In reviewing the Guide to GL 3.1 L3 SC3 [1] and issue #295 [2], I see the need for WCAG to take a stance of the definition of acronym and abbreviation. After reading the various threads and references on this I proposed some new definitions. See the original, proposed and reasoning sections below.   Feedback is welcome as I suspect this will be controversial.

<original>
Acronym

   A word made from the initial letters of a name that contains several words. For example, NOAA is a word made from the initial letters of the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration in the United States. SNCF is a French acronym that contains the initial letters of the Societe National des Chemins de Fer, the French national railroad.

Abbreviation
    The shortened form of a word. For example, "Dr." is the abbreviation for the English word "doctor." "M." is the abbreviation for the French word "Monsieur."
</original>

<proposed>
Acronym
   A word made from the initial letters of a name that contains several words.  For example, radar is a word made from some of the initial letters of RAdio Detecting And Ranging.  NOAA is a word made from the initial letters of the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration in the United States.  All acronyms are abbreviations.
   
 Some sources contend that true acronyms form a word that is spoken as syllables while others accept any grouping of the initial letters of words as an acronym.  WCAG uses the former, more restrictive definition.  Acronyms are abbreviations.

Abbreviation
The shortened form of a word.  For example, "Dr." is the abbreviation for the English word "doctor." "M." is hte abbreviation for the French word "Monsieur.".  Abbreviations may also be the initial letters of several words such as HTML for HyperText Markup Language.  These type of abbreviations differ from acronyms because the grouping of initial letters does not form a word.
</proposed>

<reasoning>
The English sources differ on what is truly an acronym. Websters American Dictionary considers any shortened form created from the initial first letters an acronym.  The Britannica Encyclopedia and Oxford English Dictionary describe only the more restricted version which forms a word or is spoken as syllables as an acronym.  I propose use of the more restrictive version because XHTML 2.0 [3] is removing acronym in favor of just abbr since all acronyms are abbreviations. I would also update the HTML techniques to favor the use of <abbr> over <acronym> in light of the subsequent removal of acronym.

Also, I tested abbreviations and acronyms with JAWS 6.2, WindowEyes 5.5 beta, Home Page Reader  3.04.  All three speak acronyms in the same manner that they speak abbreviations.
</reasoning>

Does anyone have information about these definitions from other languages?

   
[1] http://www.w3.org/TR/WCAG20-GENERAL/meaning-located.html
[2] http://trace.wisc.edu/bugzilla_wcag/show_bug.cgi?id=295
[3] http://www.w3.org/TR/xhtml2/mod-text.html#sec_9.1





Becky Gibson
Web Accessibility Architect
                                                     
IBM Emerging Internet Technologies
5 Technology Park Drive
Westford, MA 01886
Voice: 978 399-6101; t/l 333-6101
Email: gibsonb@us.ibm.com