When considering keyboard focus order, try to minimize bouncing around the screen for pan/zoom.

[samreid]

No description provided.

[samreid]

I implemented the request in #60, not sure if there is more to do for this issue. @matthew-blackman can this be closed?

[samreid]

There is some bouncing around, but the keyboard order is as designed in #44. @matthew-blackman can this be closed?

[matthew-blackman]

Let's get some feedback from @terracoda before next steps. @terracoda, can you review the keyboard navigation order and weigh in on the latest updates?

[terracoda]

It does bounce around a lot when zoomed in, but having the Launcher short cut is handy. I think this would be a good question for someone with low vision.

The placement of the erase button is the weirdest for me. It is 13 tabs away from the field buttons. Should the erase be more closely associated with the field buttons since I think it is only meant to Erase the selected field?

That would prevent one big visual bounce from the Timing Control to the erase button.

[terracoda]

And I am also wondering if the Timing Control Node can just stay closer to the data navigator thing (the thing on top of the filed sign). Maybe like where it is positioned on screen 4. Could it stay near there? It doesn't seem related to the check boxes. It seems more connected to the projectiles.

[matthew-blackman]

@terracoda sounds good! We implemented the updates to the keyboard focus order to have less bouncing around. Ready for your review.

@jessegreenberg and @terracoda - @samreid and I noticed that we were only using the pdomControlAreaNode, and were wondering if we should be splitting things up between that and that pdomPlayAreaNode. It did seem more flexible to put everything in a single parent since we can easily change the order, but we may not be considering all needs here. Can you weigh in?

[terracoda]

Great question about pdomPlayAreaNode and pdomControlAreaNode.

For long term accessibility and consistency across all sims, you should be using both.

You want your essential interactions to be in the pdomPlayAreaNode, and anything secondary or tertiary in the pdomControlAreaNode.

Those decision are not always easy to make, especially when there are many controls, like there are in this sim, but you want to think about what interactions are truly essential for the main learning goals:

1. The launcher and the field are essential
2. The histogram and the launcher projectile confirmations are likely pretty essential.
3. The tape measure, timer and view tools are very likely best in the Control Area.

Everything in the Play Are comes before the Control Area in the Tab order.

[jessegreenberg]

+1 for what @terracoda said. Assigning contents to the different parents can categorize page content nicely under "Play Area" and "Control Area" headings in the Parallel DOM for a screen reader user. Using both will have no impact on alt input (other than that play area contents come before the control area contents).

[samreid]

So what parts of this simulation would be in the "play area"?

[jessegreenberg]

The things that are most important to the pedagogy/interaction should go in the play area. Sometimes it has been everything except the "Reset All" button.

Here is how some other sims have divvied it up:
https://github.com/phetsims/gravity-force-lab/blob/7ae7430c16eac840d2c2d24de62772bec466bc8f/js/view/GravityForceLabScreenView.js#L264-L276

https://github.com/phetsims/ratio-and-proportion/blob/b20713b13f371ba5771cedfb21cbac39fcf13c9e/js/common/view/RAPScreenView.ts#L463-L472

https://github.com/phetsims/greenhouse-effect/blob/47967c6759a1f691004ce17c0cf9a1c9f322b357/js/common/view/GreenhouseEffectScreenView.ts#L142-L151

[samreid]

OK I opened side issue #107. This issue can remain about "When considering keyboard focus order, try to minimize bouncing around the screen for pan/zoom. The status is that @matthew-blackman and @samreid implemented @terracoda recommendations, and the keyboard order is ready for @terracoda review. We will preserve the keyboard order in #107

[matthew-blackman]

The keyboard focus order has been updated to balance usability and avoid bouncing around during pan/zoom. Here is the order we are currently using:

1. Launch button
2. Launch mode
3. Launch panel (to set up an experiment)
4. Field selector (to navigate between experiments)
5. Eraser
6. Histogram
7. Global tools
8. Projectile selector
9. Reset all

This keyboard order is working well for usability and to minimize bouncing. Let's continue working on separating things into a playArea and controlArea in #107. Closing.