[Bug 16572] New: Meta generator: Validator must say that alt conformance check was skipped

https://www.w3.org/Bugs/Public/show_bug.cgi?id=16572

           Summary: Meta generator: Validator must say that alt
                    conformance check was skipped
           Product: HTML WG
           Version: unspecified
          Platform: PC
               URL: http://dev.w3.org/html5/spec/the-img-element.html#guid
                    ance-for-conformance-checkers
        OS/Version: All
            Status: NEW
          Keywords: a11y, a11y_text-alt
          Severity: normal
          Priority: P2
         Component: HTML5 spec (editor: Ian Hickson)
        AssignedTo: ian@hixie.ch
        ReportedBy: xn--mlform-iua@xn--mlform-iua.no
         QAContact: public-html-bugzilla@w3.org
                CC: mike@w3.org, laura.lee.carlson@gmail.com,
                    public-html-wg-issue-tracking@w3.org,
                    public-html@w3.org, faulkner.steve@gmail.com,
                    xn--mlform-iua@xn--mlform-iua.no,
                    public-html-a11y@w3.org


Proposal: Add something like this to the spec:

   ]] Conformance checkers must allow users to separate pages for which @alt
conformance check was performed, from pages (with the generator string) where
it was not performed. [[

(The wording inspired from
http://www.w3.org/TR/html5/obsolete#warnings-for-obsolete-but-conforming-features
)

   Use case - in 3 steps:

1 Author runs the following four documents through the validator:
   doc A  with machine-checkable @alt errors + no meta generator string
   doc B w/error free machine-checkable @alt + no meta generator string
   doc C  with machine-checkable @alt errors + meta generator string
   doc D w/error free machine-checkable @alt + meta generator string
2 Validation results:
   doc A: non-conforming due to @alt conformance error;
   doc B: conforming;
   doc C: conforming;
   doc D: conforming;
3 Author's response to the validation results: 
   doc A: author fixes doc, validates anew and publishes;
   doc B, C and D: author is satisfied and publishes right away;

   Problems revealed in this use case: 

 FIRSTLY, for document C and D, the validator fails to inform the author
          that the docs were subject to a less thorough @alt conformance
          check than document A and B. This means that the author is
          is right to believe that B/C/D are equally conformant and 
          equally checked.
SECONDLY, HTML5 is actually clear that doc D, is non-conforming, quote:
       ]] (This case does not represent a case where the document is
          conforming, only that the generator could not determine
          appropriate alternative text [[

          Of course: That doc D is non-conforming, is not something that cannot
be told, as long as the meta generator "exception" is in place. But it is the
more important to give the user opportunity to understand that the reason for
the lack of an error message, *might* simply be that the particualar issue was
not checked for conformance.

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Received on Thursday, 29 March 2012 18:03:36 UTC