UI Options and user preferences stored locally (was: Re: 1.3 release next steps)

[Colin Clark]

Rich,

I don't have any specific links to send you yet on the topic of local data storage for AccessForAll preferences, but here are a few things related to the topic:

* UI Options, an Infusion component that enables users to specify their styling and navigation preferences, will be expanded to include a variety of needs and preferences. Media enhancement, documentation transformation, layout and simplification, and more. We currently store these preferences in a rough JSON format.The plan in the new year is to redesign UI Options and create a more comprehensive JSON binding for AccessForAll, suitable for storage anywhere, including locally or in the cloud.

Overview page: http://wiki.fluidproject.org/display/fluid/User+Interface+Options
Demo: http://fluidproject.org/releases/1.3/demos/uiOptions/demo.html

* Infusion mobile themes for Android and iPhone: these were created as part of our work on Fluid Engage, and enable users to quickly and easily use the Fluid Skinning System with WebKit-based mobile devices. Our plan for the FLOE Project is to introduce some new client and server-side infrastructure that will automatically deliver the correct theme based on device type or user preference (as expressed by the user in UI Options).

Overview: http://wiki.fluidproject.org/display/fluid/Mobile+FSS
Demo (try this with WebKit): http://fluidproject.org/releases/1.3/demos/fss/mobile/demo.html

In the new year, Antranig and the UI Options team are planning to start work on cloud-based user preferences storage. The plan is to create a reference implementation of a user preferences server integrated with OpenID. I know that you have some concerns about OpenID, but I think it offers the only reasonable starting place for being able to demonstrate widely-supported cloud based user authentication. From there, we can talk further about how we might want to production-harden the implementation.

As you probably know, HTML 5 local data storage currently has no facility for sharing data across domains. This will ultimately have to be addressed in the spec and browser vendors will need to implement it. In the meantime, the simplest approach for pursuing a reference implementation of this would be a browser-based extension using Jetpack on Firefox or WebKit's extension mechanism. Writing an extension first should allow us to work out the main architectural issues and then share back with the HTML 5 committee.

Fluid's goal in the new year, as part of the FLOE Project, is to do the following:

1. Improve the Fluid Skinning System to enable a variety of production-level document transformations
2. Update UI Options to improve the user experience and introduce a number of new user preferences that go beyond just styling
3. Look at cloud and browser-based preferences storage and integration
4. Continue evolving our framework to support end user personalizable user interfaces with features such as Infusion's Inversion of Control framework.
5. Integrate these tools and new components with mainstream authoring tools such as MediaWiki and Open Educational Resource (OER) platforms

We're quite keen to work with you on any of this and more.

Hope this helps,

Colin

On 2010-12-23, at 1:29 PM, Richard Schwerdtfeger wrote:

> Hi Colin,
> 
> Can you point me to the mobile browser work on personalization that we discussed on the Fluid site? I want to start looking at A4A Integration through HTML 5 local data storage across domains. Last we spoke you mentioned that the effort was in the design phase.
> 
> AfA v3 first public working draft should go out January or February.
> 
> I want to start look at this for our mobile IBM accessibility strategy and of course GPII. It is time to start moving the ball. I need to look at Open Social too.
> 
> Rich
> 
> 
> Rich Schwerdtfeger
> CTO Accessibility Software Group
> 
> <graycol.gif>Colin Clark ---12/22/2010 05:20:46 PM---Hey all, We're in the home stretch for the Infusion 1.3 release. Here's what's left to do:
> 
> From:	Colin Clark <colinbdclark at gmail.com>
> To:	Fluid Work <fluid-work at fluidproject.org>
> Cc:	"Michelle D'Souza" <mdsouza at ocad.ca>
> Date:	12/22/2010 05:20 PM
> Subject:	1.3 release next steps
> Sent by:	fluid-work-bounces at fluidproject.org
> 
> 
> 
> Hey all,
> 
> We're in the home stretch for the Infusion 1.3 release. Here's what's left to do:
> 
> 1. Generate the release packages from the official 1.3 tag
> 2. Test them
> 3. Post them to the Web site
> 4. Update demo links and component progress indicators where necessary
> 5. Tag and deploy the Infusion Builder
> 6. Ensure the Builder is pointing to the official tagged version of Infusion
> 7. Test the Builder
> 8. Send out the announcement
> 9. Update the News section of the web site
> 10. Tweet about it
> 11. Go home for the holidays
> 
> It sounds like a long list, but these are all relatively simple tasks, especially if we share them.
> 
> Colin
> 
> ---
> Colin Clark
> Technical Lead, Fluid Project
> http://fluidproject.org
> 
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---
Colin Clark
Technical Lead, Fluid Project
http://fluidproject.org