WCAG 2.0 Comment Submission

Name: Felix Miata
Email: mrmazda@ij.net
Affiliation: NA
Document: W2
Item Number: Make it easy to distinguish foreground information from its background 
Part of Item: 
Comment Type: GE
Comment (Including rationale for any proposed change):
Guideline 1.4 is the only part of the whole document I was able to find that addresses any component of the most basic element of accessibility to any non-blind user attempting access entirely visually: legibility.  Thus legibility coverage appears to be  inadequate, making the entire document inadequate.



 If text content cannot be read at or all without pain, it is functionally inaccessible.  Nothing else matters when the content cannot be read. Other very important criteria  factor heavily in determining basic legibility in addition to the guideline 1.4 coverage:



1-font size

2-font family



Reduction of font size from the user preferred size,  and substitution of an author chosen font family for a user preferred font family, both cause a reduction in legibility, and thus a reduction in accessibility.



The  primary message from http://www.w3.org/QA/Tips/font-size is hereby incorporated by reference, and should be a part of the guideline. Additionally, please digest  http://mrmazda.no-ip.com/auth/accessibility.html for more detail and background on legibility as relates  to accessibility.

Proposed Change:
Legibility is so fundamental a component of accessibility that it demands its own subpart, with the current 1.4 a component thereof. The guideline in addition to the current 1.4 should spell out:



1-Avoid font size reduction from the user preference for primary (e.g. centrally located paragraph text) content. Never size text in px or any absolute unit.

2-Minimize font size reduction from the user preference for secondary content.

3-Use utmost care, preferably avoid entirely, substituting any font family for the user\'s preferred font family for primary content. Font family substitution should be limited to branding and secondary content.

4-Only users are in position to suitably determine the font size and font family required to provide adequate legibility.

5-Not all users are empowered to compensate, either at all or to sufficient degree, when authors deviate from these guidelines. (e.g., users of computers situated in public libraries or kiosks)

Received on Wednesday, 31 May 2006 02:01:58 UTC