Tooltips are a nightmare. With the current code they are completely non accessible to non-mouse users and they also can not be used on a touch device so we shouldnt rely on them.

Not all users will see tooltips so they must not include essential information.

It is possible to correct that (see https://www.sarasoueidan.com/blog/accessible-tooltips/ or http://accessibility.athena-ict.com/aria/examples/tooltip.shtml) but do we really need to.

A tooltip or hint should not exist if it simply repeats the content of the label. It should only exist if it provides additional explanatory content. It is not intended to be a manual!!

Because of our previous desire (incorrectly) to have a tooltip for everything a large percentage of tooltips are completely useless and do not add anything. They also require translators to waste a lot of time translating strings that are not needed.

Examples

100% duplicate

COM_MODULES_FIELD_CONTENT_DESC="Text"
COM_MODULES_FIELD_CONTENT_LABEL="Text"

Not required

COM_MODULES_FIELD_CLIENT_ID_DESC="The location of the module, Frontend or Backend. You can't change this value."
COM_MODULES_FIELD_CLIENT_ID_LABEL="Module Location"

EXAMPLE

As can be seen on the screenshot below which exposes the tooltips three of the four on that page are completely redundant and can be removed

PROPOSAL

Tooltips are removed and replaced with inline hints ONLY where needed

Workflow

• Step 1 - change tooltips to inline hints so we can see what is needed
• Step 2 - remove all duplicate labels and unrequired labels
• Step 3 - check all the hints that are really long help manuals and not hints
• Step 4 - decide on the best design layout for the hints