Rename information overlay to help overlay

[pknowl]

Consider changing the "Information Overlay" name to "Help Overlay". [source]

Placeholder text and help text serve different but complementary roles in guiding users through completing a digital form. Here's a breakdown of the differences:

Placeholder Text

• Location: Appears inside the form field itself.
• Purpose: Typically used to provide an example of the type of information that should be entered in the field or to suggest the format in which the information should be provided (e.g., "DD/MM/YYYY" for a date field).
• Behavior: Disappears when the user starts typing in the field.
• Visibility: Only visible before user interaction with the field.

Help Text

• Location: Usually found below or next to the form field.
• Purpose: Offers additional information or clarification about what should be entered in the field. It can provide details about the required format, necessary conditions that must be met (such as password requirements), or why the information is being requested.
• Behavior: Remains visible regardless of whether the user has interacted with the field, providing a constant reference.
• Visibility: Always visible to offer guidance as the user fills out the form.

While placeholder text is a temporary guide that gives a hint about the expected input before interaction, help text is a permanent assistive element that provides more detailed instructions and remains accessible to the user throughout the form completion process. Both are crucial for enhancing user experience, reducing errors, and ensuring that forms are filled out correctly and efficiently.

[carlyh-micb]

Different recommendation - add to information overlay a role.
Then, you can allow multiple information overlays directed to different roles. E.g. the help role, auditor role, data entry role, analysis role etc. The roles would be open and could be specific for each implementation as needed (e.g. semanticengine.org would create our own list of possible roles that we let people write into their schema.

For example

{
  "capture_base": "EVyoqPYxoPiZOneM84MN-7D0oOR03vCr5gg1hf3pxnis",
  "type": "spec/overlays/information/1.0",
  "language": "en",
  "role": "help",
  "description": "This schema helps users with their data entry"
  "attribute_information": {
    "dateOfBirth": "Holder’s date of birth as recorded by the issuing State or organization.",
    "documentNumber": "Unique identification number of the document.",
    "documentType": "The word for 'passport' in the language of the issuing State or organization.",
    "fullName": "Full name of the passport holder.",
    "height": "Recorded height of the passport holder.",
    "issuingState": "Name of the State or organization responsible for issuing the passport.",
    "photoImage": "Portrait image of the passport holder.",
    "sex": "Sex of the passport holder."
  }
}

[carlyh-micb]

What are a list of recommended roles that could be recommended in OCA-spec?

Help: This information helps users with their data entry
Auditor: This information helps auditors evaluate the data for compliance
Format: This information provides a human-readable description of the schema entries for format
(if help for a specific overlay such as format overlay then should the information overlay also include a reference to the SAID of the referencing overlay?)

[blelump]

There are more.

When working with a WEB form, it's natural to add a placeholder to form elements that serve as a "help" – a suggestion on how to proceed with a particular form element.

Furthermore, niche requirements exist, such as providing examples of where helpful information can be found to fulfill a particular form element, e.g., an image pointing to the back side of a device to look for the device s.n.

My point is that while role adds more granularity, there is no universal or exhaustive set of roles that fits all cases. Following the narrative of the #74 discussion, the information overlay is use-case-specific (use-case centric), especially in numerous possible contexts of information purpose of existence.

[pknowl]

I think we can stick with the name "information overlay" for now. We can then re-address the conversation as we see more use cases. Let's keep an eye on incoming requests from implementers.