Comments on ATAG 2.0 draft

Let me be clear that these are comments by me as an individual, not
representing my employer.  They address Authoring Tool Accessibility
Guidelines (ATAG) 2.0, W3C Working Draft 08 July 2010.  

In general, I think the draft is excellent.  I do suggest that it make
clear that an authoring tool should produce accessible content with its
default settings.  Currently, I interpret the guidelines as recommending
that such settings be as prominent as other configuration choices.  I
think it is important, however, that an author has to make a conscious
decision to depart from a mode in which accessible content is the
result.  In this way, accessible content is the norm for developers who
do not think about accessibility and use the authoring tool as is,
without customizing its settings.

I also suggest that the guidelines incorporate more explicit references
to web 2.0-type web pages that create value from user-generated content.
On such a page, the reader is often an author as well.  The user agent,
e.g., web browser, is an authoring tool, too.  The user may enter text,
upload audiovisual media, or simply express preferences -- e.g., rating
an article.

This combining of reading and writing capabilities blurs distinctions
between audiences of the Authoring Tool Accessibility Guidelines and the
User Agent Accessibility Guidelines.  Spontaneous, user-generated
content makes it more important than ever that accessible content is
produced via default settings of both live user agents and offline
authoring tools.

Regards,
Jamal

Received on Monday, 30 August 2010 18:19:52 UTC