Bug 144238 - [Help] Cannot navigate to the help button with the keyboard
Summary: [Help] Cannot navigate to the help button with the keyboard
Status: CLOSED WORKSFORME
Alias: None
Product: Platform
Classification: Eclipse Project
Component: User Assistance (show other bugs)
Version: 3.2   Edit
Hardware: PC Windows XP
: P3 normal (vote)
Target Milestone: ---   Edit
Assignee: platform-ua-inbox CLA
QA Contact:
URL:
Whiteboard:
Keywords: accessibility
: 160370 (view as bug list)
Depends on:
Blocks:
 
Reported: 2006-05-29 10:39 EDT by Tod Creasey CLA
Modified: 2012-03-29 15:22 EDT (History)
4 users (show)

See Also:


Attachments
Screenshot of MS Word "Paragraph" dialog (23.11 KB, image/png)
2012-03-29 15:08 EDT, Carolyn MacLeod CLA
no flags Details

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Description Tod Creasey CLA 2006-05-29 10:39:59 EDT
RC6

It is not possible to navigate to the help button in the wizard dialog using the keyboard. This is not a showstopper as F1 still works but it should be accessbile via the keyboard navigation.
Comment 1 Curtis d'Entremont CLA 2006-05-29 10:58:28 EDT
This is problematic because we do not want that button to get focus. If we allow focus, when the user clicks on the button, the focus will be given to the button, and it will find context help for that button, rather than the widget that was previously in focus.

The current behavior of the button is identical to F1. Some users have expressed concern about this because it depends on what's currently in focus and they may not know this. Instead, I would like to see if it makes more sense to have the button provide some more general help (say, at the page level), regardless of what's in focus. This would allow us to give the button focus, and it would always behave the same way on a given page.
Comment 2 Tod Creasey CLA 2006-05-29 11:04:33 EDT
There is a difference between allowing navigation and clicking on the button. For a user that is relying on a screen reader to tell them what the control does this button will be effectively invisble if they can't tab to to it.

This does not invoke the button - it just allows information to be read.

I think you will also find that in the vast majority of cases the help for a dialog will be the same for all controls - I expect this would cause very little confusion if the general help for the dialog is invoked.

When I press F1 on any of the other buttons I get context sensitive help (try it in the New Project dialog) so this button should behave the same way
Comment 3 Curtis d'Entremont CLA 2006-05-29 11:13:56 EDT
Ok. I'll see if it's possible to prevent focus from going to the button when clicked, while still allowing traversal and focus otherwise.
Comment 4 Curtis d'Entremont CLA 2006-10-12 12:48:55 EDT
*** Bug 160370 has been marked as a duplicate of this bug. ***
Comment 5 Chris Goldthorpe CLA 2009-04-15 10:38:52 EDT
Reassigning to platform-ua-inbox@eclipse.org
Comment 6 Carolyn MacLeod CLA 2012-03-29 15:08:06 EDT
Created attachment 213353 [details]
Screenshot of MS Word "Paragraph" dialog
Comment 7 Carolyn MacLeod CLA 2012-03-29 15:15:08 EDT
I am going to close this as "Works For Me". The user can type F1, and it really doesn't matter that there's no way to give focus to the button.
I have attached a similar dialog from MS Word. Notice that they put their non-focusable help icon in the title bar of the dialog, next to the close box. It is slightly clearer to the sighted user that the button probably doesn't take focus, however our button has a "washed out" appearance, which is a visual indicator that the button won't take focus. In either case, the "help" button isn't expected to take focus. In both cases, the user knows that they can click the non-focusable button or type F1.
I am closing this bug because it keeps hanging on to the accessibility checklist year after year and it takes time to re-read the bug report and decide that isn't a problem, year after year. It's time to close the issue, either as WorksForMe (i.e. type F1) or "won't fix" (i.e. no, we won't be adding some crazy ui-breaking hack that allows a button to be clicked without taking focus).
Comment 8 Carolyn MacLeod CLA 2012-03-29 15:22:21 EDT
> some crazy ui-breaking hack that allows a button to be clicked without
> taking focus
Oops... actually, ToolItems with FLAT style don't take focus when they are clicked, and yet you can traverse to them with the keyboard. Just FYI, however, because I still think this bug should remain closed.