Re: will get back to you Re: headers attribute debate

[dropping WAI cross-posts]

At 11:02 AM -0700 28 05 2007, Preston L. Bannister wrote:
>On 5/28/07, Al Gilman 
><<mailto:Alfred.S.Gilman@ieee.org>Alfred.S.Gilman@ieee.org> wrote:
>
>
>At 6:06 PM -0500 27 05 2007, Laura Carlson wrote:
>>
>>Advice from WAI and the PFWG on the potential accessibility impact of
>>the absence of the headers attribute for HTML 5 would be appreciated.
>
>Thank you for this question.
>
>Tables have historically been a source of access problems.  We put
>some features in HTML4 and there is now enough time past to take
>a fresh look.
>
>As you say, enough time has gone by - it would be useful to see a 
>brief write up of "lessons-learned" from those folk involved in 
>accessibility.  What works well? What turned out of little value? 
>Where is the greatest gap felt between what we have and what is 
>needed for accessibility?
>
>Or does such a missive already exist?

Laura's question was narrowly focused and exquisitely documented.

For that narrow question, I think I can get a statement that has general
support within the narrow confines of PFWG in the kind of time I
mentioned.

The kind of a 'short letter' of 'lessons learned' post HTML4 that I
hear you asking for is never going to happen in time to be still
current, for two reasons:

1) the broad divergence among the user experience of different
people with different 'disabilities.'  People with disabilities take
a little more time, generally.  Consensus takes time.  We have
more diversity per person than W3C in the main.  Look at the
time between WCAG2 Working Drafts, for example.

2) the ever-changing technology base; we are always learning more.

That said, let me suggest that there are three references approaching
what you are asking for. None of them is perfect, but taken together
I think they give a second-pass perspective that will help people better
anticipate the access impacts of HTML markup decisions.

WCAG2: especially for requirements at the user experience level.
http://www.w3.org/TR/WCAG20/

XAG: design notes offering strategies for what formats can do to
meet these needs.
http://www.w3.org/TR/xag

WAI-ARIA Roadmap: for the narrow domain of scripted widgets
embedded in web content, together with a limited amount of
related material, there is a gap analysis and roadmap available.
This illustrates the above two implemented in a markup/script mix.
And we look forward to more of this functionality making it into
HTML through your group's work, in due course.

http://www.w3.org/TR/aria-roadmap/

Al