Review of Authoring Tools AG WD 19990903

Meta-notation:
     XomitX
     _insert_
     ?question?

Substance: Principally in 3. Terms and Definitions

Nits:
1. last para:    last sentence is long.   ...helpful suggestions
     thereX the requirements whichX _there. The requirements that_
     ...this documentX and waysX_. Ways_

2.1 ... accessibility_._
2.2 ... specification_._
2.3 ... purpose.X.X

Guideline 3
first paragraph ...one of the XmostX_more_

second paragraph split last sentence.
    ...XWhere suchX_Some_
    ...Xfor the author the tool willX_for the author. The tool should_
    ? or should that be ..._for the author. The tool must_?

3.2 I don't understand: "equivalent text" equivalent to what?
     ?Do you mean "or equivalent text"?
     ?I18N?...it is clear that "search"... The word "Search" implies that
     the language is English, so it isn't clear to me.

3.3 I don't understand about pre-written alternative information
     "Note: This text should be used for input field default,
     but not for automatic insertion"
     give an example.

Guideline 4

4.5 ...markup.X.

Guideline 7
Para 3 last sentence  ...XwhichX_that_
     Add reference to User Agent guidelines on navigation.

7.2 This allows the author to edit the document according to XtheirX
     _that author's_ personal requirements,
     Suggest avoid mixed number: author...their...
     I believe, though am not clear, that the definitions refers to that
     author's "user configurable schedule" as a replacement for
     "personal requirements". Wouldn't that apply to author as well as
     end-user?

3. Terms and Definitions

Suggest adding another subsidiary level, rather than depend on an empty
line to separate the ?some first heading? from those terms under it.

I had expected a glossary of alphabetized terms. This organization does
not suffice as such. Active links from "where used" into this section
would be worth-while, as would reverse links.

Document
     A document is a XseriesX_sequence_ of elements _and their attributes_
     that are defined XbyX_in_ a language (e.g., the document type
     declaration (DTD) for HTML 4.0 or a DTD or schema for an XML
     application).

Element
     First sentence omits entity references as objects that can occur in
     text. Why is order bottom-up when authoring and presentation are
     top-down?

     Second sentence is wrong: HTML does not require close tags and even
     some start tags that it can infer. XML requires both start tags and
     end tags for non-empty elements, and permits a special empty element
     tag ending with "/>". Suggested rewrite of whole topic. Here is how
     XML980505 does it:

     _HTML and _
     XML documents are made up of storage units called entities, which
     contain either parsed or unparsed data. Parsed data is made up of
     characters, some of which form character data, and some of which form
     markup. Markup encodes a description of the document's storage layout
     and logical structure. _HTML and _XML provides a mechanism to impose
     constraints on the storage layout and logical structure.

     Each XML document contains one or more elements, the boundaries of
     which are either delimited by start-tags and end-tags, or, for empty
     elements, by an empty-element tag. Each element has a type, identified
     by name, sometimes called its "generic identifier" (GI), and may have
     a set of attribute specifications. Each attribute specification has
     a name and a value.

     _In HTML 4.0 many element types have omissible end-tags. Some do not
     even require start-tags. Empty elements do not require an end-tag,
     though some browsers recognize and ignore them. Some recognize the XML
     empty-element tag._

     The element structure of an XML document may, for validation purposes,
     be constrained using element type and attribute-list declarations. An
     element type declaration constrains the element's content. Element type
     declarations often constrain which element types can appear as children
     of the element.

Attributes
     In XML and HTML, an element may have any Xnumber ofX_of the_ attributes
     _and its value, as specified for that element type in the DTD or 
schema._ In the ...
     attributes in HTML_._

     Attributes are used to associate name-value pairs with elements.
     Attribute specifications may appear only within start-tags and
     empty-element tagsX;X_._

Accessible, Accessibility

     My concern is that we have the opportunity to reach a broader audience,
     for whom the only impairment is caused by environment or equipment:

     at end: X.X_, environment or equipment limitations._


Well-formed document Add
     _A well-formed document matches what is allowable as content of the
     root document element._ A consequence of well-formedness in entities
     is that the logical and physical structures in an XML document are
     properly nested; no start-tag, end-tag, empty-element tag, element,
     comment, processing instruction, character reference, or
     entity reference can begin in one entity and end in another.

Valid document Add
     An XML document is valid if it has an associated document type
     declaration and if the document complies with the constraints
     expressed in it. _A valid document is also well-formed._

     Important XML concepts. Some HTML documents are invalid, many are not
     well-formed. Without the context that these provide, many accessibility
     assumptions are more difficult, as contexts may only be guessed.

Markup Language
     Add XML:   ...such as HTML, _XML applications, _SVG, or MathML.

5. References
     Is it time to add XHTML?

add    UA accessibility techniques

Regards/Harvey Bingham