Re: addressing the shortcomings of existing tools in abstract (was Re: minor edits)

aloha, again!

i forgot to insert the URI for the second reference in my previous post -- it
is:
http://lists.w3.org/Archives/Public/w3c-wai-au/1999OctDec/0301.html

gregory.

At 06:35 PM 12/15/99 -0500, i wrote:
>aloha, jutta!
>
>in the abstract of the 10 december 1999 draft of ATAG [reference 1], the
second
>paragraph begins thus:
>
>quote
>There are tools (such as text editors) that allow motivated users to create
>accessible Web content, or are accessible themselves to users with certain
>disabilities, but that may not conform to this specification. The purpose of
>this specification is to address the needs of the largest population possible,
>so that there is more accessible content on the Web.
>unquote
>
>which you, in a recent post to the AU list [reference 2], suggested be changed
>to:
>
>quote
>It should be noted that there are tools (such as text editors) that allow
>motivated authors to create accessible Web content, and there are tools that
>are accessible to users with certain disabilities, however, these tools may
not
>conform to this specification. This specification addresses the needs of the
>largest population possible.
>unquote
>
>i think it would be clearer if the sentences were shorter:
>
>quote
>It should be noted that there are tools, such as text editors, that already
>allow highly motivated authors to create accessible Web content by hand. There
>are also tools whose interface is accessible to users with certain
>disabilities, but which limit or preclude the author's ability to produce
>accessible content.  It is, therefore, the purpose of this specification to
>address the needs of the largest population possible, by addressing both the
>accessibility of the output created by the tool and the accessibility of the
>tool itself.
>unquote
>
>i'm not too pleased with the reuse of the word "address" in the last sentence,
>but i (at least) believe that this is the thought we are attempting to
express:
>
>a) that there are tools which do allow the highly motivated user with
>fore-knowledge of
>
>1. the accessibility problems posed by certain authoring practices;
>2. the accessibility enhancements built into specific markup languages; and
>3. the syntax of the markup languages which he or she intends to use;
>
>to create accessible content by hand, and 
>
>b) that there are tools whose interface is accessible to authors with certain
>disabilities, but which output invalid and/or inaccessible markup
>
>and that the guidelines and checkpoints which follow are designed to bridge
>this gap, in order to facilitate the creation of accessible content by the
>widest possible pool of users -- especially those without such fore-knowledge
>and/or those who themselves have a disability...
>
>gregory
>
>References
>1. http://www.w3.org/WAI/AU/PR-WAI-AUTOOLS-19991210
>2. 
>--------------------------------------------------------
>He that lives on Hope, dies farting
>     -- Benjamin Franklin, Poor Richard's Almanack, 1763
>--------------------------------------------------------
>Gregory J. Rosmaita <unagi69@concentric.net>
>   WebMaster and Minister of Propaganda, VICUG NYC
>        <http://www.hicom.net/~oedipus/vicug/index.html>
>--------------------------------------------------------
>

--------------------------------------------------------
He that lives on Hope, dies farting
     -- Benjamin Franklin, Poor Richard's Almanack, 1763
--------------------------------------------------------
Gregory J. Rosmaita <unagi69@concentric.net>
   WebMaster and Minister of Propaganda, VICUG NYC
        <http://www.hicom.net/~oedipus/vicug/index.html>
--------------------------------------------------------

Received on Thursday, 16 December 1999 00:17:31 UTC