Re: W3C Validator as test for WCAG?

BB:: "...does that document, by definition, meet some level of
compliance with WCAG?"

WL: Short answer: No, not necessarily. 

The three "levels of conformance" include some items that will ever be
unlikely to be judged by an other-than-human validator.  What after all
is "clearest and simplest language appropriate..." or when are
navigation mechanisms "consistent"?  What is a "logical tab order"?,
etc.

BB:: "Can (or should) the W3C validator be used as a mainstream test for
basic compliance with the Web Content Accessibility Guidelines?"

WL: Yes.  One of the first steps to accessibility is valid code.  In
pedagogic terms it is necessary, but not sufficient.

The "document" you define (valid, no applets or scripts, no multimedia
save images) is much *likelier* to be accessible and will be a relief
for many users.  The main blocks are ALT= absence, unfathomable tables,
crazed submission forms, and linkage confusions.
-- 
Love.
            ACCESSIBILITY IS RIGHT - NOT PRIVILEGE
http://dicomp.pair.com

Received on Thursday, 3 June 1999 11:24:29 UTC