[OPEN-ILS-DEV] Web Self Check Interface - Keyboard as only input

[Jane Sandberg]

Thanks for asking, Josh.  I'd be pretty wary of disabling tab
navigation, especially since not all libraries will necessarily have a
touch screen available.  If there's no touch screen and no keyboard
navigation, patrons with various disabilities and impairments would be
stuck with an unusable or unsatisfactory user experience.  I'd prefer
an approach where focus goes back to the scan box when it senses any
0-9 a-z input.

Feel free to take this with a grain of salt, since we aren't using
Evergreen's self-check.  One of the libraries on campus is using a
different self-check system with no touch screen, though; I don't
think that's a rare occurrence.

On Fri, Oct 18, 2019 at 8:17 AM Josh Stompro <stomproj at gsuite.larl.org> wrote:
>
> Hello, does anyone know of any locations that use a keyboard as the sole input device for the web based self check?  Or of any users that rely on keyboard navigation for the self check even when a mouse or touch screen is available?
>
> I ask because I submitted a fix for an issue that we were seeing, where users would accidentally press tab when entering barcodes in the self check, and not notice that the focus was no longer on the scan box, and then proceed to scan their barcode or items, not noticing that the first scan failed.
>
> https://bugs.launchpad.net/evergreen/+bug/1560601
>
> Part of the solution that we have been using is to effectively disable tab navigation, so it isn't possible to use tab to select other page elements.
>
> If there are users that rely on tab navigation then this may not be a general solution, or maybe needs to be easier to enable or disable.
>
> Or maybe there is another approach that detects 0-9 a-z key presses/input for any focus and always redirects those to the scan box? Maybe instead of a visible scanbox on the screen, one just pops up when any barcode like input is detected.
>
> Thanks for the feedback
> Josh
>
> --
> Josh Stompro - IT Director
> Lake Agassiz Regional Library
> Desk: 218-233-3757 Ext 139
> Cell: 218-790-2110



-- 
Jane Sandberg
Electronic Resources Librarian
Linn-Benton Community College
sandbej at linnbenton.edu / 541-917-4655
Pronouns: she/her/hers