Re: New panel logout/shutdown alert - a mini ui review

[Bill Haneman <Bill Haneman Sun COM>]

Matthew Paul Thomas said
...
> 
> Section 508's requirements for "Software applications and operating 
> systems" don't mention timeouts or anything like them.
> <http://www.section508.gov/index.cfm?FuseAction=Content&ID=12#Software>

Hi Matthew:

You appear to be right; the '508' section 1194.21, "Software
applications and operating systems" doesn't appear include this
requirement as far as I can see, and would take a fairly broad
interpretation of section 1194.31, "Functional performance criteria". 
However, other sections of 508 do, for instance:
 
>From 1194.22 "web based Intranet and internet information and
applications"

(p) When a timed response is required, the user shall be alerted and
given sufficient time to indicate more time is required. 

>From 1194.25 "Self contained, closed products."

(b) When a timed response is required, the user shall be alerted and
given sufficient time to indicate more time is required. 

In the WAI User Agent Accessibility Guidelines, 
http://www.w3.org/TR/UAAG10/guidelines.html
for instance, issues of timing are mentioned in the following
"checkpoints", with priority as given by W3c in parentheses:
2.4 Allow time-independent interaction (P1)
4.4 Slow multimedia (P1)
4.5 Start, stop, pause, and navigate multimedia (P1)

There seems to be a clear consensus in the accessibility guidelines I
can put my hands on that timing issues are important, and that timers
can present accessibility problems.  The 508 requirements suggest that
the way to address this is via a "I need more time" interface element,
whereas the WAI guidelines adopt a more "slow the timeframe down" or
"pause" approach, appropriate to the WAI's focus on media streaming. 
The solution, "make timeouts configurable", is a solution which I've
heard put forward for years.

Taken in this light, absence from section 1194.21, "Software
applications and operating systems.", may be a simple case of omission,
since very similar issues are highlighted elsewhere in 508 and in the
WAI documents.

So on that basis, perhaps there's no "statutory" obligation that forbids
timer-based notifications, at least in current US regulations, but in
general it's still an accessibility issue.  In the specific case in
question, I think a delay on the order of a minute is not a worry,
especially since it was action on the part of the end user which
triggered the dialog.  

I see a parallel with the discussion on the battery notifications - in
which case the timing issue is out of our control, and although I'd love
to see an "I need more time" button on the battery applet, I am not sure
how to implement it ;-)

Bill

> Is there some other legal requirement you are referring to?
> 
> -- 
> Matthew Paul Thomas