Definitions relating to focus (3.11)

The first section here is taken directly from ISO 9241-171 (similar to 
ANSI 200.2); below that are things taken from our current document and 
slightly modified, and some new. (From Greg and Kim.)

4.9 Cursor: Visual indication of where the user interaction via keyboard 
(or keyboard emulator) will occur
NOTE 1 Keyboard focus cursors and text cursors are types of cursors.
NOTE 2 Contrast with keyboard focus cursor (4.20), text cursor (4.32), 
and contrast with pointer (4.28).

4.12 Focus Cursor: Indicator showing which user interface element has 
keyboard focus
NOTE 1: Also called “location cursor”. See also Input focus (4.16) and 
Cursor (4.9).
NOTE 2: The appearance of this indicator usually depends on the kind of 
user interface element that has focus. The user interface element with 
focus can be activated if it is a control (e.g. button, menu item) or 
selected if it is a selectable user interface element (e.g. icon, list 
item).
EXAMPLE: A box or highlighted area around a text field, button, list or 
menu options can serve as a focus cursor.

4.16 Input Focus: Current assignments of the input from an input device 
to a user interface element
EXAMPLES: Pointer focus and keyboard focus are input foci.

4.19 Keyboard Focus: Current assignment of the input from the keyboard 
or equivalent to a user interface element
NOTE: For an individual user interface element focus is indicated by a 
focus cursor.

4.20 Keyboard Focus Cursor: visual indication of where the user 
interaction via keyboard (or keyboard emulator) will occur
Note: Contrast with keyboard focus (4.19), pointer (4.28), and text 
cursor (4.32).

4.28 Pointer: Graphical symbol that is moved on the screen according to 
operations with a pointing device
NOTE 1: The location or representation of the pointer may also change to 
reflect the current state of software operations.
NOTE 2: Users typically interact with user interface elements on the 
screen by moving the pointer to an object's location and manipulating 
that object.
NOTE 3: Examples of devices that are used to control pointers include mice,
tablets, fingers, and 3D wands. The pointer can also be moved using the 
keyboard (e.g. MouseKeys).
NOTE 4: Although the pointer is sometimes called a “pointing cursor”, 
this document uses the word ‘cursor’ only to refer to an indicator of 
keyboard focus.
NOTE 5: Contrast with Focus cursor (4.12) and Cursor (4.9).

4.29 Pointer Focus: current assignment of the input from the pointing 
device to a window
NOTE The window with pointer focus usually has some distinguishing 
characteristic, such as a highlighted border and/or title bar.

4.32 Text cursor: visual indication of the current insertion point for 
text entry
NOTE Contrast with “pointer” and “focus cursor.”

selection, active selection
In this document, the term "selection" refers to a user agent mechanism 
for identifying a (possibly empty) range of content. Generally, user 
agents limit the type of content that may be selected to text content 
(e.g., one or more fragments of text). In some user agents, the value of 
the selection is constrained by the structure of the document tree.
On the screen, the selection may be highlighted in a variety of ways, 
including through colors, fonts, graphics, and magnification. The 
selection may also be highlighted when rendered as synthesized speech, 
for example through changes in speech prosody. The dimensions of the 
rendered selection may exceed those of the viewport.
The selection may be used for a variety of purposes, including for cut 
and paste operations, to designate a specific element in a document for 
the purposes of a query, and as an indication of point of regard.
The selection has state, i.e., it may be "set," programmatically or 
through the user interface.
In this document, each viewport is expected to have at most one 
selection. When several viewports coexist, at most one viewport's 
selection responds to input events; this is called the active selection.
Note: Some user agents may also implement a selection for designating a 
range of information in the user agent user interface, such as selecting 
one or more page tabs to delete or reorder. The current document only 
includes requirements for a content selection mechanism.

Highlight: To emphasize through the user interface. For example, user 
agents highlight content that is selected,focused, or matched by a 
search operation. Graphical highlight mechanisms include dotted boxes, 
changed colors or fonts, underlining, magnification, and reverse video. 
Synthesized speech highlight mechanisms include alterations of voice 
pitch and volume ("speech prosody"). User interface items may also be 
highlighted, for example a specific set of foreground and background 
colors for the title bar of the active window.

Inactive input focus: the input focus location in an inactive viewport, 
such as a background window or pane; those inactive input focus location 
will become the active input focus location when input focus returns to 
that viewport. An inactive input focus may or may not be visibly indicated.

Active input focus: the input focus in the active viewport.

Split focus: a state when the user could be confused because the input 
focus is separated from something it is usually linked to, such as being 
at a different place than the selection or similar highlighting, or has 
been scrolled outside of the visible portion of the viewport. [This may 
or may not stay in the final document, but is a useful concept.]

Point of regard: The point of regard is a position in rendered content 
that the user is presumed to be viewing. The dimensions of the point of 
regard may vary. For example, it may be a point (e.g., a moment during 
an audio rendering or a cursor position in a graphical rendering), or a 
range of text (e.g., focused text), or a two-dimensional area (e.g., 
content rendered through a two-dimensional graphical viewport). The 
point of regard is almost always within the viewport, but it may exceed 
the spatial or temporal dimensions of the viewport (see the definition 
of rendered content for more information about viewport dimensions). The 
point of regard may also refer to a particular moment in time for 
content that changes over time (e.g., an audio-only presentation). User 
agents may determine the point of regard in a number of ways, including 
based on viewport position in content, content focus, and selection. The 
stability of the point of regard is addressed by @@. [Taken directly 
from UAAG10]

Received on Friday, 26 February 2010 17:38:01 UTC