PROVIDING ACCESSIBILITY FEATURES ON CONTEXT BASED RADIAL MENUS

• US 20130019206A1
• Filed: 01/13/2012
• Published: 01/17/2013
• Est. Priority Date: 07/14/2011
• Status: Active Grant

• Current Assignee: Microsoft Technology Licensing LLC (Microsoft Corporation)
• Original Assignee: Microsoft Corporation
• Inventors: Kotler, Matthew, Gil, Erez Kikin
• Granted Patent: US 9,021,398 B2
• Time in Patent Office: Days
• US Class Current: 715/834
• CPC Class Codes: G06F 3/0481 based on specific properties of the displayed interaction object or a metaphor-based environment, e.g. interaction with desktop elements like windows or icons, or assisted by a cursor's changing behaviour or appearance
• CPC Class Codes: G06F 3/04812 Interaction techniques based on cursor appearance or behaviour, e.g. being affected by the presence of displayed objects
• CPC Class Codes: G06F 3/0482 Interaction with lists of selectable items, e.g. menus
• CPC Class Codes: G06F 3/0488 using a touch-screen or digitiser, e.g. input of commands through traced gestures
• CPC Class Codes: G06F 3/04886 by partitioning the display area of the touch-screen or the surface of the digitising tablet into independently controllable areas, e.g. virtual keyboards or menus
• CPC Class Codes: G06F 3/04895 Guidance during keyboard input operation, e.g. prompting
• CPC Class Codes: G06F 9/453 Help systems

Abstract

Radial context based menus are employed for content management through touch or gesture actions, keyboard entries, mouse or pen actions, and similar input. Different actions and combinations of actions enable users to activate submenus, execute commands, or collapse context based menus. Accessibility features are integrated with radial context based menus to ease user interaction with radial context based menu controls. Distinct accessibility controls are superimposed on radial context based menu controls to aid with command interactions. Additionally, contrast schemes are implemented on radial context based menu controls and surrounding regions to differentiate the context base menu controls for visual acuity.

Claims

1. A method executed at least in part in a computing device for providing accessibility features on radial context based menus, the method comprising:

in response to detecting one of a;

a tap action, a swipe action, a mouse input, a voice input, a visual input, and a keyboard input, presenting a radial context based menu in relation to a displayed content on a user interface;

displaying one or more accessibility controls superimposed on respective radial context based menu controls;

detecting a user action activating at least one of the accessibility controls; and

activating at least one of the associated radial context based menu controls.

2. The method of claim 1, wherein the accessibility controls include at least one of letters and numbers representing keyboard entries assigned to the respective radial context based menu controls.

3. The method of claim 2, further comprising:

incrementing the numbers on the radial context based menu in one of a clockwise and counterclockwise direction; and

mapping the numbers directly to a slider control.

4. The method of claim 1, further comprising:

mapping the respective radial context based menu controls to a tree structure.

5. The method of claim 4, further comprising:

exposing the tree structure to an accessibility system to enable a user to navigate using one of voice and keyboard access without needing to know that the controls are part of the radial context based menu.

6. The method of claim 1, further comprising:

mapping an attribute picker to a slider.

7. The method of claim 6, further comprising:

associating attributes on the attribute picker with discrete items on the slider.

8. The method of claim 7, wherein the attributes include one of:

a text style and a graphic style.

9. The method of claim 1, further comprising:

mapping at least one rectangular shaped accessibility control to at least one oval shaped associated radial context based menu control.

10. The method of claim 9, further comprising:

exposing the at least one rectangular shaped accessibility control to a text-to-speech accessibility system for identification of the at least one oval shaped associated radial context based menu control.

11. A computing device for providing accessibility features on radial context based menus, the computing device comprising:

an input device configured to detect at least one of;

a swipe action, a tap action, a keyboard action, a mouse action, a voice input, and a visual input;

a memory;

a processor coupled to the memory, the processor executing an application and causing a user interface associated with the application to be displayed on a screen, wherein the processor is configured to;

in response to detecting one of;

a tap action, a swipe action, a mouse input, a voice input, a visual input, and a keyboard input, present a radial context based menu in relation to a displayed content on the user interface;

detect an accessibility configuration according to at least one from a set of;

a user action, an operating system setting, and a device setting; and

display at least one control of the radial context based menu in a high contrast color compared to a surrounding region of the at least one control.

12. The computing device of claim 11, wherein the processor is further configured to:

employ a dedicated key to expose key tips,

employ a dedicated character to open the radial context base menu,

employ a letter following the dedicated character to execute commands, and

employ another dedicated key and the letter to navigate to submenus

13. The computing device of claim 11, wherein the processor is further configured to:

employ one or more of TAB/SHIFT-TAB, ARROW, and PAGE UP/PAGE DOWN keys to navigate through the top level radial context based menu and sub-menus; and

employ a dedicated key to close the radial context based menu.

14. The computing device of claim 11, wherein the processor is further configured to:

in response to detecting a predetermined keyboard input, navigate through the at least one control.

15. The computing device of claim 11, wherein the processor is further configured to:

in response to detecting a predetermined keyboard input, display a least one key tip associated with the at least one control.

16. The computing device of claim 15, wherein the at least one key tip has a rectangular shape.

17. The computing device of claim 11, wherein the processor is further configured to:

display at least one label of the at least one control in a high contrast color compared to the at least one control.

18. A computer-readable memory device with instructions stored thereon for providing accessibility features on radial context based menus, the instructions comprising:

in response to detecting one of a;

a tap action, a swipe action, a mouse input, a voice input, a visual input, and a keyboard input, presenting a radial context based menu in relation to a displayed content on a user interface;

displaying one or more accessibility controls superimposed on respective radial context based menu controls;

assigning an alphanumeric character to each one of the accessibility controls;

detecting a user action activating an accessibility control; and

activating a radial context based menu control associated with the accessibility control.

19. The computer-readable memory device of claim 18, wherein the instructions further comprise:

supporting different sizes of the radial context based menu and menu elements including graphical elements and text through a high pixel density scheme.

20. The computer-readable memory device of claim 18, wherein the instructions further comprise:

differentiating among different types of the accessibility controls by one of assigning at least one from a set of;

an odd number and an even number as the assigned alphanumeric character, and enabling a user to press a key multiple times and navigate between different commands until another key is pressed.