Re: Please vote on the canvas accessibility proposal

On Feb 24, 2010, at 3:32 PM, Ian Hickson wrote:
> On Wed, 24 Feb 2010, Richard Schwerdtfeger wrote:
>> 
>>> # "When authors use the canvas element, they must also provide content
>>> # that, when presented to the user, conveys essentially the same 
>>> # function or purpose as the bitmap canvas."
>> 
>> That is not an RFC MUST.
> 
> It is a normative conformance requirement with the full weight of RFC 2119 
> behind it, if that's what you mean.

If that's the case, then I have yet to see a single HTML5 document that includes a canvas element and conforms to the spec. And I've been looking for two years. I wish I were being hyperbolic here, but I literally haven't seen one.

>> It also does not mean it is accessible if you are saying the canvas can 
>> only act as a bitmap.
> 
> I don't see how something that "conveys essentially the same function or 
> purpose", when presented to the user, can be anything _but_ accessible.

What you are describing is the same principle behind "text-only" websites, which has been discredited as a practice for a decade. This is not controversial. As an approach for a modern format, this is flatly unacceptable. Which is why we're going through this exercise.

-
m

Received on Wednesday, 24 February 2010 22:01:31 UTC