[Bug 566233] [NEW] [A11y] Expose important details of AtkObjects of ATK_ROLE_UNKNOWN as separate object attributes

[Joanmarie]

Public bug reported:

The timeline and each audio event are ATK_ROLE_UNKNOWN. In addition,
Jokosher exposes important details about the timeline and each audio
event through the AtkObject's accessible name.

Given the finite number of AtkRole's, the role being used is
appropriate. And providing a detailed accessible name makes it possible
for an AT such as Orca to automatically present all of the relevant
information associated with a newly-focused object automatically.
(Thanks!)

There are times, however, where Orca needs to know if an accessible
event came from the timeline or an audio event. Because these are both
of ATK_ROLE_UNKNOWN, Orca must either guess based on the AtkObject's
position within in the accessible hierarchy (not performant, not
reliable) and/or try to parse the accessible name (which can be
problematic due to localization). Similarly, Orca might want to present
just one detail about one of these objects (e.g. the new start time of
an event which was just moved, the new duration of an event which was
just trimmed). Currently, the only way to provide this information is,
again, to attempt to parse the accessible name. Alternatively, Orca
could just provide the full accessible name, but most users will find
that behavior too "chatty."

Therefore, it would be very helpful if these details could also be
exposed as object attributes. The attribute name can be whatever you'd
like, as can the attribute value. (There's really no standardization on
this front.) And neither the name, nor the value should be localized as
they are intended for use by the AT itself.

Details I believe would be of interest (name is not a recommendation per
se; just something I came up with for this bug):

Name                   Example Value(s)
-----------            ----------------
"role"                 "event", "timeline"
"start-time"           "1.00"
"stop-time"*           "17.24"
"duration"*            "16.24"
"unit"**               "seconds"
etc.***


* Given one, an AT could of course calculate the other if need be.

** Assuming it might not necessarily be seconds

***  Feel free to add others. :-) For instance, not being an audio
editing expert, I have no clue if one would ever want to know the ticks
separate from the beats separate from the bars. If one would, please
expose each as an attribute; if one would not, please do not -- in which
case Orca will present the accessible name when the user modifies the
position in the timeline.

** Affects: gnome-orca
     Importance: Unknown
         Status: Unknown

** Affects: jokosher
     Importance: Undecided
         Status: New

** Bug watch added: GNOME Bug Tracker #615770
   https://bugzilla.gnome.org/show_bug.cgi?id=615770

** Also affects: gnome-orca via
   https://bugzilla.gnome.org/show_bug.cgi?id=615770
   Importance: Unknown
       Status: Unknown

-- 
[A11y] Expose important details of AtkObjects of ATK_ROLE_UNKNOWN as separate object attributes
https://bugs.launchpad.net/bugs/566233
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