Re: Close buttons in dialogs

[Steve Lee <steve fullmeasure co uk>]

2009/7/23 Eitan Isaacson <eitan ascender com>:
> Close buttons are good for
> screen reader users because it puts the dialog dismissal as part of the
> focus order (and work order), and thus discoverable.

> Currently a keyboard user could get by without knowing about alt+f4 at all,
> I could see it being frustrating to new users if there is no way of
> dismissing a modal dialog without learning alt+f4.

and it's discoverable visually for mouse users and for those who don't
know of the window managers menu. So I agree  it's good for very new
users, but as long as the user knows they're in a modal dialog I'd
think Alt F4 would be consistent enough to be knowable.

Now the strange this is I use ESC to close dialogs, thinking ALT-F4
was 'quit application' only. From my windows dev days ESC was the same
as the cancel/close button on dialogs. That makes me think that there
is a risk that if the user is in any doubt about whether they are in
an dialog or not using Alt-F4 is dangerous as you might close the
application.

That uncertainty is enough to make me say the button should be left.

Steve