PHET ideas

[Jonathan Hung]

Thanks for the feedback Maria!

Concerning keyboard navigation, it's good to know that you don't need to be
in Forms mode to tab navigate through content.

If the simulation also used cursor keys (up, down, left, and right cursor
keys) how would you manage in this case since it clashes with NVDA? We were
thinking of putting interactive items into groups so that the user tabs
through the groups and then uses cursor keys to move between items within a
group. For example, the user would be able to tab between the left and
right teams, and then use arrow keys to choose team members to place on the
rope.

In the past we have used two key bindings for arrow navigation - one
keybinding using cursor keys, and another binding using IJKM keys to avoid
clashing with screen readers. In the case of using IJKM keys, it's not a
familiar convention which may be confusing, and it requires the user to
have knowledge of the fact IJKM are adjacent keys in a up/down/left/right
pattern.

Ideally we would offer some key map presets and allow the user to
customize, but there may be technical limitations to doing this.

We're still working out the details about the text descriptions - but
having a toggle to hide or show, and / or have long or short descriptions
is a good idea.

Your insight is very valuable. Thanks for the reply.

- Jon.

On Sun, Dec 14, 2014 at 4:58 PM, Maria Carmen C. Cruz <cruzinmc at gmail.com>
wrote:
>
> Hi Jonathan, it's Maria.  First, I think your ideas for describing the
> scene are great.  Also I think that both sighted and non-sighted users
> need to be made aware that they can put more than one player on either
> side of the cart (e.g. I initially thought you could only put one
> player per side and that the 4 knots were so you could position the
> player at different intervals on the rope).
>
> Second, I use the NVDA screen reader and I've never actually had to
> turn on or off the Forms Mode you mentioned, I just went through the
> preferences menu again and it seems to me like the Forms Mode is
> embedded in the system.  I use the Tab/Shift-Tab keys not only to go
> back and forth through form fields but also to go back and forth
> through links on a web page or in software.
>
> I like your idea of using a different widget for the Mute button, a
> toggle switch with radio buttons or something like that would help the
> user to know what the Mute status is.
>
> Your idea to make the cart so that the user can focus on it when they
> Tab through is a great idea, and once the user focuses on the cart the
> screen reader should read a description (long or short depending on
> the user's preference).  There should be a button where the user can
> choose long (introductory) descriptions for elements on the page or
> short descriptions that would give only the basic info (e.g. "Cart:
> then whatever info is meant to be conveyed").  Sam's e-mail described
> a "live region" and I'm not too sure what this is, but it sounds like
> an element that gets automatic focus when it changes.  If this is
> correct, then it sounds like a good idea to use a live region to read
> out the status of the net forces and motion of the cart.
>
> As for how to move the players along the rope, I'm not sure of the
> best way to do this, but we need something like an accessible version
> of drag-and-drop.  Could a key combo be used that doesn't have any
> meaning to NVDA or other screen readers (e.g. something like Ctrl-Tab
> to move the player right and Shift-Ctrl-Tab to move the player left)?
> Thanks, and take care.
> --
> María Carmen C. Cruz
> CyberWave Web Design - www.cyberwavedesign.com.
> Tetra Society of North America - www.tetrasociety.org.
> Visit https://www.canadahelps.org/GivingPages/GivingPage.aspx?gpID=35700
> to check out a list of great charities you can donate to online.
> Catch my blog at http://cruzviewz.blogspot.com.
>
> On 12/13/14, fluid-work-request at fluidproject.org
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*JONATHAN HUNG*

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