Shibboleth Developers

["Josh Howlett" <>]

> > I have been told by colleagues in the schools sector that some 
> > categories of user, such as young children, simply aren't 
> capable of 
> > selecting 'their' IdP. Whether the selection UI is located 
> at the SP 
> > or some other WAYF (or indeed as a piece of browser chrome) is moot.
> 
> This is an example of what bothers me....is the message there 
> "forget it"?

Emphatically, no. That a discovery UI does not meet one particular
community's claimed requirements in no way invalidates the general
approach; it has clearly been an extremely successful approach. All this
implies, I think, is a requirement for a complementary mechanism.

> Because I don't see how to turn that feedback into a proposal.

I guess we need to look beyond the UI. The DS is, I think, a big step in
that direction.

> > Even for adult users, the answer to the question "which IdP are you 
> > affiliated with" is not always obvious; for example, there 
> are cases 
> > concerning multiple affiliations and the correct answer 
> depends on the 
> > user knowing which IdP has the relevant relationship with 
> the SP for 
> > the resource in question.
> 
> True, though I have yet to see that materialize in practice,

I think it's difficult to observe actual instances of this occuring in
any non-trivial federated community until someone flags it as an issue.
However, it's inevitable that it will occur in our particular community
and real soon, if it hasn't already.

> but this is, I think, an argument for the process being 
> closer to the SP, not farther away.

Sure, this is a sound principle.

josh.

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