Overview of the Adjustments
There will be several significant changes in the area of comment functions. First, an adjustment to the existing function “Write protection for comments.” Second, the merging of comments as a new function, and third, the redaction of document content as a new function. These new features are described in more detail below.
In addition, there are minor adjustments, such as the renaming of a button in the interface and changes in the preview.
In general, new functions and adjustments to existing functions are evaluated with regard to accessibility, and this user group is already taken into consideration during feature planning.
Adjustments to the “Write Protection” Function
Previously, users were able to set a comment they created themselves to write-protected mode using a lock symbol. It was not previously possible to remove this write protection.
In the future, write protection can be removed again by the user or an administrator. The comment will then be available for regular editing once more.
To ensure that comments can continue to be edited even if an employee leaves the company or is absent for a longer period of time, members of the administration group are also able to remove write protection from comments. The user is informed that administrators are able to remove write protection by means of a notification at the bottom of the screen after write protection has been set. This ensures that the document is not irreversibly modified.
In the comment overview in the right sidebar, a write-protected comment is displayed accordingly.
Due to the listing in the sidebar, this feature can be used in an accessible manner via the three-dot menu.
As before, the function can be activated system-wide by the administration. No distinction is made between different repositories.
New Function “Merging Comments”
To permanently embed comments into the document, there will be a function for merging comments in the future.
This function can be activated or deactivated system-wide by the administration. No distinction is made between different repositories.
If the function is activated, a button for merging is displayed to the user next to the save button for comments.
The function can only be executed if the document is in the status Approval. This ensures that no initial editing version is merged directly with comments and that at least one version without comments always remains in the system. This serves audit compliance.
If the document is in the status Approval, the button is clickable.
When the button is clicked, the user is automatically provided with a suggested change note. This can be modified as desired.
By clicking the merge button, a new version of the document is created and saved in the background.
The different versions can be accessed via the version overview.
The function can be used in an accessible manner. The corresponding buttons and dialogs can be controlled via keyboard.
New Function “Redaction”
To make document content unrecognizable, there will be a function for redacting content in the future. This function can be activated or deactivated system-wide by the administration. No distinction is made between different repositories.
If the function is activated, the user is provided with a button to activate redaction mode.
When content is redacted, it is overlaid with a black rectangle and the OCR text is removed.
When the user clicks the button, they can subsequently apply rectangles to redact the corresponding areas. The content remains visible during this process so that the user can see which content is being redacted.
An overview of the applied redactions is displayed in the right sidebar. In the lower area of the right sidebar, there is a button to perform the redaction. This applies to all applied redactions.
After clicking the button “REDACT ALL,” the user is shown a dialog in which they can choose whether the redacted document should be displayed as a new version or as a new document.
If the user selects “Create new document,” they are taken to the filing mask.
The new document receives the suffix “_redacted” in the file name and can then be imported as usual.
If the user selects the option “Create new version of the document,” a prepared change note is displayed. This can be modified as desired.
By clicking “CONTINUE,” a new version of the document is saved. Different versions can be displayed as usual via the version list.
The “Redaction” function can be used with limited accessibility. The buttons and dialogs can be controlled via keyboard, and rectangles for redaction can also be applied using the keyboard. This allows the function to be used by blind or visually impaired users.
During the application of a rectangle, the document content is not read aloud again.
Further Adjustments
Another adjustment has been made regarding the use of comment tools. In the future, the following comment tools can be used multiple times without the user having to select them again. The behavior is therefore analogous to the behavior of the tools “Add check mark” and “Add cross mark.” The change affects the following annotation tools:
- Highlight area
- Draw line
- Draw rectangle
- Draw oval
- Draw arrow
- Stamp
In addition, the button for expanding and collapsing the right context menu will be renamed. Previously, it was called “Show comments.” Since it will contain additional functions in the future, it will be renamed to “Show context panel.”
Editing comments in the preview
In the future, the previously described functions “Write protection,” “Merging,” “Redaction,” as well as the general use of comments, can also be used directly from the preview in the results list.