Add definition of testability to Guidelines (Introduction & Glossary)

Name: Sandra Vassallo
Email: S.Vassallo@e-bility.com
Affiliation: e-Bility Inclusive IT
Document: W2
Item Number: Important New Terms Used in WCAG 2.0
Part of Item: 
Comment Type: editorial
Summary of Issue: Add definition of testability to Guidelines (Introduction & Glossary)
Comment (Including rationale for any proposed change):
There needs to be a clear definition of testability in the Introduction and Glossary of the Guidelines so that it is understood that this refers to both machine and human testable measures. 

Testability is a core premise of the new WCAG 2.0, which I understand to embrace both machine and/or human testability, although this is not clearly documented in the normative guidelines. The human testable aspect of this definition is critical to certain guidelines being effectively implemented e.g. testing for equivalent text alternatives to non-text content. My concern is that many developers will see testability as a purely automated validation and when this is passed for presence of alt text it will be considered sufficient even if were not considered equivalent by human testers.



Proposed Change:
Include the definitions for testable (currently provided in the \"Requirements for WCAG 2.0 Checklists and Techniques\" document at www.w3.org/TR/2003/WD-wcag2-tech-req-20030207/#defs) in the normative Guidelines Glossary and mention in the Introduction that testability includes both machine and human testable criteria. This second point could be achieved by editing the second paragraph in the Introduction: 

\"Rather than specifying what technologies to use, WCAG 2.0 lays out general guidelines for using technologies along with specific machine and human testable success criteria for guiding and evaluating the use of the technologies.\"

Received on Friday, 29 June 2007 01:27:27 UTC