Web Usability and the Browser right click behavoir.

[JimT]

Hi Folks

A customer has asked us to override the right click behavoir of the
browser with our own menu on our CMS collections. This caused some
debate about where browser based usability is headed in the future.

My simple understanding is that on the desktop usability has been
standardized although variations exist across operating systems. On
the web, it has been a free for all constrained available UI
technologies and REST. UI technologies in browsers started with basic
served up HTML and have matured through CSS, the use of
JavaScript(DHTML) and AJAX.

So my question is:

In a "state of the art" web system is it OK to take over the right
click behavoir of the browser by putting in your own menu?

At the 10K meter level I say yes. Many argue no since 1. disabling it
is not a browser standard (cross browser problems can occur) and 2.
The browser is the platform and users expect the right click to be
there.

What say ye?

Jim

[Chad Nantais]

Hi Jim,

Would any kind of right-click constraint even work consistently across
browsers?

Would users even have a clue that there is a different right-click
menu available to them?

If this was suggested as a way to prevent "save as" functionality,
consider that it won't stop average content thieves who can just View
Source, use the Page Info feature in Firefox to see all the media in a
page, or use a command line utility to download the page contents.

Yes, users expect their browser's right-click menu to work the same
all the time. If you essentially "hack" that in a way that takes a
bit of power from them, they are going to feel amputated and
unsatisfied with the experience.

Chad

[Gerald Bauer]

Hello,

Why not add a tiny icon as an alternative and if your users click
it a menu pops up? See the tiny icon next to the My Groups link in the
upper right corner right here on Google Groups as an example if you're
logged in.

Cheers,

Gerald
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[Stephan Wehner]

I say I would be extremely annoyed if the functions I usually have under the mouse-right-click are not there anymore. There are so many nice firefox-plugins that add new entries. UI design is hard enough and Web UI design even harder, so standards are your friend.

I vaguely remember a page that changed the right-click-menu, but it didn't quite work, so that both the page's menu was hard to reach, and the ordinary menu was hard to reach. I am not aware how the menu can be controlled.

On the other hand if you have a non-standard page it might be a good idea, if it can be done at all. That would depend on

 * Who are your users?
 * What makes them view the pages?
 * What are the menu entries?
 * Are there no alternatives (buttons, etc)?

Stephan

Jim

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Stephan Wehner

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[Gerald Bauer]

Hello,

> In a "state of the art" web system is it OK to take over the right
> click behavoir of the browser by putting in your own menu?

Google who always pushes what's possible with web applications
(anyone looked into Google Gears?) or more accurately what's
acceptable and considered standard industry practice just added new
right-click menus to Google Docs.

There's a twist, however. It's still the user who decides to
replace the browser context menus. The "Google Operating System" blog
reports:

If you use Firefox and see the standard context menu, go to Tools/
Options, select the Content tab, click on the Advanced button next to
the JavaScript option and check "(Allow scripts to) disable or replace
context menus".

Source: http://googlesystem.blogspot.com/2007/08/new-context-menus-in-google-docs.html

Now on to the question with Google's lead will this practice
become more acceptable and widespread? Thoughts? Comments?

Cheers,

Gerald
________________________________________________________
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[Jerome Ryckborst]

As a matter of principle, browsers ought to allow sites to add custom
commands and remove standard ones from the browser's right-click menu. It's
up to the designers and usability people to get it right.

This also gives people the freedom to get it wrong, and when it goes wrong,
it affects other people. Kind of like using a cell phone while turning left
in a stick-shift car.

-=- Jerome