RFC: Keyboard shortcuts, ways to improve

[lists kambanaria org]

Hi,

Is there a way we can automate checks of translation of keyboard shortcuts?

This is an extremely tedious and error prone task with the current
methodology.

Translation tools state whether a keyboard shortcut is present in the
translation or not. This is not enough because there can be many
collisions between the accelerators. So we revert to manually trying to
open every windows and screen, which we sometimes we cannot do (mostly
because we do not know how).

What I ideally hope for is a tool that can do the following:
1. Start the application in the new locale.
2. Have some way to open all dialogs and windows.
3. Check the accelerators.

I fancy that [3] is doable with the accessibility framework - labels and
messages in the interface should be enumerable and readable somehow, so
shortcuts can be checked for collisions (and others).

[2] is doable with the assistance of some testing framework (that I also
believe exists, that can open windows, simulate mouse clicks and keyboard
input.

It will require some cooperation from the developers but they will have
their own reasons to participate - such user interaction testcases are
nice to have when developing, plus they could catch some bugs. Plus once
several apps start having these, the benefits will prove to developers
that it is worth having it. No need to make such testing harness
compulsory.

Kind regards:
al_shopov