Re: ERT WG: Agenda for teleconference on Tuesday 22 March 2005

Hello all,

I will try to describe a problem that came up to my mind when reading 
the document prepared by Chris and Gabriele, and which I think that it 
could be a point for discussion in today's conference call.

> 2. Describing the Location of Test-Subjects
>   <http://lists.w3.org/Archives/Public/public-wai-ert/2005Mar/0038.html>


Let me know if I am wrong, but I feel this document is implying as a 
solution the use of a subset of XPointer or XPATH, which will be 
appointed based on restrictions to the use of XPointer of the type:

"...XPointer expressions should address directly the element that is 
causing the accessibility problem, regardless of it's context (i.e. 
position) within the document. "

or otherwise...

"Elements should be identified individually of the surrounding elements, 
which comes out to identifying problematic elements based on their 
attributes."

To me this sounds ok when accessibility problems are caused by 
individual elements (e.g. img-elements), but what if the accessibility 
problems are caused by the context itself (i.e. the structure of an HTML 
fragment).

For example, consider "Large number of links may require a skipover 
link." from the HTML test suite. In this case the accessibility problem 
cannot be localised in a single element, it is rather the coexistence of 
elements that may be causing a problem (in the absence of a skipover). 
How would we localise this problem? Furthermore, changing the document 
by separating the links may or may not solve the accessibility problem 
identified.

I don't have a clear answer to this, but I think it is something that we 
will have to consider. Let me know what you think...

-- 

___________________________________________
Chrisoula Alexandraki

Foundation for Research and Technology - Hellas (FORTH)
Institute of Computer Science (ICS)
Human-Computer Interaction Laboratory
Centre for Universal Access and Assistive Technologies
Science and Technology Park of Crete
Heraklion, Crete
GR - 71110 Greece

Tel: +30 - 2810 - 391754
Fax: +30 - 2810 - 391740
email: chrisoula@ics.forth.gr
URL: http://www.ics.forth.gr/hci/

Received on Tuesday, 22 March 2005 15:58:14 UTC