Question on <pre> and <code> - violation of 1.3.1?

Good morning,
Is the use of <pre> and <code> to distinguish code samples a violation of
1.3.1 in WCAG 2? The argument can be made that information is conveyed by
variations in presentation of text.

For example, in the Techniques document, we use <code> inline in many
places without any other mechanism to determine that a code sample is
present.  Any of the techniques pages can be used as an example of this,
but here is one in particular that wraps the describedby property in <code>
tags:
http://www.w3.org/TR/2008/WD-WCAG20-TECHS-20080430/ARIA1.html

Screen reader users don't have access to this information, so should the
use of <pre> and <code> be cited as failures of G117 or H49?

Any thoughts from the group would be most appreciated.
Thank you!
Drew

Andrew LaHart
IBM Human Ability and Accessibility Center
www.ibm.com/able