Re: Word-a-Day: cursor, insertion point, pointer

["Leonardo F. Fontenelle" <leonardof gnome org>]

Em Ter, 2008-08-12 às 09:28 -0500, Shaun McCance escreveu:
> What most style guides seem to imply is that "cursor"
> (or "text cursor") is the name of the "blinking line
> or rectangle", and that the cursor marks the insertion
> point.  There's also the term "caret", which seem to
> be synonymous with "cursor".  But I've only ever seen
> "caret" used in accessibility stuff.  (I don't think
> it's a very well-known word.)
> 
> That brings up an interesting point, because when we
> use "caret" in the context of accessibility, it often
> refers to a keyboard-controllable point in applications
> like Epiphany and Yelp.  It's quite a stretch to call
> this an insertion point, since you can't insert text
> in a read-only application.
> 
> (This is also reminding me that we should also include
> the word "caret" in the Style Guide, even if it's just
> to say not to use it.)
> 
> Anyway, Calum, I went with "insertion point" instead of
> "cursor" because that's what both Apple and Microsoft
> have done, and I just assume they've got some usability
> testing to back their recommendations up.  I would love
> to see some usability tests on this, as well as a few
> other words.  Does anybody have the means to do that?
> 
Personally, I don't like "insertion point" either :) I wish I had
something more than personal preference.

-- 
Leonardo Fontenelle
http://leonardof.org