Request for input - what to do with Web Services

Something is beginning to come together in terms of a strategy for how to access server side options in web content.  At least for the case where content is pre-packaged as 'portlets' for integration into different sites using portal technology at the web server.

There is a standing consensus in the work on WCAG 2.0 that content components have to support options, the options have to include a vanilla, client-repurposable form, and some things like that.

But there is a more concrete strawman as to how to do this that says the objects in the 'universal' form of portlets should be usable in a screen reader as 'readlets' that adapt to the local user interface conventions and culture of the screen reader.  In legacy friendly HTML these portlets could appear as OBJECT elements or frame contents, and there is an open opportunity to make sure OBJECT and XFrames in XHTML 2.0 support whatever mode of AT software access and control is required.  The portals could possibly only have to support some sort of protocol tunneling to give the customer access to the choices that are available from the portal's suppliers, if there is a standard for the accessible form of portlets.  And the wire protocol representation of a universal morph of portlets would want to be in something not unlike the Abstract Alternate Interface Markup Language which is a working draft in the INCITS V2 standards committee.

This strategy touches the charter turf of multiple working groups, so it is not clear just how it would be hosted in W3C/WAI.  So I am posting here to ask to know who would potentially be interested in this line of research and development.  It would be good to involve people who might actually work on this topic in a smaller conversations about the shape of the table, if were to instantiate some sort of continuing activity.

Simple expressions of interest could go to me, to <wai-xtech@w3.org> or to this list.

A short thread discussing on this list if there is some other shape that the topic should be given could be appropriate.  But sooner or later this topic takes committed long-term work and we should find a home off this list for that phase of the process.

Al

Example of portlets concept:


http://www.oasis-open.org/committees/wsrp/presentations/wsia-wsrp_f2f_20020318.ppt

A tiny amount of background on readlet concept (needs elaboration):


http://lists.w3.org/Archives/Public/www-archive/2002Apr/thread.html#30

AAIML and INCITS V2 in relation to Web Services and Server-side techniques:


http://www.ncits.org/tc_home/v2.htm

http://lists.w3.org/Archives/Public/w3c-wai-er-ig/2001Sep/att-0018/01-Oct2001.html

Al

Received on Sunday, 14 April 2002 14:02:56 UTC