Re: Accessibility aspects of Close buttons on dialogs?

[Christian Rose <menthos menthos com>]

Thanks a lot for your answers. I will forward them to the usability
list.

Christian


ons 2002-01-02 klockan 12.02 skrev Bill Haneman:
> 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