Issue resolution - Change to normative text of 1.4.12: at least > up to #637

Hi LVTF,

Some of you will be aware of the (relatively minor) issue 635 [1], I'd like to establish the TF's opinion if you have a chance to discuss it?

Essentially, where WCAG 2.1 text-spacing says "at least", the comment said it should be "up to".

For example, the current bullet for line spacing:

  *   Letter spacing (tracking) to at least 0.12 times the font size;

Would become:

  *   Letter spacing (tracking) up to 0.12 times the font size;

The current text does create a loophole, the content *could* completely break between the default and 0.12 letter spacing (for example). It would be hard to accomplish but it is possible, especially for line & paragraph spacing.

On the other hand, saying "up to" makes it look like a ceiling. Superficially you might think that the more it can increase the better. Would that help? Wayne's comments in the thread appear to say not [2], but I'd like to check.

What we want to say (I think) is Patrick's formulation:

  *   Letter spacing (tracking) up to at least 0.12 times the font size;

However, that is hard(er) to understand.

For me it appears to be balancing the loophole vs the ceiling effect. It is playing with the language when actually people testing it will plug in the values and test those, regardless of which way around the SC text is written.

If you agree that it is not an issue, the thing to update would be the understanding document [3], in which case what would you suggest?

So the questions are:

  *   Do you agree with the change to the normative SC text? (yes/no)
  *   If not, can it be dealt with in the understanding document? (yes/no)
  *   If it can be dealt with in the understanding doc, what would the change be? (A work item, could be done by someone else.)

Kind regards,

-Alastair

1] https://github.com/w3c/wcag/issues/635
2] https://github.com/w3c/wcag/issues/635#issuecomment-513362895
3] https://www.w3.org/WAI/WCAG21/Understanding/text-spacing.html

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www.nomensa.com<http://www.nomensa.com/> / @alastc