- From: Frank Palinkas <fmpalinkas@gmail.com>
- Date: Sun, 7 Oct 2007 18:16:59 +0200
- To: "Ben 'Cerbera' Millard" <cerbera@projectcerbera.com>
- Cc: HTMLWG <public-html@w3.org>
- Message-ID: <b51241950710070916l39437510g712b951ea8bdc038@mail.gmail.com>
Hi All, Responding to Ben's call, I can contribute two short, web-based, Fast Track tutorials to the meeting. I don't have or anticipate any sponsorship to be there from my employer, and it's beyond my financial capabilities to attempt it myself (I'm an American, living and working in South Africa, and trying my best to get back to the States or another venue to progress with my work in structure, presentation and behavior, encompassing full web standards and accessibility). The tutorials are geared towards tech writers who have no experience/knowledge of web standards or accessibility, are used to authoring from behind WYSIWYG authoring tools, and read quickly and hopefully to the point without wasting time. Following are descriptions of the two Fast Track tutorials: //////////////////////////////////////////// "Creating Accessible Tabular Data Tables" (presented at the 2007 WritersUA Annual Conference, Long Beach, CA) This Fast Track tutorial demonstrates and employs web standards and accessibility methods for simple tabular data table creation. It is presented free of charge to the community as a help authoring, technical writing and web design guide. - The markup elements and attributes utilized are generic to all varieties of (x).h.t.m.l. and are demonstrated in the example table structures. - Accessible markup code is employed to enable the successful interpretation and transfer of tabular data by Assistive Technologies to visually disabled users. - Feel free to experiment and edit the examples as you see fit. Three views of a tabular data table are presented and discussed: 1. *Browser View:* how users with normal or assisted vision view a table rendered in a browser or user agent 2. *Graphic Code View:* a graphic rendering of the markup code structure 3. *Source Code View:* the source code as viewed in a text editor Important Note to those using front-end/design view Help Authoring Tools: This tutorial focuses on the manual entry of (x).h.t.m.l. attributes and elements in a source code/text editor environment. However, if you are using a front-end design Help Authoring Tool (H.A.T.), please check its built-in facilities and wizards that enable the application of these markup elements to your work. //////////////////////////////////////////// "Calling Accessible Context-Sensitive Help with Unobtrusive DOM/JavaScript" This Fast Track tutorial demonstrates two methods to call Context-Sensitive Help in a Web Form: - the *Field Help Method* - the *Form Help Method* We'll discover how Unobtrusive DOM/JavaScript achieves the desired result in calling Context-Sensitive help, and demonstrate how to keep the *Structure*, *Presentation*, and *Behavior* layers of a web page completely separate from one another ensuring good practice with current web standards and accessibility rules. Employing the Field Help Method A standards-based, accessible and integrated alternative to Context-Sensitive help popup windows The Context-Sensitive Field Help Method with unobtrusive DOM/JavaScript goes a long way in satisfying web standards and accessibility needs. - Help content is contained within the Web Form and attached to each form field. - If and when a user needs help with a particular field, they activate/click a help icon image to open and close the the help content. - If scripting is turned off in the browser, the help will automatically be presented below each form field. - In this section of the tutorial, we'll demonstrate how Unobtrusive DOM/JavaScript provides a better way to deliver accessible user-activated, field-level Context-Sensitive help. Employing the Form Help Method Calling traditional Context-Sensitive help popup windows This method has been implemented throughout web-based application history. - A hyper link from the web form (a help icon or other means) is made to an external help topic or file which details instructions to complete each field in the form. - The Context-Sensitive help is called by JavaScript, which produces a secondary window containing the help within the web form page. - This action or behavior is commonly known as "invoking a popup window". The advent of web standards and web accessibility has highlighted the difficulties assistive devices (i.e., screen readers, etc.) encounter when dealing with pop up windows. - This new interest has given rise to what is known as Unobtrusive DOM/JavaScript and its employment in cases such as Context-Sensitive help pop up windows. - The Form Help Method shows how to implement Unobtrusive DOM/JavaScript to call an external Context-Sensitive help pop up window from a web form in a standards-based and accessible manner. ///////////////////////////////////////////////// If the committee considers these tutorials worthwhile to the Meeting, then please let me know and I will consider it a privilege to contribute them gratis for the benefit of all (as usual). Also, if anyone else would care to have them, please let me know. FYG, the second tutorial employing Unobtrusive DOM/JavaScript has intensive input and design efforts of web standards and accessibility guru Gez Lemon of the Paciello Group. Please let me know if you will consider this both useful and acceptable? If so, please let me know the e-mail addresses of the reviewers of the subject matter to whom I can post the zipped project packages. If not, it was a pleasure responding to the call. Frank M. Palinkas Microsoft MVP - Windows Help MCP, MCT, MCSE, MCDBA, A+ Senior Technical Communicator Web Standards & Accessibility Designer On 10/7/07, Ben 'Cerbera' Millard <cerbera@projectcerbera.com> wrote: > > > The HTMLWG [Meeting] is from the 8th to the 10th of November 2007. I'll be > there thanks to Google sponsoring my travel and accomodation. The schedule > talks about short presentations: > > [[[ > Short presentations > > Send mail to the WG or at least the chairs if you'd like to give a short > presentation. > ]]] > >
Received on Sunday, 7 October 2007 16:17:08 UTC