ATAG2 Action Item: B.2.2 Assist authors in checking for accessibility problems

At the F2F, we discussed how the Checking requirements in B.2.2 might actually
put more burden on automated checkers than non-automated ones. Jutta
suggested some kind of AA record-keeping requirement and I took an
action to propose something. As part of my action I:
- have reworked B.2.2.3 and B.2.2.5 to be more clear with re: the  
different levels of automation
- have reworded many of the success criteria for clarity (I hope!) and  
to put them in an "active voice" as UAWG is doing for UAAG 2.0.
- added a new applicability note at the end


Old wording:

http://www.w3.org/WAI/AU/2008/WD-ATAG20-20081025/WD-ATAG20-20081025#gl-checking


Proposed:

B.2.2.1 Checking: Provide authors with the option to use a checking  
feature prior to publishing. (Level A)

B.2.2.1 Accessibility Checks (Level A): Provide checks (automated,  
semi-automated, or manual) for WCAG Level A accessibility problems.  
(Level A)

B.2.2.3 Support Decision-Making: Assist authors to determine whether  
potential accessibility problems are correctly identified (Level A):
- For automated checks: nothing further is required.
- For semi-automated checks: potential problems are identified (e.g.,  
by highlighting, by line number) and author instructions explain how  
to decide if a problem exists (e.g., "when an image needs a long  
description").
- For manual checks: author instructions explain how to locate  
potential problems (e.g., "Check each IMG element") and further author  
instructions explain how to decide if a problem exists.

---

B.2.2.4 Accessibility Checks (Level AA): Provide checks (automated,  
semi-automated, or manual) for WCAG Level AA accessibility problems.  
(Level AA)

B.2.2.5 Display Status: Provide authors with the option of viewing the  
accessibility status of content being edited, prior to publishing  
(e.g., list remaining accessibility problems). (Level AA)
- For automated checks: display identified problems.
- For semi-automated checks: display potential problems that were  
confirmed by authors.
- For manual checks: display potential problems that were confirmed by  
authors.

B.2.2.6 Metadata for Discovery: Provide authors with the option to
associate content with its accessibility status (e.g., as metadata) to
facilitate resource discovery by end users. (Level AA)

---

B.2.2.7 Accessibility Checks (Level AAA): Provide checks (automated,  
semi-automated, or manual) for WCAG Level AAA accessibility problems.  
(Level AAA)


Applicability Notes:

     * While automated checking and more advanced implementations of  
semi-automated checking may improve the authoring experience, manual  
checking is the minimum requirement to meet the success criteria for  
this guideline.
     * This guideline does not apply if the authoring tool controls  
the authoring process such that it is not possible for authors to  
introduce accessibility problems.
     * This guideline does not apply to content that is not available  
at publishing (e.g., the actual content of third-party "feeds").
     * If any of the WCAG success criteria are judged to be inapplicable
   (e.g., due to the nature of the Web content technology produced by the
authoring tool), these must be recorded in the conformance claim.






Cheers,
Jan

Received on Sunday, 9 November 2008 13:26:08 UTC