Unified ODF Icons - Specification
Unified ODF Icons
Specification Status | |
Author | Lutz Hoeger |
Last Change | Sep 25, 2009 |
Status (Help) | Preliminary |
Abstract
A new set of document icons (a.k.a. mime type icons), which gives ODF documents a clean and unique visual identity, and removes any product or vendor specific brand.
References
Reference Document | Check | Location (URL) |
Prerequisites | [passed/failed] | n/a |
Product Requirement, RFE, Issue ID (required) | [available] | http://qa.openoffice.org/issues/show_bug.cgi?id=104806 |
Accessibility Check (required) | See accessibility section for check list | |
Test case specification (required) | [available/not available] | <PLEASE ENTER LOCATION HERE> |
GullFOSS announcement, incl. motivation for this change | http://blogs.sun.com/GullFOSS/entry/unified_odf_icons | |
Detailed specification of the new icon design | http://odftoolkit.org/pages/ODF-Icons |
Contacts
Role | Name | E-Mail Address |
Developer | Mikhail Voitenko | mav@openoffice.org |
Product Manager | Lutz Hoeger | lh@openoffice.org |
Quality Assurance | Thorsten Martens, Olaf Felka | tm@openoffice.org, of@openoffice.org |
Documentation | <First Name, Last Name> | <User@openoffice.org> |
User Experience | <First Name, Last Name> | <User@openoffice.org> |
Detailed Specification
All Icons for OpenDocument files shall be replaced by a new design, removing product and vendor specific brand elements. This includes all occurrences on the OOo user interface as well as representations of these files on desktop systems, where icons are used instead of previews (e.g. Windows XP).
The list of OpenDocument files includes:
- .odt (Text Document)
- .ott (Text Document Template)
- .ods (Spreadsheet)
- .ots (Spreadsheet Template)
- .odp (Presentation)
- .otp (Presentation Template)
- .odg (Drawing)
- .otg (Drawing Template)
- .odb (Database)
- .odf (Formula)
- .odm (Master Document)
- .oth (Text HTML Template)
The icons for these types are listed at http://odftoolkit.org/pages/ODF-Icons.
Other document types (non ODF), which users assign either manually to be opened with OpenOffice.org, or that are assigned automatically by the installation program of OOo, shall not use these icons. Reason: Other files are most likely not in OpenDocument format, so they should not be displayed as ODF files. Instead, each OOo sub-application (Writer, Calc, ...) shall use their own default icon for such files. These default icons resemble their ODF-equivalents, but include a neutral banner instead of the ODF one.
The non-ODF icons are currently in production and will also be made available at http://odftoolkit.org/pages/ODF-Icons.
The list of icon occurrences includes:
- Any desktop representation of such files (incl. folder views, and "New" pop-up menu, where applicable)
- Appearance in OOo Start Center
- Note: don't change the icon for "Templates..." (no regression; hasn't been in sync before)
- Appearance in OOo QuickStarter (where applicable)
- Appearance in OOo window caption
- Appearance in OOo "Standard" tool bar: "New" button and drop down
- Appearance in OOo Menu "File - New";
- Note 1: use the .oth icon for entry "Templates an Documents"
- Note 2: use the "Empty" icon for entry "HTML Document", but the neutral (non-ODF) one
- Appearance in OOo "File - Properties - General" dialog
- Appearance in OOo "Open/Save" dialog: system dialog and OOo dialog
- Appearance in OOo "Templates and Documents" dialog: places pane and file list
- Appearance in OOo "Template Management" dialog (Organizer): "Commands" button - "Reset Default Template" pop-up menu
Accessibility
Accessibility is the responsibility of the I-Team, beginning with UX, DEV and QA, to ensure that the following requirements are fulfilled:
- Is the feature fully keyboard accessible?
(Ex: "I can go everywhere and use every function using the keyboard only"
n/a - Have I specified visual alternatives for the case that the specified feature includes audio as output?
n/a - Are text alternatives for all icons and graphics available?
n/a - Don't provide important information in colors alone
(Ex: marking important information hard coded in red)
yes - Does the specified feature respect system settings for font, size, and color for all windows and user interface elements?
n/a - Have I ensured that flash rates do not exceed 2 hertz for blinking text, objects, or other elements? In any case, try to avoid flashing UI elements
n/a - Ensure that assistive technology (AT) (like ZoomText or Orca) is able to read everything.
n/a
Open Issues
- In small icon size (16x16) the icons for different file types are too similar; needs re-work
- cws odficons: New icon for .html has ODF sign Issue 105450
- cws odficons: Provide icons for non odf documents Issue 105451
- Completely loss of our colour language [1]
- Possibly incorrect badging "ODF" on Apple Mac OS X according to Apple Human Interface Guidelines, Icons
Later
- Design solution for preview-based icons (e.g. Windows Vista, Windows 7, Mac OS X)