Thread Subject: Proposal 21(b) Focus

From: Jim Allan
Date: Wed, Nov 15 2006 4:05 PM

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Task: draft a proposal for a web provision on focus indicator
This proposal should remain in Section 21. The content focus is provided by
the software rendering the content, not by the content itself.

Current wording 21(b)
A well-defined on-screen indication of the current focus shall be provided
that moves among interactive interface elements as the input focus changes.
The focus shall be programmatically exposed so that assistive technology can
track focus and focus changes.

Proposal 1...Building on current wording with slight changes to make it
relevant for the web
1. A well-defined on-screen indication of the current content focus shall be
provided that moves among enabled content elements as the focus changes. The
focus shall be programmatically exposed so that assistive technology can
track focus and focus changes.

this wording does not make it clear that the provision applies to software
(i.e. web browsers and other user agents) that renders web content...

Proposal 2.
2. For software that renders web-based content, a well-defined on-screen
indication of the current content focus shall be provided that moves among
enabled content elements as the focus changes. The focus shall be
programmatically exposed so that assistive technology can track focus and
focus changes.

The definition of "web-based content" is open to discussion. This content is
complex, and becoming more so. It is the software (user agent) that provides
the focus in the rendered content and exposes it to assistive technology.
The "parent" software (user agent) may, depending on the content, hand off
the focus to other "child" software such as embedded players (Flash, media
players, svg player, etc.), extensions (whatever might be developed), and
native rendering engines (native mathml and svg rendering in Firefox, etc.),
and other stuff yet to be developed. Each "child" must provide a content
focus for "enabled content elements" as defined by the rendering engine
according to the relevant standards for the content. Further, the content
focus must be returned to the parent or passed to other "sibling" software,
etc. It quickly becomes a series of nested boxes. The WACO calls this
"Compound Documents".

I think proposal 2 will cover the provision of a focus.

I am not sure if it covers the coordination/management of the focus as it
moves between "parent" and "child" rendering engines (native or external).

Jim Allan

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