[Kde-accessibility] Re: [PATCH] select folder on timeout, after navigating to it

[Ingo Klöcker]

On Monday 26 January 2004 13:04, Olaf Jan Schmidt wrote:
> [Till Adam, So 25.01. 2004 11:00:11]
>
> > On Sunday 25 January 2004 00:29, Ingo Klöcker wrote:
> > > On Saturday 24 January 2004 22:49, Till Adam wrote:
> > > > - ctrl-left/right navigates to a folder
> > > > - timeout of 750 ms selects the folder, reset by
> > > > ctrl-left/right
> > > >
> > > > That way one can navigate over several folders without
> > > > selecting them, for speed reasons, while still getting the auto
> > > > selection behavior that seems intuitive to me. Bruggie agrees,
> > > > so it must be true.
> > >
> > > Hmm, sounds like a good idea. But what about accessibility?
>
> As a general rule, timeouts for user input should either be avoided
> or must be configurable to ensure accessibility. But I think this
> case might be different - it really depends on how it is exactly
> implemented.
>
> Would there be any problem if KMail selected each folder without any
> delay?

Yes. The second one below.

> If KMail is implemented in such a way that selecting a folder 
> would not be a problem, then a delay of selecting does not hurt.
>
> I can see two possible problems with selecting:
>
> 1. After the folder was selected, is it then still possible to move
> on selecting another folder using the same keystokes, just as if the
> folder was not selected? In other words: If a folder is selected, is
> the focus then moved to another part of the window, or will it stay
> the same?

All navigation shortcuts in KMail are global and don't care for which 
widget currently has focus. IOW: Yes, after a folder was selected it's 
still possible to move on selecting another folder using the same 
keystrokes.

> 2. Is it possible to move on while the folder is being selected, or
> will KMail not process keystrokes for a number of seconds until the
> folder is completely parsed and shown?

Well, that depends on what you mean by "the folder is being selected", 
i.e. either "the folder is being highlighted" or "the folder is being 
opened". Highlighting of course takes no time. Opening, OTOH, can take 
some time.

> If selecting a folder means that KMail is unresponsive for a couple
> of seconds, then the user might hit the Move-Folder-Down key several
> times, thinking KMail "forgot" the keystrokes, thereby jumping to a
> folder below the one she wanted to access. If KMail is written in a
> way that moving the folder is still possible while the folder content
> is being parsed, I do not see a problem.

Well, that's is exactly the problem the timeout approach tries to fix. 
Highlighting the new folder is done instantaneous. Only opening a 
folder is delayed. This way the user can go to another folder with the 
keyboard without any intermediate folder being opened. But of course 
all intermediate folders will be highlighted to give the user visible 
feedback.

The question now is whether opening a folder which is chosen with the 
keyboard should
a) happen automatically after a short timeout (after the folder was 
chosen)
b) only happen after the user explicitely opens the folder

The latter behavior is used in KDE 3.1 and also in KDE 3.2, but in KDE 
3.2 it's a bit broken.

Regards,
Ingo
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