can be reviewed using
> the directional arrow keys (UpArrow and DownArrow).
> Typing the first letter of the title of the application
> window for which you are searching, moves the highlight
> to the first instance of an application whose title
> begins with that letter.  Continued typing of the letter
> causes the JAWS Task List to cycle through all running
> applications whose application window titles begin with
> the typed character.
> 
> Highlighting a listed application, and then either pressing
> the ENTER or RETURN key causes focus to switch to the selected
> application.  Alternatively, after highlighting the desired
> application, one could switch focus to that application by
> typing ALT+S, the accelerator key for the "Switch To" button.
> One could also highlight an item in the list box, TAB to the
> "Switch To" button, and press ENTER.
> 
> When focus is switched, the JFW Task List utility automatically
> closes.  Focus within the viewport to which the user switched
> is retained--that is, the user is placed exactly where her or
> she was when last using that application.
> 
> Selecting the "Cancel" button closes the JAWS Task List, and
> returns focus to the same portion of the application viewport
> which had had focus before the JAWS Task List was invoked.  The
> accelerator for the "Cancel" button is ALT+C.
> 
> Selecting the "About" button spawns a dialog box which contains
> the following information:
> 
>     About JAWS Task List
>     JAWS Task List 3.31.8
>     Copyright 1993-1999 by Henter-Joyce, Inc
>     OK button
> 
> The accelerator for the "About" button is ALT+A.
> 
> MATERIALS UTILIZED
> Gateway Solo LS2500 Laptop, with Gateway 2000 Windows95 keyboard
>          RAM: 224MB
>          CPU: Pentium II, 366MHz
>          OS: Windows95 (version 4.01.0.971.B)
> 
> Video Card Details:
>          type: NeoMagic MagicGraph 128XD
>          software version: 4.10.01.0009-Q6.16.02
>          drivers: nmgc.drv, nmgcVdd.vxd,NmgcDD.dll
> 
> Display Settings:
>          color palette: 256 Colors
>          desktop area: 800 by 600 pixels
> 
> Sound Card: NeoMagic MagicWave 3DX Sound System
>          (driver: NMA255.VXD version >4.0.13.2420)
> 
> Screen-Reader:
>          JFW version: 3.50.37 <http://www.hj.com>
> 
> Synthesizers:
>          software: Eloquence for JFW (provided with 3.5 release)
>          hardware: DECTalk Express (using HJ-supplied drivers)
> 
>   ------------------------------------------------------------------------
>                           Name: jfw-window-list.gif
>    jfw-window-list.gif    Type: GIF Image (image/gif)
>                       Encoding: base64
> 
>    Part 1.3Type: Plain Text (text/plain)

-- 
Ian Jacobs (jacobs@w3.org)   http://www.w3.org/People/Jacobs
Tel:                         +1 831 457-2842
Cell:                        +1 917 450-8783

Received on Saturday, 6 May 2000 19:01:33 UTC