Highlighting of tappable web page elements

• US 9,092,131 B2
• Filed: 12/13/2011
• Issued: 07/28/2015
• Est. Priority Date: 12/13/2011
• Status: Active Grant

• Current Assignee: Microsoft Technology Licensing LLC (Microsoft Corporation)
• Original Assignee: Microsoft Technology Licensing LLC (Microsoft Corporation)
• Inventors: Lin, Jeffrey Tzu-Heng
• Primary Examiner(s): Debrow, James J
• Application Number:
  US13/324,696
• Publication Number:
  US 20130151944A1
• Time in Patent Office: 1,323 Days
• Field of Search: 715/234
• US Class Current: 1/1
• CPC Class Codes: G06F 16/95 Retrieval from the web
• CPC Class Codes: G06F 3/0488 using a touch-screen or digitiser, e.g. input of commands through traced gestures

Abstract

Methods for highlighting tappable web page elements in response to a touch detect a touch to a touchscreen display, determine that a touched element displayed at the touch location, and determine whether and how the touched element is to be highlighted. Highlighting can be based on various touched element properties. In one embodiment, if a touched element is not tappable, the element is not highlighted. If the touched element is editable, the element is highlighted. A region around the touch location is highlighted if the touched element is an image map or SVG element and a portion of the element at the touch location is tappable. A touched element is also highlighted if the element has an inline display style or is a highlight element type. The touched element is not highlighted if its size and complexity exceed size and complexity thresholds.

Claims

1. A method of highlighting tappable web page elements on a touchscreen display, the method comprising:

displaying at least a portion of a web page on the touchscreen display, the web page comprising a plurality of hierarchically arranged web page elements that inherit properties of ancestor elements;

detecting a touch to the touchscreen display at a touch location;

determining, from the plurality of elements, a touched element displayed on the touchscreen display at the touch location;

determining whether the touched element is tappable, wherein determining whether the touched element is tappable comprises determining whether the touched element is intrinsically tappable due to its type, has a touch event handler or a mouse event handler associated with it, or because one of its ancestor elements is tappable;

based on a number of characters and a number of tags in the touched element, determining a complexity of the touched element;

determining whether the touched element is to be highlighted based at least on whether the touched element is tappable, a touched element size, and the touched element complexity, wherein the touched element is tappable but determined not to be highlighted based at least on the touched element size and the touched element complexity; and

based on whether the touched element is determined to be highlighted, choosing between highlighting and not highlighting the touched element on the touchscreen display.

2. The method of claim 1, wherein the determining whether the touched element is to be highlighted is based at least on the touched element size.

3. The method of claim 2, wherein the touched element size comprises a touched element height.

4. The method of claim 2, wherein the touched element size comprises a touched element width.

5. The method of claim 1, wherein the determining whether the touched element is to be highlighted comprises determining that the touched element is not to be highlighted if the touched element size exceeds a size threshold and the touched element complexity exceeds a complexity threshold.

6. The method of claim 5, further comprising adjusting the size threshold and/or the complexity threshold in response to a change in a magnification factor of the web page.

7. The method of claim 5, wherein the size threshold and/or the complexity threshold is based on a size of the touchscreen display.

8. The method of claim 1, wherein the determining whether the touched element is to be highlighted is based at least in part on the touched element display style.

9. The method of claim 8, wherein the determining whether the touched element is to be highlighted comprises determining the touched element is to be highlighted if the touched element display style is an inline display style.

10. One or more computer-readable storage media storing computer-executable instructions for causing a computing device to perform a method of highlighting tappable web page elements displayed on a touchscreen display, the method comprising:

displaying a web page on the touchscreen display, the web page comprising a plurality of elements;

detecting a touch to the touchscreen display at a touch location;

determining, from the plurality of elements, a touched element displayed at the touch location;

based on a number of characters and a number of tags in the touched element, determining a touched element complexity;

determining whether to highlight the touched element, the determining performed via a process comprising;

if the touched element is not tappable, determining not to highlight the touched element;

if the touched element is editable, determining to highlight the touched element;

if the touched element comprises an image and defines one or more regions that are tappable, determining to highlight a region of the image around the touch location;

if the touched element has an inline display style or a type of the touched element is a highlight element type, determining to highlight the touched element; and

if a touched element size exceeds a size threshold and the touched element complexity exceeds a complexity threshold, determining not to highlight the touched element;

wherein the size threshold and the complexity threshold are based on a display size and a display magnification factor;

wherein the determining determines that the element is tappable, but based at least on the touch element size and the touched element complexity, the element is determined not to be highlighted; and

highlighting or not highlighting the touched element according to the determining whether to highlight the touched element.

11. The one or more computer-readable storage media of claim 10, wherein the determining that the touched element comprises an image or code used by a web browser to render a drawing comprises determining whether the touched element is an image map element.

12. The one or more computer-readable storage media of claim 10, wherein the determining that the touched element comprises an image or code used by a web browser to render a drawing comprises determining whether the touched element is an SVG element.

13. The one or more computer-readable storage media of claim 10, further comprising adjusting the size threshold and/or the complexity threshold in response to a change in the display magnification factor of the web page.

14. One or more computer-readable storage media storing computer-executable instructions for causing a computing device to perform a method of highlighting tappable web page elements displayed on a touchscreen display, the method comprising:

displaying at least a portion of a web page on the touchscreen display of the computing device, the web page comprising a plurality of hierarchically arranged web page elements that inherit properties of ancestor elements;

detecting a touch to the touchscreen display at a touch location;

determining, from the plurality of elements, a touched element displayed on the touchscreen display at the touch location;

determining whether the touched element is tappable, wherein determining whether the touched element is tappable comprises determining whether the touched element is intrinsically tappable due to its type, has a touch event handler or a mouse event handler associated with it, or because one of its ancestor elements is tappable;

based on a number of characters and a number of tags in the touched element, determining a complexity of the touched element;

determining whether the touched element is to be highlighted based at least on whether the touched element is tappable, a touched element size, and the touched element complexity, wherein the touched element is tappable but determined not to be highlighted based at least on the touched element size and the touched element complexity; and

based on whether the touched element is determined to be highlighted, choosing between highlighting and not highlighting the touched element on the touchscreen display.

15. One or more computer-readable storage media of claim 14, wherein the determining whether the touched element is to be highlighted is based at least on the touched element size.

16. One or more computer-readable storage media of claim 14, wherein the touched element size comprises a touched element height and a touched element width.

17. One or more computer-readable storage media of claim 14, wherein the determining whether the touched element is to be highlighted comprises determining that the touched element is not to be highlighted if the touched element size exceeds a size threshold and the touched element complexity exceeds a complexity threshold.

18. One or more computer-readable storage media of claim 17, further comprising adjusting the size threshold and/or the complexity threshold in response to a change in a magnification factor of the web page.

19. One or more computer-readable storage media of claim 17, wherein the size threshold and/or the complexity threshold is based on a size of the touchscreen display.

20. One or more computer-readable storage media of claim 14, wherein the determining whether the touched element is to be highlighted is based at least in part on the touched element display style.

21. One or more computer-readable storage media of claim 14, wherein the determining whether the touched element is to be highlighted comprises determining the touched element is to be highlighted if the touched element display style is an inline display style.