RE: 7-Day CFC - Modification to aria-details

I will post a note with support for this CFC to the admin list, but I would like to request some editorial revisions to clarify three issues with aria-details.

 

Issue #1: The following paragraph is difficult to understand, especially the second sentence. 

 

> The aria-details attribute references a single element 

> that provides more detailed information than would normally be provided by aria-describedby. 

> Unlike aria-describedby, authors should ensure the content is not hidden 

> and is included in a container that exposes the content to the user 

> as it is expected that the assistive technology user navigate to the content to access it. 

> This is often because converting the contents to a string results in either aloss of information 

> or a decreased understanding of the object being described. 

> Consequently, aria-details does not participate in either the Accessible Name Computation

> or the Accessible Description Computation 

> as defined in the Accessible Name and Description specification [ACCNAME-AAM].

 

Partly because the sentence including the normative statement is also providing rationale for the requirement, the sentence is complex and difficult to parse. I believe normative statements should be as simple and clear as possible.

 

It also seems to include more words than needed. For instance, is there a difference between "not hidden" and "included in a container that exposes the content to the user"?

 

Finally, some may interpret the normative sentence as implying that elements referenced by aria-describedby are normally hidden or not exposed to the user.  

 

I believe I may understand what the above paragraph is intending to communicate, and I am willing to attempt to draft appropriate editorial revisions if there is agreement they are needed.

 

Issue #2: The following paragraph makes a statement that sounds very consequential but does not state the consequence. It is also missing a comma.

 

> When both aria-describedby and aria-details are provided on an element 

> aria-details takes precedence.

 

What is the consequence of taking precedence? Do user agents ignore the aria-describedby attribute? Should assistive technologies ignore it? Something else? 

 

Issue #3: The examples seem to imply that referring to a link will result in a different experience. If aria-details in example 18 referred to the paragraph containing the link (as shown below) instead of referring to the link, is it expected there would be a difference in user agent or assistive technology behavior?

 

EXAMPLE 18

<!-- Provision of an extended description -->

<img src="pythagorean.jpg" alt="Pythagorean Theorem" aria-details="det">

<p id="det">

  See an <a href="http://foo.com/pt.html">Application of the Pythagorean Theorem</a>.

</p>

 

Thanks,

Matt King

 

From: Rich Schwerdtfeger [mailto:richschwer@gmail.com] 
Sent: Thursday, August 4, 2016 1:30 PM
To: ARIA Admin <public-aria-admin@w3.org>
Subject: 7-Day CFC - Modification to aria-details

 

This is a Call for Consensus (CfC) to the Accessible Rich Internet 
Applications (ARIA) Working Group regarding the following resolution of 
the ARIA Working group:
 
    Modify aria-details text such that authors SHOULD ensure content referenced by aria-details is not hidden vs. an authors MUST. The branch can be found here: https://rawgit.com/w3c/aria/action2106/aria/aria.html#aria-details with a comparison of the changes here: https://github.com/w3c/aria/compare/action2106. 
 
 Background 
 
 This was approved by the participants of the 4 August 2016 teleconference, and further context is available in the minutes:
        https://www.w3.org/2016/08/04-aria-minutes.html
 
This CfC is now open for objection, comment, as well as statements of 
support via email. Silence will be interpreted as support, though 
messages of support are certainly welcome.
 
If you object to this proposal, or have comments concerning it, please 
respond by replying on list to this message no later than 23:59 
(midnight) Boston Time, Wednesday, 10 August 2016. For objections only, 
please copy the main public-aria@w3.org <mailto:public-aria@w3.org>  list to allow technical discussion of 
the objection to happen there.
 
 
    Process
 
This CfC is conducted per the ARIA WG decision policy:
 
    https://www.w3.org/WAI/ARIA/decision-policy
 
 
Rich Schwerdtfeger
 
— 
Rich Schwerdtfeger,   Email: richschwer@gmail.com <mailto:richschwer@gmail.com>   
CTO Accessibility IBM Software: http://www.ibm.com.able 
 
The World Wide Web Consortium (W3C), Web Accessibility Initiative (WAI)
Chair, Accessible Rich Internet Applications https://www.w3.org/WAI/ARIA

 

Rich Schwerdtfeger