Re: Control-center styles

[Gregory Merchan <merchan phys lsu edu>]

On Wed, Jan 02, 2002 at 11:50:07AM +0000, Bill Haneman wrote:
> George wrote:
> 
> > If it is larger, it does require less motor skills.  Imagine you're 80 and
> > your hand is shaking.  Is your response: "Get a new hand!" ?
> > 
> > George
> > 
> 
> Amen!
> 
> -Bill

My response is to use whatever technology you are already using to acquire
the targets that are smaller or otherwise less accessible, or to make the
pointer target larger by changing theme or window manager.

For those who cannot remember myriad window manager keyboard shortcuts, or
prefer the mouse, then the window manger window menu provides an option
accessible by keyboard or mouse.

For a mouse, click on the window frame close button or menu button.
For a keyboard, use a keyboard shortcut to close or open the frame menu.

Regarding keybindings:

  For Close, Alt+F4 is proposed since users of CUA-based environments
such as Windows and CDE are more likely to be familiar with this. If
the MDI faction will surrender to better window management and the 
emacs faction will surrender Control+W, then Control+W should be
adopted because it requires a lesser span of the keyboard, does not
use the function keys which could then be reserved for user defined
functions; modulo F1 (help) and F10 (menu), and these may also pass
in time.
  [It is not impossible to use Control+W already, even with emacs and
MDI applications. The application merely needs to interpret the
message from the window manager differently. For the MDI apps this
means closing only the visble or active view. For emacs this is
basically ignoring the event. (Terminals are yet another matter,
unfortunately.) In both cases the applications should indicate that
they are not to be shown with a close button on the window frame,
unless the origin of the event can be identified.]

  For Menu (of the window), Alt+Space is the only standardized
keybinding I've found for the environments that have such a menu.
This should present, for most of those lacking precise manipulation
and sticky keys, an easier target than either Alt+F4, Control+W, or
a window frame close button because Alt and Space are usally close
together and requre less spanning; more keystrokes are required this
way, but each one is easier.


General note from elsewhere:
  To permit window managers to perform their role of mediating
  the competing demands for resources such as screen space,
  the clients being managed must adhere to certain conventions
  and must expect the window managers to do likewise.
     /----------------------------------------------
     \___ Note this.



Cheers,
Gregory Merchan