Re: example spec text for longdesc

Hi Matt,

>The drawback of including an attribute specifically for the purpose of
>hiding accessibility

it is not intended that longdesc will 'hide accessibility' in fact it is the
opposite as I have attempted to articulate in the example spec text [1].
Of course browser vendors cannot be forced to expose longdesc in a device
independent way, just as they cannot be forced to expose title attribute
content in a device independent way, but authors can work around browser
support issues.

berst regards
stevef

[1] http://www.html5accessibility.com/tests/img-longdesc.html

On 27 March 2011 17:00, Matthew Turvey <mcturvey@gmail.com> wrote:

> On 26 March 2011 12:09, Sam Ruby <rubys@intertwingly.net> wrote:
> [..]
> > More directly to Jonas's point above, I note that if one visits a site
> that
> > correctly uses longdesc and right-mouse-clicks on such an image using a
> > recent version of Opera one sees an option to obtain the Long Description
> of
> > the image (see attached image).  Does this change things?
> >
> > - Sam Ruby
>
> How does a user know they can right-click and select Long Description?
> Is it acceptable to deny access to users who don't know this access
> method exists? Does longdesc in this scenario meet WCAG2's guiding
> principles for being Perceivable, Operable, Understandable and Robust?
>
> Are there any circumstances where using a normal link instead of
> longdesc would not lead to an immediate, significant improvement in
> accessibility/usability?
>
> There will be authors who want to use hidden links to long
> descriptions. But making something hidden has a negative impact on
> accessibility, because it makes it a secret, and people have to be
> told about or independently discover the secret to be able to use it.
>
> The fundamental question is whether we want to encourage authors to
> use an accessibility technique that is hidden by design, by including
> a specific attribute in the language for this purpose.
>
> Or whether we want to discourage hidden accessibility (but still
> optionally support it via CSS positioning off screen, hide/show
> techniques etc) by making longdesc non-conformant, thereby encouraging
> authors to use accessibility techniques that are perceivable and
> available to all by default.
>
> The drawback of including an attribute specifically for the purpose of
> hiding accessibility is that authors will use the technique because
> they think it is "for accessibility", rather than a last resort. The
> best way to make something accessible is to make it obvious and
> available to all, and this is what we should be encouraging authors to
> do via the conformance rules in HTML5.
>
> ~Matt
>
>
>


-- 
with regards

Steve Faulkner
Technical Director - TPG

www.paciellogroup.com | www.HTML5accessibility.com |
www.twitter.com/stevefaulkner
HTML5: Techniques for providing useful text alternatives -
dev.w3.org/html5/alt-techniques/
Web Accessibility Toolbar - www.paciellogroup.com/resources/wat-ie-about.html