- From: Jason White <jason@jasonjgw.net>
- Date: Wed, 1 Aug 2007 19:54:30 +1000
- To: HTMLWG <public-html@w3.org>
On Wed, Aug 01, 2007 at 10:27:40AM +0200, Anne van Kesteren wrote: > The problem Maciej and others are trying to point out, I think, is that > most authors will not think beyond the "graphical desktop browsers" > paradigm. In fact, they will only test in a single browser and that's that. This is why we have the Authoring Tool Accessibility Guidelines, the WAI Education and Outreach working group, accessibility policies, etc., all of which encourage thinking beyond the "graphical desktop browser" paradigm. Stated differently, there are undoubtedly authors who care about these issues and who are willing to write their content accordingly, as attendance at accessibility-related conferences shows. There are also connections between accessibility applications and those concerned with mobile devices. Much of this, however, is somewhat beside the point, since spec developers need to consider the full range of applications to which the language will be put, and the communities that will use it, in designing the next version of HTML. This involves thinking beyond the graphical desktop browser in writing the spec; otherwise, the features needed to support rich non-visual interfaces, including, among other things, assistive technologies, won't be integral to the design of the language, which in turn places substantive limits on what can be achieved by authoring tools, user agents, authors and ultimately, users. That is, a properly designed language is a necessary condition for quality user interfaces, which is why it is all the more important to take different application scenarios into account in creating new features and refining existing ones.
Received on Wednesday, 1 August 2007 09:54:41 UTC