alert versus inform (was Re: Draft for signing off)

aloha, charles!

thanks for your expeditious reply...

i do have one question on the 18 december draft...  the text for Checkpoint 4.1
reads:

quote
   4.1 Check for and inform the author of accessibility problems.
          [Relative Priority]
          Note: Accessibility problems should be detected automatically
          where possible. Where this is not possible, the tool may need
          to prompt the user to make decisions, or to manually check for
          certain types of problem.
unquote

i still fail to "see" why we switched from "alert" to "inform" -- we have a
very strong definition of alert in the techniques document, which, if ported to
ATAG itself, would have removed any potential confusion that we were directing
developers to use a platform specific mechanism which also happens to be called
an alert...

so, i propose keeping the word alert in checkpoint 4.1, porting the techniques
document's definition of the term alert to ATAG, and hyperlinking the word
alert to the expanded definition...

and, while i realize that, if we are to reconsider the ramifications of every
noun, adverb, adjective, and verb used in the document to ensure that none of
them conflict with their use in a platform-specific setting, that ATAG will
never be finalized, i do believe that this particular checkpoint needs to
convey the full gamut of functionalities captured in the Techniques document's
definition of accessibility...

gregory 

At 10:59 AM 12/22/99 -0500, you wrote:
>The draft has not been successfully mounted to W3C space. It will be
>announced as soon as I get it there. In fact I believe there are only minor
>editorial differences (cleaning up the use of user / author and so on, and
>shifting the sentence about existing tools that do some things around)
>
>So people sould sign off on the current draat if they are not concerned
>about
>editorial stuff (for the record, I am signing off on it) or "watch this
>space" otherwise.
>
>In the absence o any comments, there seems to be little point in holding a
>teleconference this afternoon.
>
>Charles
>
>
>On Wed, 22 Dec 1999, Gregory J. Rosmaita wrote:
>
>  aloha, jutta!
>  
>  although, on 20 december, you wrote:
>  
>  quote
>   Due to network problems Charles was experiencing, a number of edits did not
>   make it into the draft. As a result the draft to sign off on will be posted
>   tomorrow and the deadline for signing off will be Wednesday at the end of
>   the day.
>  unquote
>  
>  the list never received confirmation that the corrected draft had been
>  successfully mounted in W3C space...  is the draft which is located at:
>          http://www.w3.org/WAI/AU/PR-WAI-AUTOOLS-19991218/
>  the current draft?  is it the draft that will form the basis of our 
>discussion
>  later today?  there isn't an agenda posted to confirm whether or not this is
>  the corrected draft...
>  
>  gregory
>  
>  
>  At 10:46 AM 12/20/99 -0500, you wrote:
>  >Due to network problems Charles was experiencing, a number of edits did not
>  >make it into the draft. As a result the draft to sign off on will be posted
>  >tomorrow and the deadline for signing off will be Wednesday at the end of
>  >the day.
>  >
>  >Jutta
>  >
>  >At 5:24 PM -0500 12/18/99, Ian Jacobs wrote:
>  >>Hello,
>  >>
>  >>I have published the 18 December version of the ATAG Guidelines [1]
>  >>and Techniques Document [2]. In addition to changes made
>  >>by Charles (which I will let him document), I made the following
>  >>changes:
>  >>
>  >>1) Incorporated changes from 15 Dec atag teleconf
>  >>   http://www.w3.org/WAI/AU/telecon-15dec99
>  >>
>  >>2) Incorporated editorial changes from Ian's propsals of 12 December
>  >>   http://lists.w3.org/Archives/Public/w3c-wai-au/1999OctDec/0295.html
>  >>
>  >>3) Deleted the term "impairment" and replaced with "disability"
>  >>   (one occurrence). Based on 14 December CG decision to not use
>  >>"impairment"
>  >>   http://lists.w3.org/Archives/Member/w3c-wai-cg/1999OctDec/0053.html
>  >>
>  >>4) Deleted the term "alt-text" and replace with "text-equivalent"
>  >>   (notably in the section on A-prompt).
>  >>
>  >>5) Changed "fulfill a checkpoint" to "satisfy a checkpoint"
>  >>   (for unity with other guidelines).
>  >>
>  >>6) Added the following links:
>  >>   a) Techniques now back link to the Guidelines (via the checkpoint
>  >>number)
>  >>      Linking is to the latest version of the guidelines.
>  >>   b) Samples (e.g., Amaya) now back link to the Techniques (via
>  >>      the checkpoint number)
>  >>
>  >>7) I made some changes to the document processing machinery to
>  >>   align ATAG and UAAG (and ultimately WCAG). Readers should notice
>  >>   absolutely no different. But if you remark anything strange,
>  >>   please let the editors know.
>  >>
>  >>Thank you,
>  >>
>  >> - Ian
>  >>
>  >>[1] http://www.w3.org/WAI/AU/PR-WAI-AUTOOLS-19991218/
>  >>[2] http://www.w3.org/WAI/AU/WD-WAI-AUTOOLS-TECHS-19991218
>  >>--
>  >>Ian Jacobs (jacobs@w3.org)   http://www.w3.org/People/Jacobs
>  >>Tel/Fax:                     +1 212 684-1814
>  >>Cell:                        +1 917 450-8783
>  >
>  
>  --------------------------------------------------------
>  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>
>  --------------------------------------------------------
>  
>
>--
>Charles McCathieNevile    mailto:charles@w3.org    phone: +61 409 134 136
>W3C Web Accessibility Initiative                    http://www.w3.org/WAI
>21 Mitchell Street, Footscray, VIC 3011,  Australia (I've moved!)
>

--------------------------------------------------------
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 Wednesday, 22 December 1999 11:18:57 UTC