Matthew Paul Thomas said ... > > Section 508's requirements for "Software applications and operating > systems" don't mention timeouts or anything like them. > <http://www.section508.gov/index.cfm?FuseAction=Content&ID=12#Software>
Hi Matthew: You appear to be right; the '508' section 1194.21, "Software applications and operating systems" doesn't appear include this requirement as far as I can see, and would take a fairly broad interpretation of section 1194.31, "Functional performance criteria". However, other sections of 508 do, for instance: >From 1194.22 "web based Intranet and internet information and applications" (p) When a timed response is required, the user shall be alerted and given sufficient time to indicate more time is required. >From 1194.25 "Self contained, closed products." (b) When a timed response is required, the user shall be alerted and given sufficient time to indicate more time is required. In the WAI User Agent Accessibility Guidelines, http://www.w3.org/TR/UAAG10/guidelines.html for instance, issues of timing are mentioned in the following "checkpoints", with priority as given by W3c in parentheses: 2.4 Allow time-independent interaction (P1) 4.4 Slow multimedia (P1) 4.5 Start, stop, pause, and navigate multimedia (P1) There seems to be a clear consensus in the accessibility guidelines I can put my hands on that timing issues are important, and that timers can present accessibility problems. The 508 requirements suggest that the way to address this is via a "I need more time" interface element, whereas the WAI guidelines adopt a more "slow the timeframe down" or "pause" approach, appropriate to the WAI's focus on media streaming. The solution, "make timeouts configurable", is a solution which I've heard put forward for years. Taken in this light, absence from section 1194.21, "Software applications and operating systems.", may be a simple case of omission, since very similar issues are highlighted elsewhere in 508 and in the WAI documents. So on that basis, perhaps there's no "statutory" obligation that forbids timer-based notifications, at least in current US regulations, but in general it's still an accessibility issue. In the specific case in question, I think a delay on the order of a minute is not a worry, especially since it was action on the part of the end user which triggered the dialog. I see a parallel with the discussion on the battery notifications - in which case the timing issue is out of our control, and although I'd love to see an "I need more time" button on the battery applet, I am not sure how to implement it ;-) Bill > Is there some other legal requirement you are referring to? > > -- > Matthew Paul Thomas _______________________________________________ desktop-devel-list mailing list [email protected] http://mail.gnome.org/mailman/listinfo/desktop-devel-list
