Proposed text about which UAs are expected to conform

Hello,

As part of resolving issue 232 [1], I'd like to propose the
following text for the section on conformance to explain which
user agents this document is meant for. Please note that the
abstract of the document already discusses which user agents
these guidelines are meant to address.

<BLOCKQUOTE>
Which user agents may conform

This document has been designed to promote the accessibility of
general-purpose graphical user agents. While many of the principles
set forth in this document apply to other
classes of user agents, including assistive technologies, many of the
checkpoints do not. As the number of applicable
checkpoints decreases for a piece of software, the likelihood
increases that the guidelines are not an accurate gauge of the
accessibility of that piece of software. Therefore, while assistive
technologies and other specialized user agents obviously promote
accessibility, they are not expected to conform (for instance, because
they offer a single output mode such as speech, or they do not make
available information through APIs) because
they are not general purpose user agents.  This document will help
assistive technology developers understand what functionalities and
communication an accessible general purpose user agent should provide.
</BLOCKQUOTE>

 - Ian

[1] http://cmos-eng.rehab.uiuc.edu/ua-issues/issues-linear.html#232
-- 
Ian Jacobs (jacobs@w3.org)   http://www.w3.org/People/Jacobs
Tel:                         +1 831 457-2842
Cell:                        +1 917 450-8783

Received on Sunday, 16 April 2000 16:02:30 UTC