Labels, widgets and click targets in KDE/Qt

[Celeste Lyn Paul]

On Friday 30 June 2006 07:49, Ellen Reitmayr wrote:
> On Friday 30 June 2006 13:36, Florian Graessle wrote:
> > Suggested behaviour
> > ===================
> > To increase the click target size the labels should be click targets as
> > well.
> >
> > See http://www.uni-koblenz.de/~soma/kde/labelselection.html for examples.
> >
> > I am sure increasing the click target size in the aforementioned way
> > would mean a great enhancement. What do others think?

totally agree, many environments already do this and ive noticed it in some 
(good, not all) web applications where they link the label and the form 
widget together.

> yes, would be easier. but what about the space between label and field? if
> that is not clickable  (and it can be very long in KDE applications), you
> again have to move the mouse in a very directed manner.
>
> for checkboxes that problem does not exist as the label is directly aligned
> with the box. if we do not change the left-align policy for such labels, it
> will be hard to make the area between label and field clickable.
>
> suggestions?

as we think about if the space between the label, i will add it to my list of 
things to talk about next week (is it possible? how ill it be implemented? 
how soon? etc.)

ive seen things such as a checkbox and label be combined in to a single focus 
marquee, and in that case the space between the widget and the label is 
clickable. in essence, the entire thing should be one item -- including the 
space between:

current ([ ] denotes focus grouping):
Label: [O]

option 1:
[Label:] [O]

option 2 (preferred):
[Label: O]

As a side note, I've spent some time researching the alignment rule for 
labels, and left aligned isnt the most optimal solution for several reasons 
and am strongly considering recommending a center alignment (aka plumb align 
if you are familiar with that term?).  

~ celeste

-- 
Celeste Lyn Paul
KDE Usability Project
usability.kde.org