Absence of a success criterion that covers the absence of support for scripting or programmatic objects

Name: Treasury Board of Canada Secretariat (Common Look and Feel Office)
Email: clf-nsi@tbs-sct.gc.ca
Affiliation: Government of Canada
Document: W2
Item Number: Guideline 4.1: Maximize compatibility with current and future user agents...
Part of Item: 
Comment Type: general comment
Summary of Issue: Absence of a success criterion that covers the absence of support for scripting or programmatic objects
Comment (Including rationale for any proposed change):
Why is there nothing in 4.1 regarding the absence of support for scripting or programmatic objects? Unlike WCAG 1.0, WCAG 2.0 does not cover situations such as:



a) Navigation elements and controls that are still available but do not work properly when scripting/programmatic objects not supported such as onChange event handler on a select element or JavaScript controlled links (with onClick event handler and href=\"#\" or even href=\"javascript:...\").



b) Critical information that is only displayed when scripting/programmatic objects are supported.



c) Forms without an action that only submit when scripting/programmatic objects are supported



d) Field validation that only works when scripting/programmatic objects are supported





Absence of a success criteria requirement that deals with diminished scripting/programmatic objects support will decrease potential support for user agents where scripting/programmatic object support may be limited such as:



a) Machines with high security requirements where scripting/programmatic object support is intentionally limited due to security requirements (such as high security workplaces and some public computers)



b) User agent limitations (older browsers, specialized adaptive technology platforms, internet enabled devices such as PDAs and cell phones).





There should be a requirement to hide/not display all elements that do not function properly when scripting/programmatic objects are disabled and to provide alternative means of accessing critical information and/or functionality when scripting/programmatic object support is absent (possible exception for security functionality that can\'t be provided without scripting/programmatic objects).

Proposed Change:
Add a success criterion (\"A\" or \"AA\") that covers the absence of support for scripting or programmatic objects.

Received on Monday, 28 January 2008 19:08:55 UTC