Proposed changes to Guideline 7

Reference document:
  http://www.w3.org/WAI/UA/WAI-USERAGENT-19990611

Based on discussions at the 17 June UAGL teleconference [1]
here is a proposed modification to the checkpoints in
Guidelines 7 (Navigation). The proposal leaves intact
checkpoints 7.1, 7.2, and 7.3 which were discussed and "approved"
during the teleconference.

1) Merge 7.4 and 7.5.
   Proposed text: 
      "Allow the user to navigate all active elements in the document."
   Proposed Priority: 2. 
   Techniques: sequential, direct, search, etc.

2) Delete 7.6 (Allow the user to search for active elements).

3) I propose that we leave 7.7 (text search) and 7.8 
   (document tree navigation). However, several issues
   persist about searching:

   a) Do we search on the document source or rendered content?
      At the teleconf, the Working Group expressed consensus that
      searching should be on rendered content only (recall: rendered
      does not mean only that which is in the viewport, but the
      entire document as rendered).

   b) Do we search on (some or all) 
      attribute values (or even attribute names)? 
      Attributes used to specify alternative content are of
      particular interest. 

      There is a checkpoint that already ensures that UAs 
      provide access to this content (6.3), which I assume means
      that it's somehow rendered. Which means that it would be
      covered by checkpoint 7.7.

      I don't see that searching on attribute names would
      reduce barriers to accessibility.

      I propose, therefore, not to restore a checkpoint on searching
      attribute values.


Related questions:

- Should we add a checkpoint about navigating all elements?
  Some thoughts:

   a) This may not be necessary since Checkpoint 7.8 
      (document tree navigation) would allow this. 

      ISSUE: We talk about navigating the document tree
             which I assume means the source tree. However,
             we talk about searching the rendering structure.
             The rendering structure may not be "tree-shaped"
             and contains information that may not come from the
             source tree (e.g., content generated by style sheets,
             numbers in numbered lists, etc.).  What exactly
             do we mean by navigating the document tree?

  b) Navigating all elements feels like a technique to me (for
     accessing/skipping information more quickly). I could imagine
     two (Pri 3) checkpoints for dependent user agents:

     i) Allow users to navigate elements in a document.    
    ii) Allow users to configure which element types they wish to
        navigate. This already exists as checkpoint 2.4 and is meant
        to apply to all navigation checkpoints. However, it's utility
        would be made more evident with a general checkpoint about
        navigating elements.

  c) Why sequential navigation of all elements and not direct
     navigation? Is sequential navigation of all elements more
beneficial
     (or just more prevalent/easier to implement/)?
      
 - Ian

[1] http://lists.w3.org/Archives/Public/w3c-wai-ua/1999AprJun/0205.html

-- 
Ian Jacobs (jacobs@w3.org)   http://www.w3.org/People/Jacobs
Tel/Fax:                     +1 212 684-1814

Received on Thursday, 17 June 1999 12:47:28 UTC