This document outlines the approach and mechanisms used to provide definitions for icons and terms in a way that maximizes the use of screen real estate and avoids unnecessary navigation. Merriam-Webster defines “definition” as a statement of the meaning of a word, word group, sign or symbol. For the purposes of this document, a definition is a statement of the meaning of an icon or term used in the Fusion user interface (UI). Definitions for icons and terms are helpful for users when this information is used to interpret data that may not be self-explanatory. Definitions for icons and terms that are used on a page must be provided to satisfy accessibility requirements.

In previous releases of Oracle applications, definitions for icons and terms were provided through key notation, usually below a header, subheader, or subtabs, or in content containers and dialogs. Due to the dynamic nature of Fusion pages (for example, data comes from different sources into different parts of the page at run time), a new approach to providing definitions for icons and terms is required. Therefore, when creating Fusion icon and term definitions in the UI, use this guideline in lieu of the RCUX Key Notation Usage Guideline.

Note: In the context of this guideline, “terms” includes abbreviations, acronyms, and currency codes. Additional details are provided in the Terms section within this document. Do not confuse “definitions for terms” or “term definitions,” as used in this document, with the Terminology Definition Design Pattern, which is part of the Embedded Help Design Pattern Set. Embedded help terminology definitions are meant to define the meaning of field labels and should be used only when further explanation is needed. In addition, the design pattern recommends that you use embedded help terminology definitions sparingly because numerous information icons on the interface can be distracting.

Usage guidelines for defining icons and terms are discussed, and URLs for related documentation are also provided in this document.

This section discusses:

• Icons
  
• Terms

Icons

Tooltips and ALT text

A tooltip is the visible text that appears when a user hovers over an icon. ALT text is not visible, but is read by screen reading assistive technology, such as JAWS. ALT text is the "alternative" text description of the image at the HTML ALT tag level. The text for both tooltips and ALT text comes from the same shortDesc property in the application development framework (ADF).

Icon Definition and Interaction

Use tooltips and ALT text on icons to provide their associated definitions. The tooltip should name the action or meaning of the icon.

Tooltips and ALT text provide icon definitions in context—when and where they are needed by users—without scanning or scrolling to a different part of the page. A tooltip appears when the user hovers over an icon; ALT text is read by the screen reader. Each browser controls the delay time used to display tooltips.

Here is an example of a tooltip for an icon definition in form layout:

Here is an example of a tooltip for an icon definition in a table toolbar:

Tooltip Text

Suggested tooltip text for some common Fusion icons is provided in the Fusion Icon Usage Guidelines. The tooltip should name the action, concept, indicator, or status associated with the icon. In general, limit tooltip text for all icons to 40 characters. The maximum is 80 characters.

The RCUX Language in UI Usage Guideline includes the following recommendations for tooltip text.

For functional and functional status icons (both clickable)

• Use headline capitalization for tooltip text.
  That is, place initial capitals on each word except for articles (a, an, the), prepositions, and coordinate conjunctions (and, but, or, nor, so, yet). For example, “Add Row.”
  
• Do not show access keys in the tooltip.
  

For item qualifier, item indicator/flag and status icons (all nonclickable) icons:

• Use sentence capitalization for tooltip text. That is, use an initial capital for the first word in each sentence. For example, “Updated item” or “In progress.”
• Note that proper nouns, such as San Francisco and Friday, always have initial capitals when placed in sentences.

Captialization depends on the fuction of the tooltip - whether it is being used as a label or as help text. Here are examples of tooltip text for each icon type:

Icon Type (Size) States	Icon File Name Ends With...	Examples
		Icon	Tooltip Text
			ALT Text: Headline Capitalization	Help Text: Sentence Capitalization
			If a tooltip is being used as an alternate textual (ALT text) label for an icon, it should have headline capitalization.	If a tooltip is being used as help text, it should have sentence capitalization.
Functional (16x16) Enabled, mouseover, mousedown, disabled	_ena.png	add_ena.png	Add Row	N/A
Functional Status (12x12) Enabled, mouseover, mousedown, disabled	_ena.png	clock_sm_ena.png	In Process	N/A
Item Qualifier (16x16) Display only	_qualifier.png	repeatingevent_qualifier.png	N/A	Repeating event
Item Indicator/Flag (12x12) Display only	_status.png	updatedvalue_status.png	N/A	Changed item; New item
Status (12x12) Display only	_status.png	dash_status.png	Used as an alternate textual (ALT Text) label in a legend: Trend Unchanged	Used as help text for an icon: Trend unchanged

Note: Standard tooltip guidance applies to item qualifier, item indicator/flag and status icons in all contexts except messages described in the Message Design Pattern Set and RCUX Messaging Usage guideline.

For some icons, the tooltip is provided automatically by ADF and cannot be overridden. Tooltips for the commonly used * (“Required”) and ** (“At least one is required”) item indicator or flag icons are automatically generated by ADF. The Common Fusion Icons section of the Fusion Icon Usage Guidelines notes all the icons that come from ADF with hard-coded, noneditable tooltips.

Definitions for Required and At least one is required in the ADF Query Component

Use of At least one is required in components other than ADF af:query

In Fusion v1, components other than ADF af:query do not support the use of double asterisks ("**") to indicate that at least one of multiple fields is required. In such cases, the following recommendations apply:

• Use static instruction text to indicate that at least one of multiple fields is required.
• The instruction text format is, "Enter a value for at least one of these fields: <field name>, <field name>, or <field name>."
  • For example: "Enter a value for at least one of these fields: First Name, Last Name, or Email."
• Field names should be listed in the order in which they display, starting at the top left and moving toward the bottom right (Figure 3b).
• Please do not use the double asterisk (**) indicators in prompts because the additional manual coding would have to be undone in Fusion v2.

Here is an example of a non-ADF af:query component in which at least one of multiple designated fields is required:

Standard error messaging behavior will apply if the user does not fill in at least one of the referenced fields. See the Error Message design pattern, the Applications Messages guideline set and the RCUX Messaging Usage Guideline.

Legends

Some components, such the Gantt chart, include their own component-specific legend for the icons used in the component. If a group of related icons, such as status icons, is used in a particular table, tree, or tree table, a legend for those icons can be placed in close proximity to the component. A content container can be used to group the icons and visually distinguish the legend. The inclusion of any such legend is in addition to the tooltips provided for the icons. Consider the following factors to determine whether a legend is necessary:

• Speed of accessing icon definition: It is faster for the user to look at the legend than hover over the icons to get their meaning for these reasons:
  
  • Four or more related icons are used in the component.
    
  • The user interacts infrequently with the page and is not likely to memorize the meaning of the icons.
    
• Usage of page real estate: The power user may consider additional content on the page to be more valuable than a legend, whereas the novice or infrequent user may prefer the information provided in the legend.
  

Here is an example of a legend for component-specific icons. Note its placement below and in end alignment with the tree table:

Terms include abbreviations, acronyms, and currency codes.

• An abbreviation is a shortened form of a single word that is used in place of the entire word or phrase. For example, org is an abbreviation for organization.
• An acronym is an easily pronounced word formed from the initial letters or major parts of a compound term. For example, COBOL for common business-oriented language, pixel for picture element and ASN for Advance Shipment Notice.
• Similarly, currency codes are three-letter codes used for uniquely identifying currencies, as described by the International Organization for Standardization standard ISO 4217. For example, BRL is the currency code for the Brazilian Real, and CHW is the currency code for the Swiss Franc that is used in both Switzerland and Liechtenstein. ISO 4217 currency names and codes are stored in the FND_CURRENCIES table. For additional information on currency in the Fusion, see Currency Guidelines and Currency Amount Formatting BRD.

All abbreviations and acronyms used in Oracle products must be industry-standard and included in the approved lists of abbreviations and acronyms.

Follow these guidelines when using abbreviations and acronyms:

• Use approved abbreviations and acronyms only when space for the full term or phrase is not available.
• Use abbreviations and acronyms sparingly and with care, so as to avoid internationalization, usability, and accessibility problems.
• If space considerations vary across the page, you may use both full terms or phrases and their associated abbreviations or acronyms on the same page.
  

Note that the full terms Debit and Credit are used in the following example because space is available:

In this example, both a term’s full spelling (purchase order) and its abbreviation (PO) are used because of space considerations in different parts of the page:

Accessing Term Definitions

Definitions for approved abbreviations and acronyms, as well as currency codes, are available in the Glossary of the Fusion Help Portal. Users can find definitions for terms by selecting the “Fusion Applications Help…” item from the Help menu in the Global Area and querying the term in the Glossary.

Single Currency with No Currency Codes

There is one use case in which you should place a currency definition at the top of the page, in the header element that is used for Scaling information. This condition occurs on pages where all three of the following criterion are met:

• A single currency is used.
• Monetary amounts occur frequently throughout the page.
• To reduce visual clutter on the page, the three-letter currency code does not display with each monetary amount on the page.

When all three criterion are met, define currency as follows:

• The currency definition should be the first item in the Scaling header element.
  • For additional information, see the Scaling section of the Page Header Region guideline
• If Scaling is used on the page, insert the pipe character (|) to separate the currency definition and scaling information.
  • Use the syntax, Currency = {currency name}.
    ISO 4217 currency names and codes are stored in the FND_CURRENCIES table. Specifically, use the currency name stored in the NAME column of the FND_CURRENCIES table.
  • Use headline capitalization for the currency name.
    For example, “Currency = US Dollar.” Note that some currency names include abbreviations, such as US for United States in US Dollar and CFP for French Polynesia.

Here is an example of a currency definition in the Scaling header element:

For additional information on currency in Fusion, see the Currency Guideline.

For more information on the Scaling header element, see Page Header Region Guideline.

Here are links to related documentation:

• Fusion Icon Usage Guidelines
  
• RCUX Language in UI Usage Guideline
• ISO 4217 currency names and code elements
  
• Currency Guideline
  
• Page Header Region Guideline