Re: Menu guidelines updated

[Adam Elman <aelman users sourceforge net>]

At 2:19 PM +0200 8/22/01, Reinout van Schouwen wrote:
> Christian,
>
> On Tue, 21 Aug 2001, Christian Rose wrote:
>
> >  I think forcing the use of the window manager for exiting an application
> >  is a step down with regard to accessability. It's easier to navigate in
> >  menus with the keyboard than use the mouse for some people.
> >  Yes, you can use a window manager shortcut for closing a window, but I
> >  don't think that's as obvious as a simple Exit menu entry in the
> >  application.
>
> Well, couldn't you still press Alt and select 'Close' from the titlebar
> menu (under the leftmost titlebar button)? That has the same effect.

As Christian said: this is highly dependent on the WM you're using 
and the theme you use in that WM.  (I would also argue that pressing 
Alt and clicking on a window is hardly an easily discoverable 
function, especially on a system with multiple mouse buttons where 
you almost never have to press a modifier key, but that's a side 
issue. :)

There are two ways to go, it seems.  One would be to somehow 
standardize the WM and theme so that everybody has the same menu 
controls and we can depend on that.  I think that would be considered 
highly undesirable by the community, so we're left with option 2: 
make some basic rules about what the window manager should and 
shouldn't do, but then not assume that any particular control, 
particularly Quit/Exit/whatever, is easily accessible on the title 
bar/window controls.

Adam
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