RE: QUESTION: use of javascript to comply with Sect 508

Sorry, I should have been clearer about the motivation behind this question.
Someone has asked me to help them with javascripts that comply to section
508 (for a govt. site, I believe). 

I was going to tell them the general WAIS philosophy of "if the page works
without javascript, you're ok for accessibility"-- then I realized that this
wasn't actually what section 508 says at all. So then the question is, "What
does Section 508 require?"

Anyone have any answers?

Reidy

-----Original Message-----
From: Beth Skwarecki [mailto:skwareea@screech.cs.alfred.edu]
Sent: Thursday, January 04, 2001 10:19 AM
To: w3c-wai-ig@w3.org
Subject: Re: QUESTION: use of javascript to comply with Sect 508


> What about [ ... ] client-side validation before
> submitting a form? As far as I can tell, that's not disallowed by 508.

Your server-side validation will provide the same functionality and
"content". You *are* validating your input server-side, right?

> Here's the text:
> (l) When pages utilize scripting languages to display content, or to
create
> interface elements, the information provided by the script shall be
> identified with functional text that can be read by assistive technology. 
  ^^^^^^^^^^
  [identification, not an equivalent?]

That sounds like it would be valid just to have text saying "if you can't
see this DHTML menu, you're missing a really nice DHTML menu. Goodbye."
Surely that's not what they mean?! 

--beth
--
http://playground.alfred.edu/~bethnewt/