User Agent Guidelines: SYMM WG Comments

Here are User Agent Guidelines Comments from the SYMM WG, from Geoff
Freed/NCAM
Maybe more to come.
----------------------

1.  From "Introduction: Orient the User":
"Graphical clues about browsing context such as frames, proportional
scroll bars, a visually highlighted selection, etc. help some, but not
all users, so the context information must be available in a
device-independent manner."

GF:
"Device-dependent" manner is unclear to me.  Perhaps just say that this
additional information should be selectable by the user?

Same section:
"Element context. For instance, users with blindness who navigate by
surfing only the links of a page or presentation..."

GF:
Replace "surfing" with "jumping through the links..." or "listening only
to the links..."


2.  Checkpoint 1.4:
GF:
No mention of being able to access all menu items via the keyboard or a
non-pointing device?


3.  Guideline 2:
"Ensure that users have access to all content, notably author-supplied
alternative equivalents for content (descriptions of images, closed
captions for video or audio, etc.)"

GF:
add "descriptions of images OR MULTIMEDIA, closed captions..."

same guideline:
What is "text directionality"?


4.  Checkpoint 2.2:
"...(e.g., in different languages, different levels of detail, etc.)"

GF:
add "different reading levels"


5.  Checkpoint 2.7:
"When no text equivalent has been specified, indicate what type of
object is present."

GF:
"Specified" is unclear.  Perhaps this should be "When no text equivalent
has been SUPPLIED..."


6.  Checkpoint 3.10:
"Allow the user to turn on and off automatic content refresh. [Priority
3]  For example, when turned off, allow the user to refresh content
manually instead (through the user interface)."

GF:
The user should receive some sort of notification that the content
actually *needs* refreshing.  


7.  Checkpoint 4.9:
"Allow the user to control the position of audio closed captions."

GF:
Delete "audio".  (Captions are captions; there's no need to distinguish
between "audio" or otherwise.) 


8.  Checkpoint 4.10:
"Allow the user to start, stop, pause, and rewind video."

GF:
Add "fast forward".


9.  Checkpoint 4.13:
"Allow the user to start, stop, pause, and rewind audio."

GF:
Add "fast forward".

Also, there's no mention of closed captions in the audio section. 
Captions are necessary for audio-only clips, too, not just for video
clips.


10.  Guideline 8:
"Provide information about resource structure, viewport structure,
element summaries, etc. that will assist the user understand their
browsing context."

GF:
Small typo-- it should be "...that will assist the user's understanding
of their browsing context.", or something similar.


11.  Checkpoint 8.5:
"...the length of an audio or video clip that will be started..."

GF:
Change to "...the length AND SIZE of an audio or video clip that will be
started..."

12.  Checkpoints 11.2 and 11.4:
These appear to mean the same thing.  True?  If so, one should be
deleted.


13.  Section 3, Terms and Definitions:
Assistive Technology:
"...In the area of Web Accessibility, common software-based assistive
technologies include assistive
technologies, which rely on other user agents for input and/or output."

GF:
It sounds to me like you're defining assistive technology as...
assistive technology.  Perhaps something like this would be better:
"...In the area of Web Accessibility, common software-based assistive
technologies include those which rely on other user agents for input
and/or output."


14.
Section 3, Terms and Definitions:
Continuous Equivalent Track:
"Captions are generally rendered visually by being superimposed over a
video track..."

GF:
Actually, you can put captions just about anywhere you want to, not just
superimposed over video.  Perhaps change this to, "Captions are
generally rendered visually by displaying them below, above or
superimposed over video."


15.
Section 3, Terms and Definitions:
Viewports:
"The user perceives the information through a viewport, which may be a
window, frame, a piece of paper, a panner, a speaker..."

GF:
What's a panner?

_______________________________________________________________

Thierry MICHEL                        	tmichel@w3.org
W3C / INRIA 				+33 (0) 4 92 38 79 87
2004, Route des Lucioles                       	
BP 93                                   
06902 Sophia Antipolis Cedex,           
France
_______________________________________________________________

Received on Tuesday, 23 November 1999 11:06:22 UTC