Aria Layout system

[lifeiscontent]

If I was to build a layout design tool such as sketch/photoshop in the web, what sorts of aria attributes would I use to tell the user if they press an arrow key that a new layer would be selected.

I was thinking of using an aria grid, and dynamically updating the attributes when an element moved, but in a grid, items generally don't move.

is this concept something that can even be solved with aria?

[mcking65]

Although we do not have a pattern to demonstrate it, a grid with moveable cells is definitely feasible. One thing we cannot yet do with grid is have empty spaces where there is no cell. So, you would need a strategy for filling the vacancy created when the cell being moved leaves its original position and a strategy for creating a vacancy at the new position. For example, the vacancy at the original position could be filled by subsequent cells flowing up and the new position would push all subsequent cells down -- kind of like how moving icons on the iPhone home screen works. It could also be possible to use rowspan or colspan, although, that would be complex.

[lifeiscontent]

@mcking65 that's an interesting idea, I'll see if I can make an example of something like that.

thanks for your input!

[lifeiscontent]

@mcking65 I think for this concept a grid might be too rigid. Any other thoughts?

[mcking65]

What kinds of problems have you encountered with grid?

What nomenclature do you use to describe the elements of the design? You mention "layer" and "selection" but then talk about "moving" something. Do you move "layers"? Do they overlap? Are they literally layered on top of one another?

When an element moves, how would you describe its position? Were you considering grid because you could describe it in terms that use row and column?

[lifeiscontent]

I want to build a UML diagram for the web with wires and nodes with inputs/outputs

[lifeiscontent]

@mcking65

[mcking65]

Oh ... ya, grid would not suffice.

I don't know if I can confidently say that ARIA has all the necessary semantics. But, that does not mean that you can create them using features that are available now. To get them to work with assistive technologies, however, may require some hacking.

You mighte be interested in the ARIA graphics module. AFAIK, there is not yet much written about authoring practices. But, the spec does provide quite a bit of useful authoring information.