PHET ideas

Mon Dec 15 12:41:58 EST 2014

Hi Jon, thanks.  I like your idea of making separate groups for the
left and right teams and then using the arrow keys to select a team
member.  You'd also need separate groups for the left and right ropes
so you can use the arrow keys to place each team member at the desired
position on the rope (e.g. the groups would go: left team, left rope,
right team, right rope).  And I think it's best to use the arrow key
binding instead of the IJKM binding.  One more thing, if the user has
already put a player on the rope and is choosing a second player from
the same team, the player already there would need to be labeled so
the user knows that spot's already taken (e.g. the labels for knots on
the rope might go like this: Position 1 -- outside position, Position
2, Position 3 -- filled by largest team member, Position 4 -- inside
position).

I hope this helps.  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 12/15/14, Jonathan Hung <jhung at ocadu.ca> wrote:
> 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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