Nuisance when sliders have multiple handles with equal value.

Nuisance when sliders have multiple handles with equal value.


When I use a jQuery UI slider with two handles to allow the user to
specify a range, that range may have zero length when the user places
both handles in the same spot (same value). For example, when
filtering a list by date, handles in the same spot might indicate one
specific date instead of a range of dates.
However, when the user goes to move the handles again, the left-most
(lower valued) handle is always on top, meaning the user first has to
move the lower valued handle "down" before being able to move the
higher valued handle "up". Since the user might desire to change from
a range of e.g. 5 to 5 to a range of 5 to 7, this means the user has
to do it in three steps, first moving the lower handle to e.g. 4, then
the higher handle to 7, and then the lower handle back to 5.
Obviously this is a nuisance, especially if the intervening function
calls are slow and require new content to be loaded.
As a solution, I propose that when two handles are overlapping (have
the same value), and the user selects a handle, jQuery should not
determine which handle was actually grabbed until the user moves it in
one direction or the other. If the user slides right/up, it should be
the higher handle, and if the user slides left/down, it should be the
lower handle. This way the user can select a new range without all
the unnecessary steps.
Rick