a11y and HIG notes for PATCH: panel run dialog redux

[Gregory Merchan <merchan phys lsu edu>]

On Fri, May 03, 2002 at 05:09:54PM -0700, Frank Worsley wrote:
> > This was intentional so that you could type:
> > 
> > gedit
> > 
> > And then browse for the file to edit.
> > 
> > Really how often do you browse for the actual application binary and how
> > often for a file you wish to open.
> 
> I thought that was pretty confusing, so I changed it to always just set
> the text.
> 
> A new super-neato patch is attached. Now it uses iain's disclosure
> widget, always displays an icon and just generally looks nicer.
> 
> It doesn't lookup the icon when you type in a command though. I am not
> sure how to best do that, since you would have to look at every entry in
> "all-applications:/" and see if the EXEC value matches the command and
> then load that icon. Seems kind of expensive to do.
> 
> Anyway, patch + new widget are attached. Two new screenshots are here:
> http://members.shaw.ca/fworsley/screenshots
> 
> - Frank

Looking at new1.png and new2.png, there are some a11y and HIG problems.

Accessability:
  The disclosure triangle label needs a mnemonic.

HIG:
 - The disclosure triangle is basically a toggle button so its text should
   not change. (I'm not sure this is right for a disclosure triangle, but
   the HIG says nothing about them. It at least functions like a toggle.)
 - Help should not have a mnemonic. The access key should be F1 if that
   isn't there already.
 - Close should be Cancel. Close is supposed to be used only in instant-apply
   windows and should be in the bottom right corner. (And I still object to it
   being used as a button at all, but anyway...) Cancel should not have a
   mnemonic either and should be activated by Escape.

A general issue:
  Only alerts should have icons in the top left corner. It is a standard
  mark of distinction for them. I don't think the HIG mentions this, but
  it needs to be in there. Neat KDE things and more color are less valuable
  than consistency.

A toolkit gripe:
  Why is there space between the scrollbar and the thing scrolled?

A WM thing:
  For window managers that don't deceive users by presenting a maximize button
  when the window can't be maximized, changing the resizability will cause
  the window frame to change.

A last note:
  I agree with those who think the app list shouldn't be there.


Cheers,
Greg Merchan