- From: Loretta Guarino Reid <lorettaguarino@google.com>
- Date: Fri, 21 Mar 2008 16:18:34 -0700
- To: "Carlos Iglesias" <carlos.iglesias@fundacionctic.org>
- Cc: public-comments-WCAG20@w3.org
On Tue, Mar 18, 2008 at 9:09 AM, Carlos Iglesias <carlos.iglesias@fundacionctic.org> wrote: > > ---------------------------------------------------------- > > Comment 1: Concerns about 80 characters width limit > > > Source: http://lists.w3.org/Archives/Public/public-comments- > > wcag20/2008Feb/0046.html > > (Issue ID: 2497) > > > Status: VERIFIED / PARTIAL/OTHER > > ---------------------------- > > Original Comment: > > ---------------------------- > > > > Having into consideration that the number of characters per line may > > be affected by different parameters (window size, screen resolution, > > font-size...) that are not controllable by the content creator, this > > requirement may be quite difficult (not to say impossible) to fulfill. > > > > Additionally readability may be also equally affected when the line > > width is to narrow, so I don't understand why to put just top limits > > in case of put any. > > > > --------------------------------------------- > > Response from Working Group: > > --------------------------------------------- > > > > First, it should be noted that if the author does not set the column > > width but lets the text wrap as it will, then he satisfies this > > success criterion. It is only when authors set the column width to > > fixed values that are more than 80 characters wide that a problem > > arises. Note that the success criterion says, "a mechanism is > > available". It is only when the author defines font and column width > > etc. in such a way that the user cannot achieve an 80 character line > > length that the author creates a problem. > > Then an author can not set any column width at Level AAA, because the suggested technique of using ems width for columns doesn't work as it is shown in the following test case: > > [http://www.fundacionctic.org/uaw/test-cases/em-width/test.html] > [http://www.w3.org/WAI/GL/WCAG20/WD-WCAG20-TECHS-20080310/C20.html] > > Note that every paragraph in the test case has a width of 80 ems, but the number of characters per line varies depending mainly on the font family. > > No one of the text samples has 80 characters per line, not even near to them, so it is apparently clear that ems widths can not be used to set a column width of any specific number of characters in a reliable way. > > ---------------------------------------------------------- Thank you for pointing out the errors in the examples and description of this technique. We have revised the technique in a number of ways to address these concerns. Refer to http://www.w3.org/WAI/GL/WCAG20/WD-WCAG20-TECHS/C20.html for the updated technique. Note that the test for successful implementation of this technique only requires that line length can be set to 80 characters or less by resizing the browser window, not that they be 80 characters or less in all circumstances, so the concerns you mention regarding the variations in the number of characters in a column based on font-family settings would not have an impact on whether this technique has been successfully implemented.
Received on Friday, 21 March 2008 23:19:16 UTC