181–190 of 621 posts
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I just tried this with every major OS and browser. I don't think it is possible. You can highlight the buttons (most times) in Safari on MacOS, but you can't select the text and copy it or translate it.
You can copy Text in some browsers, but not when it's in .
Yet I can't select text on this very blog.
You can select the text by disabling CSS.
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I can select the word "Reply" with no issues
Inside the button? Not the link? What OS/Browser?
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…
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.
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macOS Safari
Yeah, I just tried to select text in the button element and translate it specifically or copy it, and it doesn't work. You can highlight it, but you aren't selecting the text. This is what is copied from the login page, you can see that the button text is missing: Login username: password: Forgot your password? Create Account username: password:
But yeah, HN isn't the best in this regard :)
Maybe dang will one day consider changing to reply!
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A case can be made for graphic like elements like buttons, but for text: treat it like text even if it's clickable. In the Web version of Outlook, there are regularly times where the location of an appointment is a street address. That text is typically clickable. But the click action doesn't correspond to the choice of mapping service I might want to use in any one instance or to the fact that I might have other act…
The point isn't that the developer should disable text selection whenever he thinks it's unnecessary, which would indeed be silly. It's that sometimes the user interface rules for navigating selectable text conflict or interfere with the user interface rules for navigating, say, a set of tab panes. In that situation, making the tab titles selectable will cause grief. I agree with your address example. That is user da…
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You provided an example with anchors. In your original post you say "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" and you explicitly mention that you leave out anchors. So far no reply to me has talked about problems causing by having selectable "tab headers, buttons, or even text-sparse tiles". I am still 100…
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…
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Would you say any of these are "not that onerous" compared to copying the character? The argument here isn't that it's _impossible_ to do that with copying disabled, it's that it's _more annoying_. By providing a list of _more annoying_ ways to do something, you're reinforcing the argument, not refuting it.
yes it's absolutely just as easy to screenshot something to my clipboard and paste it, as to try and select text from a button without clicking it. yes it's absolutely just as easy to point my phone's translate app at the button. any more questions?
I also find it rather difficult to point my phone at itself when trying to translate a word it's currently displaying; but maybe that's also a skill issue.
I added this uBO filter just yesterday:
app.termly.io##*:style(user-select: unset !important;)