RE: [#832] Clear link text - priority and acceptability of supplemental text

At 10:27 PM -0500 6/21/04, Gregg Vanderheiden wrote:
>Hi David
>
>You wrote:
>" is it not a barrier to use of the web if clear links are needed from a
>cognitive point of view?"
>
>Gvan:
>Not if the text around the link makes it clear what the link is about. 
>The meaning of the link does not have to be in the link. 
>
>The classic is    For information on the last equation on the exam [click
>here]. 
>
>Where [click here] is the link.   This is not good form but it does not make
>the page unusable.

Yes it does.

It is unreasonable to expect the user to revert to screen review for
every link (or many links) in the tabbing skim or list-of-links view
in order to listen to the text around it [Note 1].

And it is unreasonable to rely on a UA heuristic that displays the surrounding
sentence when the text content of the 'a' element is "click here."

So the above argument is too theoretical to decide the answer to Michael's
original question.  It relies on theoretical strategies that in practice are
unusable.

Al

Note 1:  Should we have a format specification that defines how much context
to snarf into the list of links view, or to vocalize on tabbing in 
eyes-free situations,
then this expanded snatch of content is the 'link text' to be 
assessed.  But for
the moment we don't have an algorithm that UAs are expected to follow other
than "the text content of the html:a element."

Al

>
>
>Gregg
>
>  -- ------------------------------
>Gregg C Vanderheiden Ph.D.
>Professor - Ind. Engr. & BioMed Engr.
>Director - Trace R & D Center
>University of Wisconsin-Madison
>
>
>-----Original Message-----
>From: david poehlman [mailto:poehlman1@comcast.net]
>Sent: Monday, June 21, 2004 7:36 PM
>To: Gregg Vanderheiden; 'Michael Cooper'; 'WAI GL (E-mail)'
>Cc: w3c-wai-ua@w3.org
>Subject: Re: [#832] Clear link text - priority and acceptability of
>supplemental text
>
>is it not a barrier to use of the web if clear links are needed from a
>cognative point of view?
>----- Original Message -----
>From: "Gregg Vanderheiden" <gv@trace.wisc.edu>
>To: "'Michael Cooper'" <michaelc@watchfire.com>; "'WAI GL (E-mail)'"
><w3c-wai-gl@w3.org>
>Cc: <w3c-wai-ua@w3.org>
>Sent: Monday, June 21, 2004 6:26 PM
>Subject: RE: [#832] Clear link text - priority and acceptability of
>supplement al text
>
>
>
>Clear link text means that the text that is visible on the page needs to be
>clear - yes?
>This would be a type V guidelines since it would specify how the page would
>look in its default presentation.
>
>Also - is this a crucial barrier to use of the web -- or just good design.
>
>Since I don't see this as a bar to use of the web - it would fall in level 2
>or 3.
>
>Gregg
>
>  -- ------------------------------
>Gregg C Vanderheiden Ph.D.
>Professor - Ind. Engr. & BioMed Engr.
>Director - Trace R & D Center
>University of Wisconsin-Madison
>
>
>-----Original Message-----
>From: w3c-wai-gl-request@w3.org [mailto:w3c-wai-gl-request@w3.org] On Behalf
>Of Michael Cooper
>Sent: Monday, June 21, 2004 3:35 PM
>To: WAI GL (E-mail)
>Cc: 'w3c-wai-ua@w3.org'
>Subject: [#832] Clear link text - priority and acceptability of supplement
>al text
>
>
>The requirement to make clear link text is currently a Level 3 success
>criterion
>[1]. In my opinion this should be a level 1. In discussion with the
>techniques
>task force, we thought it might be a level 3 because of the possibility to
>use
>supplemental text to clarify the link (e.g., the "title" attribute in HTML).
>But
>for that to work, we need to know that the supplemental text will be
>presented
>to the user when needed. But the UAAG [2] does not provide a single mandate
>for
>how this is to be accomplished, and further permits supplemental text to be
>presented instead of the orginal text, not just alongside. We are unsure of
>the
>implications of this for the clear link text requirement and the use of the
>"title" attribute to fulfill that requirement in HTML.
>
>I propose that the requirement for clear link text be moved to level 1.
>Specific
>mechanisms for achieving that should be left to technology-specific
>techniques,
>though it would be useful if the guidelines would comment on the role of
>features like the "title" attribute in HTML for meeting this requirement.
>This
>may require coordination with the User Agent group.
>
>[1]
>http://www.w3.org/WAI/GL/WCAG20/WD-WCAG20-20040602.html#consistent-behavior-
>target-identified
>[2] http://www.w3.org/TR/UAAG10/guidelines.html#tech-conditional-content
>
>--- Signature ---
>
>Michael Cooper
>Accessibility Product Manager, Watchfire
>1 Hines Rd Suite 200, Kanata, ON  K2K 3C7  Canada
>Tel: +1 (613) 599-3888 x4019
>Fax: +1 (613) 599-4661
>Email: michaelc@watchfire.com
>Web: http://www.watchfire.com/

Received on Tuesday, 22 June 2004 11:08:53 UTC