Authoring Tool:

Any software that an author may use to create or modify Web content. This includes software that enables an author (the user, the controller, collaborating authors, etc.) to perform any of the following functions:

• Text Editing – Manipulate plain text data (e.g. markup text, program code, etc.).
• Symbol-Based Editing – Manipulate non-WYSIWYG symbols that represent functional groups in the underlying plain text data (e.g. markup element, programming code operation, multi-element placeholder, etc.)
• WYSIWYG Document Editing – Manipulate renderings of underlying the underlying plain text data (e.g. text in a paragraph, an image, a table, etc) encoded in publishing language formats (e.g. HTML, etc.).
• Object-Oriented Graphics Editing – Manipulate renderings of object-oriented graphics (i.e. draw formats as opposed to paint formats).
• Template-Based Editing – Enter high-level inputs that result in Web content that is largely template-based (e.g. Site Creation Wizards, Site Management Tools, Courseware, Content Aggregators, Chat and Whiteboard systems, etc.)
• Time-line Editing – Manipulate time dependent Web content (e.g. animation, music, etc.) using a user interface that represents a series of frames. For the editing of each frame, see the other types of authoring tool functionalities in this list.
• Format Conversion – Manipulate Web content encoded in one format so that it becomes encoded in another. Includes functionality for saving Web content created in one format in a different format or importing Web content from one format into a different format.

This list does not includes the following software functions:

• Fully-Automatic Web Content Generation – Software that produces Web content without any input whatsoever from the author. For example, an automated “stock ticker” that continuously produces Web content without any user control, would not be considered an authoring tool. Note: The programmer of a software is not the author (i.e. the user) of the software. Even so, WCAG still applies to the software doing the Fully-Automatic Web Content Generation and ATAG still applies to any tools used to program the software.