viewing size of non-text content without alternatives

Name: Sofia Celic on behalf of Vision Australia
Email: Sofia.Celic@visionaustralia.org.au
Affiliation: Vision Australia
Document: W2
Item Number: (none selected)
Part of Item: 
Comment Type: technical
Summary of Issue: viewing size of non-text content without alternatives
Comment (Including rationale for any proposed change):
Multimedia objects that are embedded into a web page generally can not be resized, meaning some user groups may not be able to access the information it contains. 



A text alternative should be provided for these objects but it may not be appropriate (such as exception point 2 – media, test, sensory - in success criterion 1.1.1) or it may not provide an equivalent experience.



With some multimedia, being able to resize the object would be sufficient to access the information (without needing to resort to an alternative - where an alternative is available). For example, a Flash movie showing how something is done may only require a slightly bigger rendering to be fully accessible for some users.



Some options to satisfy this may be:

- allowing the user to load the multimedia object into a stand-alone player where it can be resized.

- providing the user with options for the size at which to view the multimedia object.



Similarly, other non-text content that can not have an equivalent text alternative provided (such as exception 3 – CAPTCHA – in success criterion 1.1.1) could also become accessible for some users if it is provided at a different size. For example, a CAPTCHA image may be difficult to “read” for some users with low vision purely because of the size at which it is provided. In this case the user would be able to “read” the CAPTCHA if it was provided at a larger size. 



Proposed Change:
Add a success criterion requiring non-text content be provided at different viewing sizes in situations where the non-text content can not have an equivalent accessible alternative provided.

Received on Saturday, 30 June 2007 00:45:04 UTC