[Accessibility-ia2] Proposal to include ISimpleDOMNode, ISimpleDOMDocument and ISimpleDOMText as optional part IAccessible2

[Michael A Squillace]

Aaron:
I am in favor of this idea for the reasons that you mention. I think there
will always be reasons for AT to access the original DOM and a generic,
cross-platform way of doing so seems reasonable. One question - could
get_localInterface in IE be implemented so as to return IHTMLElement
instances?

--> Mike Squillace
IBM Human Ability and Accessibility Center
Accessibility Tools Framework (ACTF) co-technical lead
http://www.eclipse.org/actf

W:512.823.7423
M:512.970.0066

External: http://www.ibm.com/able
Internal: http://w3.ibm.com/able


                                                                           
             Aaron Leventhal                                               
             <aaronlev at moonset                                             
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             g                                                     Subject 
                                       [Accessibility-ia2] Proposal to     
                                       include ISimpleDOMNode,             
             09/26/2008 07:24          ISimpleDOMDocument and              
             AM                        ISimpleDOMText as optional part     
                                       IAccessible2                        
                                                                           
                                                                           
                                                                           
                                                                           
                                                                           
                                                                           




My proposal is this:
Include at least ISimpleDOMNode, and possibly ISimpleDOMDocument and
ISimpleDOMText in IAccessible2, as optional interfaces for an
application to expose.

The interfaces I'm referring to can be licensed as LGPL. They are
currently exposed only by Mozilla:
http://mxr.mozilla.org/mozilla-central/find?string=simpledom

I anticipate some questions and concerns. So here's a mini-faq :)

What assistive technologies use ISimpleDOMNode?
1. JAWS 10
2. ZoomText
3. Upcoming version of System Access To Go
4. Another AT with upcoming Firefox support, but I haven't yet received
permission to mention it

Why use it when there's IAccessible2?
It's the fastest way to implement cross-browser support for a virtual
buffer/browse/review mode. The AT can share a lot more code with their
IE implementation.

What other advantages does it have?
It can easily be used to expose mathematics to an expert handler.
There's an "innerHTML" method which can be used to exposed the markup
for any subtree, yet you can still access IAccessible/IAccessible2 down
in a descendant if the math includes some form controls or links.

What other browser vendors want to use it?
At least one browser has already been asked to support ISimpleDOMNode
because, in combination with plain IAccessible, it's a quick way to get
started. Ultimately if other browsers want to be accessible on Windows,
they will all be asked for the same thing.

Would IAccessible/IAccessible2 still be needed?
Yes, especially because it has no event system. IAccessible and
IAccessible2 would still be crucial for widgets. IAccessible2 would
especially be important for rich text editing and other advanced
features (such as ARIA and live regions).

Would it be required to implement it?
No. It's a convenience for the web and (I believe) very useful for
exposing math and other content to expert handlers.

There are some methods we don't need in there, or some changes we should
make. Can the interfaces still be changed?
Possible, but we need to talk about that. It would be easiest for ATs if
it stayed exactly the same, but perhaps we can devise a transition
strategy of some kind. It's worth discussing

Would this be useful in ATK/AT-SPI as well?
Probably not, since Orca and other ATs there don't have a history of
using or needing this. If some cross-platform expert handlers that
consumed part of it became common, then perhaps a similar interface with
only the necessary methods could be deemed useful.

Anyway, those are my thoughts. I'd appreciate feedback. Please remember
I'm saying that implementing it would be at the app's descretion, and is
just to make life easier for virtual buffer implementations, but
supportng expert handlers as well.

- Aaron





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