Re: ATAG Techniques submission and some questions?

Hi Tim,

Jutta responded to your questions, so I'll concentrate on your attached 
doc. The points made look very good. The only change I would make is to 
to move some of the points into other related sections (ex. "assistance 
on properly creating null alt-text to promote accessible content" 
probably makes more sense in 3.1.2(1): Short text labels).

Cheers,
Jan



Tim Boland wrote:

> Hi, I tried fleshing out a sample technique topic (3.1.2(18) - Style 
> Sheets), and the
> attached has a sample scenario and a few additional detailed 
> techniques.  Is this
> a reasonable approach?   If so I can tackle other topics?    If these 
> techniques are
> to be used in any way to satisfy conformance claims in the future, it 
> would seem to
> me that they may be "normative" in some sense..
> 
> Some questions when I was doing this exercise:
> 
> (1) How detailed should the techniques language be?
> 
> (2) Suppose the user specifies a request for prompting and assistance 
> that the tool
> is not able to satisfy?   Should there be some sort of negotiation 
> involved then?
> 
> (3) Should the user be given the option to "ignore" any assisting 
> messages and
> still claim conformance (since the idea is that prompts/assists should 
> promote a
> positive attitude towards accessibility in the user , but the user 
> already knows
> about accessibility and doesn't want any extraneous messages?)?
> 
> Thanks and best wishes, Tim Boland NIST 
> ------------------------------------------------------------------------
> 
> 
> 
> * Technique 3.1.2: Consider different ways to prompt and assist the 
> author with various types of information required for accessibility*
> 
> *Subcategory 3.1.2(18) Style Sheets:*
> 
> *Scenario* - At the beginning of the authoring session, the user selects 
> in which form the assistance will arrive, as well as when (how 
> often-determined by the tool?), as well as how much information to 
> provide (short or long "length"). The user should also be given the 
> option of not getting any assistance of this type at all? The user 
> should have the option of changing previously-given settings at some 
> point into the authoring session? Given this previous user-supplied 
> information, the tool would present assistance according to the user's 
> wishes. For example, the tool might "intelligently" determine when the 
> result of a "current" authoring action may have style-sheet 
> accessibility implications (according to the user's wishes mentioned 
> previously), determine what particular style-sheet accessibility 
> implications might be present (from the following list-NOT EXHAUSTIVE), 
> and as a result of such determination present appropriate items from the 
> following list (with the goal of developing a positive attitude towards 
> accessibility in the user):
> 
>     * assistance on proper ways of controlling fonts, colors, text sizes
>       to promote accessible content
>     * assistance on how to properly specify fallback fonts to promote
>       accessible content
>     * guidance on properly specifying font characteristics to promote
>       accessible content
>     * assistance on properly using HTML elements to control fonts to
>       promote accessible content
>     * guidance on proper use of color contrast to promote accessible
>       content
>     * assistance on properly specifying colors to promote accessible
>       content
>     * guidance on accurately specifying foreground and background
>       contrast to promote accessible content
>     * guidance on properly specifying fore- and background colors to
>       promote accessible content
>     * assistance on properly conveying information through multiple
>       means (not just color) to promote accessible content
>     * guidance on properly using relative units of measure to promote
>       accessible content
>     * assistance on proper use of absolute units of measure to promote
>       accessible content
>     * assistance on how to create stylized text with CSS rather than
>       using raster images to promote accessible content
>     * assistance on proper formatting and positioning of text to promote
>       accessible content
>     * guidance on proper text style effects to promote accessible content
>     * assistance on how to create rules and borders to promote
>       accessible content
>     * guidance on proper use of text equivalents for content generated
>       by style sheets to promote accessible content
>     * guidance on proper use of generated content in the DOM to promote
>       accessible content
>     * assistance on providing contextual clues in lists to promote
>       accessible content
>     * assistance on properly creating layout, positioning, layering, and
>       alignment to promote accessible content
>     * assistnace on properly creating null alt-text to promote
>       accessible content
>     * assistance on how to provide good structural markup for graceful
>       degradation to promote accessible content
>     * assistance on use of scripting and style sheets to promote
>       accessible content
>     * assistance on using ACSS to create auditory presentation to
>       promote accessible content
>     * guidance on access to alternative representations of content to
>       promote accessible content
>     * guidance on proper use of media types to promote accessible content 
> 
> NOTE: Would the user have the ability to "ignore" these assistive 
> messages and use the tool anyway? What effect would this ability have on 
> future assistive message generation by the tool?

-- 
Jan Richards, M.Sc.
User Interface Design Specialist
Adaptive Technology Resource Centre (ATRC), University of Toronto

   Email: jan.richards@utoronto.ca
   Web:   http://jan.atrc.utoronto.ca
   Phone: 416-946-7060
   Fax:   416-971-2896

Received on Monday, 17 May 2004 16:03:43 UTC