RE: Accessibility Test Suite

Hi Chris,

I appreciate the feedback, thanks. I could see why you are doing this
work, I just wanted to point out some important wording (especially
because it's not a w3c document) - but as you say, it's work in progress
:)

We are doing something similar in the Mobile Web Initiative (MWI). 

Thanks,
Paul



      -----Original Message-----
      From: Chris Ridpath [mailto:chris.ridpath@utoronto.ca]
      Sent: 09 December 2005 14:43
      To: Paul Walsh; 'WAI ER IG List'
      Cc: sorchamoore@segalamtest.com; davidrooks@segalamtest.com
      Subject: Re: Accessibility Test Suite
      
      Paul,
      
      (Oops. Please ignore my previous message. I accidentally hit the
send button
      before the message was complete.)
      
      > I have a problem with some of the wording in
      > the Introduction section.
      >
      This is still very much draft text and most of it was lifted from
an earlier
      techniques document:
      http://www.w3.org/TR/2005/WD-WCAG20-HTML-TECHS-20050630/
      
      The text needs work and will definitely change.
      
      > The contents of this document is *not* the *only*
      > method for testing conformance to WCAG 2.0.
      >
      Thanks for bringing this up. It's an important point that I think
deserves
      discussion. Note that the following comments are mine and do not
represent
      group consensus.
      
      I believe there needs to be a clear method used to test
conformance that we
      can all agree on. That's the purpose of the test suite. Each of
the tests in
      the suite will be discussed by the WCAG group and the group must
agree on if
      they are useful or not.
      
      The current problem with the WCAG1 is that we disagree on what the
      guidelines mean. There is no standard to test if content complies
or not.
      
      The tests are used to detect when content does not comply with the
      guidelines. For example, if an image is missing alt text the
content does
      not comply. People argued that the image could be described within
the
      document and have no alt text yet still be accessible. However the
group
      felt that all images must have alt text, or empty alt text for
decorative
      images.
      
      The tests are non-normative documents and will change over time,
unlike the
      WCAG itself. If you have a method of creating accessible content
yet breaks
      one of the tests then bring it up with the group. There is a
process for
      creating techniques and tests so they may be used by all. If your
method is
      accepted then it can be used by everyone. If it's rejected then we
all know
      not to use it. What we need to avoid is the current confusion
where anyone
      may claim conformance and there is no agreement.
      
      Cheers,
      Chris
      
      
      ----- Original Message -----
      From: "Paul Walsh" <paul.walsh@segalamtest.com>
      To: "'Chris Ridpath'" <chris.ridpath@utoronto.ca>; "'WAI ER IG
List'"
      <public-wai-ert@w3.org>
      Cc: <sorchamoore@segalamtest.com>; <davidrooks@segalamtest.com>
      Sent: Wednesday, December 07, 2005 8:41 PM
      Subject: RE: Accessibility Test Suite
      
      
      > Chris,
      >
      > I have a problem with some of the wording in the Introduction
section.
      > The following text has been taken from the first paragraph;
"This test
      > suite represents the best thinking of the Web Content
Accessibility
      > Guidelines Working Group and as such is the only method for
testing
      > conformance to WCAG 2.0.
      >
      > The contents of this document is *not* the *only* method for
testing
      > conformance to WCAG 2.0.  As a conformance specialist and 10
years
      > experience in test management of Web sites and technologies, I
strongly
      > disagree with your statement. Therefore, I would like to propose
the
      > following text: "This test suite represents the best thinking of
the Web
      > Content Accessibility Guidelines Working Group and as such is
the
      > *recommended approach* for testing conformance to WCAG 2.0.
      >
      > It's not important to give reasons why I hold this opinion, as
you can't
      > profess to know the 'only' method to validate anything.  I'm
sure this
      > was an oversight, but thought I'd bring it to your attention. If
only I
      > had time to read the rest of the document! :)
      >
      > My team is busy building lots of good stuff that you will soon
hear
      > about (possibly use), so resource is tight - although Sorcha
and/or
      > David will gladly help with document reviews.
      >
      > Thanks,
      > Paul
      >
      >
      >
      >      -----Original Message-----
      >      From: public-wai-ert-request@w3.org
      > [mailto:public-wai-ert-request@w3.org] On
      >      Behalf Of Chris Ridpath
      >      Sent: 06 December 2005 20:01
      >      To: WAI ER IG List
      >      Subject: Accessibility Test Suite
      >
      >
      >      On tomorrow's telecon [1] I'd like to give an overview of
the
      > accessibility
      >      test suite that we've been working on.
      >
      >      The test suite can currently be found at:
      >      http://www.w3.org/WAI/GL/WCAG20/tests/
      >
      >      The test suite can be used to test HTML content for
conformance to
      >      accessibility guidelines like the WCAG. It's not WCAG
specific
      > though and
      >      can be used on other accessibility guidelines like 508 as
well.
      >
      >      One of the problems with current accessibility guidelines
is that
      > they are
      >      open to interpretation and we all interpret the guidelines
      > differently. One
      >      tool may claim that a page fails the guideline while
another tool
      > claims
      >      that it passes. The test suite is designed to remove this
      > ambiguity and
      >      create a standard that can be used by all.
      >
      >      I'll give an overview of how the test suite was developed
and how
      > it may be
      >      used by other tool creators in the group.
      >
      >      Cheers,
      >      Chris
      >
      >      [1]
      >
http://lists.w3.org/Archives/Public/public-wai-ert/2005Dec/0008.html
      >
      >
      >
      >

Received on Monday, 12 December 2005 00:06:32 UTC