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Balance indentation's problems against benefits

Describe how they help users with hand tremors avoid selecting
interactive elements.
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Rohan Kumar 2022-03-27 11:16:48 -07:00
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commit 3df423336c
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2 changed files with 34 additions and 2 deletions

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@ -406,6 +406,26 @@ Browser default stylesheets typically give <figure> elements extra margins on th
I chose to remove the margins in <figure> elements. I don't find the margins useful because I typically use them to annotate non-centered non-phrasing content, such as <blockquote> and <pre> elements, and my image-based figures tend to have longer captions. If you're reading the Web version of this page with its own stylesheet enabled, in a CSS 2 compliant browser, you might notice that the blockquotes on it are formatted with a minimal indent and a thick gray border on the left rather than a full indent. These two adjustments allow blockquotes containing bulleted lists to fit on most narrow viewports, even when wrapped by a <figure> element.
### When indentation helps
Excessive indentation can make reading difficult for narrow viewports, but preserving some indentation is still useful.
For now, I've decided to keep the indents on list elements such as <ol> and <ul>, since I often fill them with links. See see this article's table of contents on its Web mirror for an example:
=> https://seirdy.one/2020/11/23/website-best-practices.html#toc Table of contents
This indentation provides important negative space. Readers with hand tremors depend on this space to scroll without accidentally selecting an interactive element:
=> https://axesslab.com/hand-tremors/ Hand tremors and the giant-button-problem (Axess Lab)
On lists without visible bullets, I dropped the default indentation. I had to find other ways to ensure adequate space between links. Some examples from the Web mirror of this Gemini capsule:
=> https://seirdy.one/2020/11/23/website-best-practices.html#webmentions The webmention list below this article separates links with timestamps and some paragraph spacing.
=> https://seirdy.one/#posts The homepage posts list separates links with descriptions.
=> https://seirdy.one/2022/02/02/floss-security.html The list of related articles at the top of one of my posts does the same.
Once again, deviating from defaults created additional work to remove an accessibility hazard.
## Tor
Many people use Tor out of necessity. On Tor, additional constraints apply.
@ -615,7 +635,6 @@ This article is, and will probably always be, an ongoing work-in-progress. Some
* How purely-cosmetic animations harm users with cognitive disabilities (e.g. attention disorders).
* A maximum line length for readability
* Best practices for combining alt-text, figure captions, and image transcripts.
* How users with hand tremors depend on negative space in areas with a high density of interactive elements, and where/how to provide this space.
* How exposing new content on hover is inaccessible to users with magnifiers, hand tremors, switch access, and touchscreens.
## Other places to check out

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@ -8,6 +8,7 @@ footnote_heading: Notes
toc: true
tags:
- web
- accessibility
- minimalism
title: An opinionated list of best practices for textual websites
---
@ -356,6 +357,19 @@ Browser default stylesheets typically give `<figure>` elements extra margins on
I chose to remove the margins in `<figure>` elements. I don't find the margins useful because I typically use them to annotate non-centered non-phrasing content, such as `<blockquote>` and `<pre>` elements, and my image-based figures tend to have longer captions. If you're reading this page with its own stylesheet enabled, in a CSS&nbsp;2 compliant browser, you might have noticed the blockquotes on it are formatted with a minimal indent and a thick gray border on the left rather than a full indent. These two adjustments allow blockquotes containing bulleted lists to fit on most narrow viewports, even when wrapped by a `<figure>` element.
### When indentation helps
Excessive indentation can make reading difficult for narrow viewports, but preserving some indentation is still useful.
For now, I've decided to keep the indents on list elements such as `<ol>` and `<ul>`, since I often fill them with links (see this article's [table of contents](#toc) for an example). This indentation provides important negative space. Readers with hand tremors [depend on this space](https://axesslab.com/hand-tremors/) to scroll without accidentally selecting an interactive element.
On lists without visible bullets, I dropped the default indentation. I had to find other ways to ensure adequate space between links. Some examples:
- The [webmention list](#webmentions) below this article separates links with timestamps and some paragraph spacing.
- The [homepage posts list](https://seirdy.one/#posts) and the list of related articles at the top of [one of my posts](https://seirdy.one/2022/02/02/floss-security.html) separates links with descriptions
Once again, deviating from defaults created additional work to remove an accessibility hazard.
Tor
---
@ -530,7 +544,6 @@ This article is, and will probably always be, an ongoing work-in-progress. Some
* How purely-cosmetic animations harm users with cognitive disabilities (e.g. attention disorders).
* A maximum line length for readability
* Best practices for combining alt-text, figure captions, and image transcripts.
* How users with hand tremors [depend on negative space](https://axesslab.com/hand-tremors/) in areas with a high density of interactive elements, and where/how to provide this space.
* How exposing new content on hover is inaccessible to users with magnifiers, hand tremors, switch access, and touchscreens.
Other places to check out