Tooltips sound interesting. I haven't used them in Windows because I don't know how to get Jaws to show them. I'll check. BrailleBlaster will have a toolbar. The tips will work on this, but we also need something that works on ordinary menu items. My personal opinion is that we should avoid mouse-over. They are hard to get to work in Jaws, and probably in other screenreaders also. I've never been able to get one to work, and a very experienced person told me that she has never been able to get mouse-over to jwork without actually using a mouse. John On Sat, Feb 26, 2011 at 06:42:59AM +0000, Michael Whapples wrote: > I have kept quiet partly as I am not fully sure exactly what is wanted > (IE. how is context sensitive help to be shown, how is it to be > activated, etc). > > Chris made one comment which I may be able to help with, when he > mentioned it being from a mouse over event. If the context sensitive > help is only a sentence or so then might a tooltip be sufficient? > Tooltips should work fine with screen readers, you set the tooltip on > the control itself (eg. control.setToolTipText("The tool tip"); ) and I > don't think you will need to deal with event handling for the tool tips. > > Some screen readers may need prompting to speak the tooltip (I think > orca by default does not speak tooltips but pressing ctrl+f1 will get it > to speak the tool tip). > > Michael Whapples > On 26/02/11 06:26, Chris von See wrote: > >Although I've never tried it, I don't think you can define a help key > >binding for help at the Composite level (for example) and then expect > >to put the cursor in a form field defined in that Composite and press > >the help key to get context-sensitive help. I'm honestly not sure, > >though, so maybe it'd work... > > > >Here's an example of one way to implement context-sensitive help in > >SWT. This (or rather similar methods not involving hard-coded help > >text) is the way I've seen it done most: > > > >http://www.java2s.com/Code/Java/SWT-JFace-Eclipse/Demonstratesvariouslisteners.htm > > > > > > > >Look for the calls to "addHelpListener()", the "setData()" calls and > >the "helpRequested()" method. > > > >You can also catch mouseover events and display help once the user > >hovers the mouse over a certain area for a certain length of time, in > >a manner similar to what Eclipse does with its context-sensitive help: > > > >http://www.java2s.com/Code/Java/SWT-JFace-Eclipse/HowtoimplementhoverhelpfeedbackusingtheMouseTrackListener.htm > > > > > > > >I'm honestly not sure how accessible that is, or how JAWS or VoiceOver > >would know that the hovering help was present - perhaps Sina, Michael > >or Alex can answer that one. > > > >In both cases, the event you get in the listener should contain a > >reference to the widget for which the help was requested. You might be > >able to get away with having a single help listener class, but in that > >case you'll need some sort of mapping from the widget (or data > >contained in the widget) to the appropriate help topic. > > > >Google can be your friend in figuring these things out :) > > > > > > > >Hope this helps, > > > >Cheers > >Chris > > > > > > > > > > > >On Feb 25, 2011, at 8:44 PM, John J. Boyer wrote: > > > >>Thanks, Chris. I might use this for extended help, but I think that > >>context-sensitive help is usually a short explanation of what a > >>particular menu choice does and how to proceed, or an explanation of > >>something in the text. It seems to me that the most user-friendly way to > >>present this information would be with a dialog box with an OK button. > >>This can be done using the SWT MessageBox class. Hsow much is this used > >>in applications? When I tried presing F1 on some MSWord menu choices it > >>certainly was not what I got. > >> > >>Time for more dumb questions from someone who hasn't been coding in Java > >>very long. Answers from the experts will considerably speed up > >>development. > >> > >>I imagine that I have to designate a listener for whatever key is used > >>for help. Can I set this up for the whold GUI or do I have to do so for > >>the Braille view and Daisy view individually? > >> > >>Once the listener gets control, how does it determine where in the > >>context it was called from? > >> > >>Thanks, > >>John > >> > >>On Fri, Feb 25, 2011 at 04:26:14PM -0800, Chris von See wrote: > >>>Minor update: Desktop.browse() takes a URI, not a URL. > >>> > >>>Chris > >>> > >>> > >>>On Feb 25, 2011, at 4:19 PM, Chris von See wrote: > >>> > >>>>If you want to implement basic HTML help you can display it using > >>>>the java.awt.Desktop class in Java 1.6 - it has a browse() method > >>>>that takes a URL argument. The URL can point to either a Web site > >>>>serving help pages or to a local file. The Desktop.browse() method > >>>>can be invoked by whatever means a user would use to invoke help > >>>>(F1, for example) - you just need to be careful that whatever > >>>>mechanism you use isn't already mapped to something else by the OS. > >>>> > >>>> > >>>>Cheers > >>>>Chris > >>>> > >>>> > >>>> > >>>> > >>>>On Feb 25, 2011, at 3:46 PM, John J. Boyer wrote: > >>>> > >>>>>Susan, > >>>>> > >>>>>I wouldn't worry too much about the frames, though I don't see why > >>>>>anyone bothers with them. The documentation you mention mibht be > >>>>>helpful. What I need is some information on context-sensitive help > >>>>>algorithms. If I have to come up with my own it will take longer. > >>>>>John > >>>>> > >>>>>On Fri, Feb 25, 2011 at 11:00:01AM -0700, Susan Jolly wrote: > >>>>>>I think you will need a library that interfaces with your GUI. SWT > >>>>>>provides context-sensitive help for Eclipse plug-ins but I don't > >>>>>>know how > >>>>>>it works when you use SWT outside of Eclipse. > >>>>>> > >>>>>>The online Eclipse documention seems to make a weird use of frames > >>>>>>so I > >>>>>>don't know how a screen reader would navigate it. I think what you > >>>>>>want is > >>>>>>something called Data Tools Platform Help-Helper Documentataion > >>>>>>which is a > >>>>>>section in the DAta Tools Platform Plug-in Developer Guide. > >>>>>> > >>>>>>Susan > >>>>>> > >>>>> > >>>>>-- > >>>>>John J. Boyer; President, Chief Software Developer > >>>>>Abilitiessoft, Inc. > >>>>>http://www.abilitiessoft.com > >>>>>Madison, Wisconsin USA > >>>>>Developing software for people with disabilities > >>>>> > >>>>> > >>>> > >>>> > >>> > >> > >>-- > >>John J. Boyer; President, Chief Software Developer > >>Abilitiessoft, Inc. > >>http://www.abilitiessoft.com > >>Madison, Wisconsin USA > >>Developing software for people with disabilities > >> > >> > > > > > -- John J. Boyer; President, Chief Software Developer Abilitiessoft, Inc. http://www.abilitiessoft.com Madison, Wisconsin USA Developing software for people with disabilities