Re: Accessibility aspects of Close buttons on dialogs?

[Bill Haneman <bill haneman sun com>]

Hi Christian and Bharat:

I also think that the 'close' button significantly improves
accessibility for some situations.  Not all use cases assume that the
user can control the keyboard or mouse directly.  The less-than-ideal
alternative in those cases is to require keystroke emulation to do
things like closing a window.  It also means that the "close" option
will not be exposed via menu or widget traversal, which will be used by
some users and assistive technologies as a means of exploring/presenting
a new dialog.  And of course I'm sure we're all familiar with
applications that behave badly when they are closed via the window
manager as opposed to using an explicit 'close' or 'exit' - so this can
present a dilemma for the user who is not sure whether closing the
window/app via the window manager is reliable without knowing the
origins of the application.

None of these issues are iron-clad stoppers for accessibility but I
think they add up to a "preference" for explicit close buttons from an
accessibility viewpoint.

Best regards,

Bill

bharat tewari wrote:
> 
> Yep we should have the "close" button with the gtk+ dialog. I am not too
> sure of others but i run the applications in a scenario wherein i dont run
> the window manager at all. I thought that providing window manager "close"
> option is helpful but the applications cannot assume the window manager and
> infact for the twm window manager, you don't have a close button on the
> right top corner anyway.
> my thoughts
> bharat
> 
> ----- Original Message -----
> From: "Christian Rose" <menthos menthos com>
> To: <gnome-accessibility-list gnome org>
> Sent: Wednesday, January 02, 2002 9:28 AM
> Subject: Accessibility aspects of Close buttons on dialogs?
> 
> > As those of you who are following the usability list might already know,
> > "Close" buttons on dialogs are being discussed. It is debated whether
> > dialogs that don't have any other buttons (like instant-apply preference
> > dialogs) should have a GTK+ button labeled "Close" at the bottom to
> > dismiss the dialog, or if the window manager provided window close
> > button (usually a cross) at the top of the window is enough.
> >
> > I myself beleive that a "Close" button at the bottom of the dialog would
> > among other things be a help for accessibility, since it helps keyboard
> > navigation: A window manager "window close" shortcut doesn't have to be
> > used or remembered, and the dialog will always be closable whatever the
> > window manager happens to be.
> > Am I right or wrong in my assumptions? What are your opinions regarding
> > the accessibility of either alternatives? What would you recommend?
> >
> >
> > Christian