- From: Joseph Scheuhammer <clown@utoronto.ca>
- Date: Fri, 12 Sep 2008 12:21:51 -0400
- To: "T.V Raman" <raman@google.com>
- CC: jan.richards@utoronto.ca, vtsaran@yahoo-inc.com, hsivonen@iki.fi, public-html@w3.org, wai-xtech@w3.org, singer@apple.com
T.V. Raman wrote: > This type of system should always be designed based on > "capabilities" -- and *not* based on *dis*abilities. > Correct, but I would reword this slightly, in the context of the IMS accessibility specifications that Jan referenced (http://www.imsglobal.org/accessibility/). "This type of system should always be designed based on "*preferences*" -- and *not* on *dis*abilities". The access-for-all IMS specs were developed *not* as a user "profile", but as user "preferences" and content "descriptions". And, that was expressly done to avoid defining a user's abilities. For example, a user declares they prefer large fonts. That could mean they have poor vision. Or, it could mean they intend to display the content on a screen in a lecture hall where larger print is needed for the seats in the back. The inference from preferences to abilities is not a sound one. If capabilities come into play here anywhere, it is with respect to the content. For example, a video could be described as caption "capable". -- ;;;;joseph 'This is not war -- this is pest control!' - "Doomsday", Dalek Leader -
Received on Friday, 12 September 2008 16:25:03 UTC