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Just let me select text

aartaka.me

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Re: Just let me select text

#121

Post by Ukv »

catapart wrote: post #100
whstl wrote: post #84

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Sure, I had one recently. There is a certain page of one of the Bundesagentur für Arbeit websites that doesn't play well with automatic translation. I speak B2 level German, but even then some of the technical terms are still complicated or unknown for me. This included one very long German word that was in a BIG RED button and the text in the big red button was not selectable, in the manner described in the article.

> that doesn't play well with automatic translation. I think I found your problem. Not sure why you think the solution is to make everything work worse for keyboard users.

Worse in what way? For keyboard use, I want text to be selectable, since I'll often use shift + arrow keys while reading.

Re: Just let me select text

#122

Post by catapart »

bobbylarrybobby wrote: post #114
catapart wrote: post #21

As a web dev, I fully agree with this, but with a huge exception: clickable text. Anything that is meant to be read as content should absolutely, without fail, be selectable and copyable (assuming appropriate permissions). But stuff like tab headers, buttons, or even text-sparse tiles - things meant for the user to click on - can, and usually should , prevent text selection. It is super annoying to be clicking back a…

It's always bothered me that links on webpages are single click to open. They should require double clicking to open (like just about everything else on a computer) and single click should be used to start selecting text, like everywhere else on a computer.

You know, I've often wondered how much simpler UX would be if this had been the case from the start. Hard to make any predictions, but one can optimistically dream...

Re: Just let me select text

#123

Post by tomrod »

catapart wrote: post #21

As a web dev, I fully agree with this, but with a huge exception: clickable text. Anything that is meant to be read as content should absolutely, without fail, be selectable and copyable (assuming appropriate permissions). But stuff like tab headers, buttons, or even text-sparse tiles - things meant for the user to click on - can, and usually should , prevent text selection. It is super annoying to be clicking back a…

As a long-time web user, some push back. I just want text. Give me clickable links if needed. HTMLv2 was enough for most information, most of the rest is eye candy.

Re: Just let me select text

#124

Post by fkyoureadthedoc »

n8m8 wrote: post #98
Hobadee wrote: post #76

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Real-world example I use nearly daily: Selecting the nav header that's the ticket number in our ticketing system. I copy-paste the number elsewhere. Of course there are many other bad design decisions that go into requiring me to do this, but it's still a real example of why all text should be selectable.

I almost always copy this by double clicking after the `/` in the URL

Enter, stage left, ServiceNow hell urls

Re: Just let me select text

#125

Post by catapart »

xnx wrote: post #120
catapart wrote: post #21

As a web dev, I fully agree with this, but with a huge exception: clickable text. Anything that is meant to be read as content should absolutely, without fail, be selectable and copyable (assuming appropriate permissions). But stuff like tab headers, buttons, or even text-sparse tiles - things meant for the user to click on - can, and usually should , prevent text selection. It is super annoying to be clicking back a…

> It is super annoying to be clicking back and forth through tabs only to have some text erroneously highlight and then stay that way. How do you do this? > can, and usually should, prevent text selection Please don't. You're overthinking. Be a better designer by designing less.

Ah yes "design less" by "forcing selectability where it is not a feature by default".

I swear, the platitudes are what kills me. Design and publish a site used by professionals and let me know what kind of feedback you get.

Re: Just let me select text

#126

Post by marcosdumay »

mystraline wrote: post #47

Ive asked this before with no answer: A browser (say, Firefox) is a "User Agent". Agents are supposed to act on our behalf, and in our best interests when ambiguities are present. So, why are OUR user agents acting on behalf of website operators and their admins and users, and not on our behalf? Having CSS that prevents usability shouldn't be implemented. Or it should be an easy toggle to turn on/off, without having…

All of those things have some niche use in an element here and there that allows for much better interaction in some kind of site.

I'm honestly at a loss with unselectable text, but for example capturing the right mouse button is very useful for applications.

Anyway, yes, it should be easy to turn those things off site-wide, like it's easy to zoom.

Re: Just let me select text

#127

Post by whstl »

catapart wrote: post #117
klausa wrote: post #107

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Congratulations on being fluent in Hanzi, I guess, but that does not solve a problem for the vast majority of the users.

I don't even understand it; I just can recognize a character and type it in. The only time I have to do so is in looking at poorly designed firmware sites and stuff like that, but I manage when the developers do not accomodate for me. But that's not what the topic is. The topic is HOW developers should accomodate users. And I'm simply taking the stance that preventing user selectability is a lesser evil in specific c…

A native Chinese high school graduate is generally expected to know around 3500 characters. A middle school student, 2500-3000.

For Kanji the numbers are around 2136 and 1200 and respectively.

If you know the language, then you don't need this.

But if you're claiming that you can type a random Hanzi or Kanji character you see in an interface without speaking the language, you are either missing something here or not arguing in good faith.

Re: Just let me select text

#128

Post by johanyc »

NoraCodes wrote: post #16

Given that this page has the following styles which aren't applied anywhere else on the blog: body { -webkit-user-select: none; -webkit-touch-callout: none; -moz-user-select: none; -ms-user-select: none; user-select: none; } I think it's safe to assume that being unable to select text on this page is not unintentional, as several comments here assume, nor "ironic", but an intentional effort to demonstrate how annoyin…

I have a bookmarklet just to deal with this kind of websites lol

Re: Just let me select text

#129

Post by nmeofthestate »

magnio wrote: post #7

On Android, long press home button activates Google Assistant that can OCR the current screen and translate immediately. Unironically one of the only two features keeping me on Android until now.

Interesting. I screenshot then send to Google Lens which is obviously more of a hassle than what you're describing. But I have gestures enabled and so no home button. I wonder what is the gesture-equivalent of long-pressing on home.

Re: Just let me select text

#130

Post by marcosdumay »

encom wrote: post #15

[Trigger warning: Old man yells at cloud.] One of countless reasons I hate doing anything on my phone. Text selection is imprecise, slow and janky. Text input is slow and error prone, and autocorrect (or predictive text) produces danish with wrong grammar (so does Chrome). It's like using a computer with boxing gloves on. And despite phones now being huge, I prefer my triple monitor desktop. And also most apps are pr…

> It's like using a computer with boxing gloves on.

I dunno. Even if I zoom so I can click precisely where I want to select or edit, my phone still insists on doing the operation in another place. And some places are just completely forbidden.

Using a computer with boxing gloves ought to be a lot more precise than that.

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