RE: [Usability] Keyboard navigation- outstanding issues

[Reinout van Schouwen <reinout cs vu nl>]

Hello Jeff,

On Fri, 21 Sep 2001, Jeff Henrikson wrote:

> Some MS apps actually go so far as to prohibit the tab character in a
> single line box.  That seems Nazi to me.

Please don't make irrelevant references to the Nazi period, that doesn't
make your point stronger.

> Multiline dialogs are a different issue.  Tabs are common (email
> editing, whatever) and I think designers who make a dialog boxes
> should understand that relying on tab anywhere in the box is going to
> be problematic.  Alt+letter shortcuts are much better in that case.

Perhaps I oversaw something somewhere, but could you clarify what was
wrong with using Ctrl+Tab in the case of a multiline textfield?

> And if you really need to mix single and multiline controls in one
> box, it might be a good idea to ask yourself why.

umm, for instance, if you want a quick-search bar and a text input bar in
one window?

> This sort of issue (API nonobviousness) can make _every_ application
> do the wrong thing, not just ones for whom the UI designers were
> slack.  Due caution should be paid for this issue in particular, and

I hope the people who coordinate GNOME releases, will look carefully at
this.

regards,

-- 

Reinout van Schouwen
e-mail    : reinout cs vu nl
mob/voice : 06-44360778 / 084-8750706

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