Rule of Proximity
Related evidence stays visible together.
Requirement
For each task, identify the critical comparison set. At its supported analytical desktop sizes, the screen must show that set together in the declared comparison view. Align related values and use consistent numeric formatting so the reader can scan them. Keep labels close to their evidence.
Why
Comparing alternatives should not depend on remembering a value from another tab or a previous scroll position.
Application
A carrier-selection view might require cost, delivery window, and reliability for the selected alternatives together. Secondary detail may be expandable. Align numeric amounts and their headers consistently, with suitable precision and tabular digits where supported; identifiers need not follow numeric amount formatting. Small screens may use an explicit selection or comparison mode; the reduced view must keep the identity and context of each alternative clear. Meaning-changing context: A qualifier that changes how a value should be used belongs with that value, not in an explanation or collapsed disclosure elsewhere. Keep stale status and snapshot age visible with retained data. Source methodology and verification detail can be deferred; the facts needed to interpret the number cannot. Declare the required relationship before choosing a badge, sentence, or other presentation. Decision surfaces: Keep the supporting evidence, recommendation, and next action adjacent within an expanded analytical item. evidence-proximity can enforce a project's declared text-distance limit; it cannot identify which evidence supports the decision. Inspect simultaneous visibility and preserve map detail needed for facility-level reading. Expanded decision-surface reference. Component application: Keep identifying marks, titles, and descriptions visually associated. For compact discovery items, a mark can share the title's row while the description uses the full item width. Declare the intended relative placement and spacing, rather than prescribing one CSS layout technique. An individual missing graphic must not be concealed by other complete items.
Computationally falsifiable
Declared neighboring labels can use no-text-overlap to detect intersecting rendered text fragments even when their element boxes are separate. Wrapped text is measured per fragment. This falsifies an authored separation constraint; selecting the neighbors and judging optical spacing still requires human review. See supported geometry and unassessed cases.
Examples
The pair isolates this rule. A good example is not approval of the entire interface.
Good for this task
Cost, delivery window, and reliability for the compared carriers remain visible together.
Choose a carrier
Bad for this task
The reader must switch tabs or scroll away from one carrier to compare another.
Choose a carrier
These synthetic fixtures illustrate the stated comparison. Native checks can support review of declared scales, context, encodings, geometry, and legibility; they do not establish data truth or task relevance. Review the requirement and exceptions above.
Enforcement
automated is the strongest mechanism Viewrule expects for the complete rule. Partial checks can still provide supporting evidence without proving the whole requirement.