Re: SVGAccessibilityWG: has-been-clicked or a:visited

Philippe Lhoste wrote:

> - Accessibility isn't just about people with trouble with reading or
> viewing. Problem which you address correctly by using "to some users".
> Some parts of the art may be perceived, but can be hard to distinguish.
> So textual equivalent are only part of the accessibility, of course.

wp: I agree, accessibility is a measure of whether an individual can access
some information, perform an interaction, etc.  This can be equally applied
to any individual on the planet.  So, whilst textual descriptions may be
appropriate for some, they won't be appropriate for all, especially
considering differences in such things as ontologies, languages, etc.

PL: > - Ultimately, an accessible viewer would read the SVG code... That's
the
> advantage of SVG over bitmap images, they have semantics. Without going
> so far, it could be interesting to hover over a line (or any other
> shape) and extract some information, like exact color (named one even if
> #hhh is used) or thickness. Since these data can be used to convey
> information, like you mention, it could be a useful feature. Of course,
> for drawings conveying some information, like diagrams. It would be less
> useful for artistic drawings.

wp: You took the words out of my mouth *smile*.  That's the direction I'm
working in, and the primary reason I chose SVG over say, bitmap images, as a
means of accessible diagrams for the blind.  It's not so much the aesthetic
composition that conveys meaning, but the attributes associated with the
individual elements.  I agree with your point about pictures and other
aesthetic images.  Here it is the visual composition of the image that
conveys the aesthetic qualities, and as such decomposition of the image
based on properties and attributes wouldn't be of use, probably the only
thing that would, would be some form of synthetic vision.

pl: > - I remember having seen a mouse with "force feedback", ie. that
provide
> feedback on the environment where the cursor goes. To transpose examples
> to SVG, it would tickle when going over a stroke, or go sluggish over a
> given color. I wonder if this mouse is still sold.

wp: Yes, although I haven't seen it in the UK for a while.  There's the
Logitech range of haptech mice, and the underlying haptech technology is
made by a company called Imersion who are based in the states.  As SVG
exposes the property values of image elements, it would be possible to
create exploritory navigation techniques such as you describe.  There's
several projects that have done similar, although not with SVG.

Will

Received on Thursday, 11 November 2004 19:34:48 UTC