[whatwg] Outline style to use for drawSystemFocusRing

[Rik Cabanier]

On Tue, Jan 7, 2014 at 11:12 PM, Dominic Mazzoni <dmazzoni at google.com>wrote:

> On Tue, Jan 7, 2014 at 9:18 PM, Rik Cabanier <cabanier at gmail.com> wrote:
>
>>
>> On Tue, Jan 7, 2014 at 1:10 PM, Ian Hickson <ian at hixie.ch> wrote:
>>
>>>
>>> > I don't see that as an argument against caching the last known location
>>> > of an object too.
>>>
>>> If you want to store state, that's what addHitRegion() is for. It's the
>>> retained mode API for canvas. The draw*FocusRing() methods are
>>> direct-mode
>>> APIs. There's no expiry logic, there's no API contract that implies that
>>> the calls will be made, or made correctly, if the element isn't focused.
>>>
>>
>> I believe this is where part of our confusion/disagreements come from.
>> The draw*FocusRing methods are NOT direct-mode APIs for *a11y*.
>>
>> By calling draw*FocusRing on a fallback element, the a11y software will
>> now associate that element (and its aria rules) with the path that was in
>> the canvas' state.
>> This HAS to be stateful because the a11y software queries the browser for
>> the bounds of the fallback element to draw its own focus rectangle.
>>
>
> Yes.
>
> A11y APIs on every platform I'm familiar with (Windows, Mac, Linux/ATK,
> Android, iOS) are essentially retained-mode. When focus changes, the
> application notifies the system and gives it an ID or reference that
> identifies the focused object. Assistive technology may query the bounds of
> this object immediately, or at any time in the future. If you restart or
> load a magnifier while the browser is already running, it will explore the
> tree, discover the object that has focus, and zoom the screen and/or draw
> its own ring around it at that time.
>

agreed.
Note that the draw*FocusRing functions don't update the a11y of the canvas.
Instead, they update the fallback element's region. This element is part of
the HTML DOM and as such, is retained.