Cross-references in guidelines

In last week's teleconference, I undertook to elaborate my concern
regarding cross-references in the WCAG document. Although the editors
have, with admirable thoroughness, included cross-references (usually in
notes attached to specific checkpoints) in the text, some have not been
made as explicit as might be desirable. A case in point is the
relationship between checkpoints 3.3 and 5.3: the latter qualifies the
effect of the former, but only in so far and until such time as user agent
support for style sheets is fragmentary and inconsistent among
implementations.

There may well be other internal dependencies in the document which were
recognised when the checkpoints were drafted, but did not find their way
into the explicit cross-references. Thus I would propose:

1. a careful review of the document, perhaps by the editors, for
dependencies among the various checkpoints, together a classification of
these dependencies (some cross-references are simply informative, in that
they indicate the mutual relevance of different checkpoints; others
however are normative, in the sense that one checkpoint qualifies the
effect of another).

2. the establishment of consistent language in which to express
cross-references so that the reader is always aware of their purpose, and
of their effect upon the application of the checkpoint currently under
consideration.

The results of this analysis would then be incorporated into a revised
version of the document.

This may not be an immediate priority, as the working group is chartered
to concentrate on techniques, rather than the guidelines, in the first
instance.

Received on Wednesday, 26 January 2000 20:30:20 UTC