RE: on headings, labels, links, and image maps

Phill, the WCAG 2.0 is a set of guidelines with success criteria for
guidance. The 2.4.10 Section Headings (AAA) guideline is clear to me, but
if others feel it needs further explanation, then it may be worth
submitting an editor update. The Understanding 2.4.10 section states that
this criteria is for sections of a web page that contains a lot of content.
Also, it is not just referring to Headers; "Heading" is used in its general
sense and includes titles and other ways to add a heading to different
types of content". That is, the author has the freedom to organize web
content, with the expectation that it will contain navigation mark up
(preferably nested Headers) for ease of skipping information sections. It
is obvious to me that nested Headers on a small page would be
inappropriate. Of course, this is subject to individual preference, and I
don't know how automated accessibility web checkers would evaluate this
WCAG guideline. Using nested Headers will require logical order and
consistency within reason, which will be determined by the author and the
content being communicated. So, success criteria for this guideline will be
ruled by personal judgement, which possibly could be guided by 1.3.1 Info
and Relationships success criteria.

Cheers,
David Best
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  |Phill Jenkins <pjenkins@us.ibm.com>                                                                                                               |
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  |w3c-wai-ig@w3.org                                                                                                                                 |
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  |05/28/2010 12:08 PM                                                                                                                               |
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  |RE: on headings, labels, links, and image maps                                                                                                    |
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  |w3c-wai-ig-request@w3.org                                                                                                                         |
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Great quote David. I would recommend that we all quote the "Understanding
WCAG 2,0" [note 1] often and/or suggest editorial comments to make it
clearer as we gain experience using WCAG 2.0.

I think a key phrase in understanding the intent  here is "When such
sections exist", "For instance, long documents,". So I interpret this to
mean that when long sections do not exist, for instance web application
screens that are not documents and other short or small web pages with very
little information - then 2.4.10 Section Headings (AAA) doesn't apply. So,
any free checker application that reports that every page has to have
nested headings is worth about what you paid for it.

Should I send in an editorial suggestion to the editors to add a phase of
when 2.4.10 does NOT apply? [See note 2]

Regards,
Phill Jenkins,
IBM Research - Human Ability & Accessibility Center

Note 1 Understanding WCAG 2.0 http://www.w3.org/TR/UNDERSTANDING-WCAG20/
1.3.1 Level A Info and Relationships

http://www.w3.org/TR/UNDERSTANDING-WCAG20/content-structure-separation-programmatic.html

2.4.10 Level AAA Section Headings

http://www.w3.org/TR/UNDERSTANDING-WCAG20/navigation-mechanisms-headings.html


Note 2
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Received on Friday, 28 May 2010 17:30:23 UTC