Guide · Documentation

Find information fast

GazeAudit has several documentation layers because learning a workflow, looking up an exact contract, understanding a concept, and checking frozen evidence are different tasks. This guide shows how to reach the right layer quickly.

The search interface is navigation support. It does not decide which threshold, exclusion, endpoint, specification, model, or conclusion is scientifically appropriate.

Start from the question you are asking

This separation follows the same basic distinction used by the Diátaxis documentation framework: tutorials/examples, how-to guidance, reference, and explanation serve different user needs.

Open search

Use either:

• Ctrl/Cmd + K from anywhere on the site;
• / when focus is not already inside a text field; or
• the Search button in the header or mobile documentation dock.

The search query remains in the input while you inspect the result groups.

Search by the smallest distinctive phrase

Prefer the exact concept you need rather than a full research question.

The quick-query chips in the dialog provide common starting points. They set only the search text; they do not make a scientific selection.

Read the result groups before opening a page

Search results are grouped by documentation type. The same topic can legitimately appear in several groups.

For example, searching AOI uncertainty may surface:

• a Guide explaining the workflow;
• an Example showing synthetic code;
• a Reference page listing exact APIs;
• an Evidence page describing a frozen case.

That is intentional. Choose the group that matches the information need rather than assuming the top result is a scientific recommendation.

Use the type filter when the intent is already clear

The type buttons narrow the current query to one documentation kind. Useful combinations include:

• run_specs + Reference when you need the exact public contract;
• run_specs + Example when you need runnable context;
• revision package + Guide for the workflow;
• revision package + Reference for exact CLI syntax;
• a validation label + Evidence when you need the frozen result authority.

Choose All again when the query is too narrow.

Keyboard behavior

Inside the search dialog:

• ↑ / ↓ changes the selected result;
• Enter opens the selected result;
• Esc closes the dialog.

The selected result is announced through a dedicated live-status region. The result list itself remains ordinary linked content, so it can still be traversed with standard browser and assistive-technology navigation.

When you already know a public symbol

If you already know a function such as run_specs, aoi_probabilities, or read_bids_eyetrack, skip broad search and open API pathways. Each governed symbol has a stable fragment link and inherits the same guide, example, visual, and evidence boundary used by the Method explorer.

Use the symbol deep link as a navigation/bookmark handle, not as evidence that the function is scientifically appropriate for a new study.

Recover from zero results

A zero-result state should not end the task. The search dialog now offers four recovery paths:

• reset a narrow documentation-type filter back to All;
• clear the query while keeping search open;
• browse the Guides hub;
• browse Examples or Reference directly.

If a query returns nothing, broaden the distinctive term before adding more words. For example, try sampling before sampling rate downsampling validation evidence.

When search finds the contract, stop searching

Once you reach a reference page that answers the exact factual question, do not keep browsing merely to find a more convenient interpretation.

Examples:

• the Evidence and denominator vocabulary defines how declared, valid, successful, and technically failed branches differ;
• the CLI reference defines installed console commands and structural validation behavior;
• the API map maps tasks to public functions;
• the Validation matrix is authoritative for protocol-bound validation outcomes.

If the question changes from “what is the contract?” to “what sequence should I follow?”, move from Reference back to a Guide or Example.

When search is not the right tool

Use Troubleshooting GazeAudit if execution is blocked. Use the Audit planner when you need to route declared study conditions into documented method families. Use the Researcher workspace when several project stages need to be connected.

None of those interfaces decides scientific validity for you.

Accessibility and design rationale

The grouped search follows W3C cognitive-accessibility guidance to provide search and group results with headings when appropriate. It also follows U.S. Web Design System guidance to preserve the query, label the search control, support keyboard operation, and test the component in its actual site context.

• W3C: Provide Search
• USWDS: Search component
• Diátaxis documentation framework

Worked companion

Use the Search → contract walkthrough for a fully synthetic exercise that starts with three ambiguous search needs and shows how the result groups lead to the correct documentation layer without turning navigation into scientific advice.