Fwd: Proposal on the use of "accessible content" within ATAG 2.0

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-------- Original Message --------
Subject: Proposal on the use of "accessible content" within ATAG 2.0
Resent-Date: Mon, 23 Jan 2012 17:48:19 +0000
Resent-From: w3c-wai-au@w3.org
Date: Mon, 23 Jan 2012 17:47:54 +0000
From: Richards, Jan <jrichards@ocadu.ca>
To: w3c-wai-au@w3.org <w3c-wai-au@w3.org>

Hi all,

Below is a multi-part proposal that I hope will address the concerns of 
the WCAG-WG, which are echoed by the Canadian Government "Web Standards 
Office" 
(http://lists.w3.org/Archives/Public/public-atag2-comments/2011Sep/0000.html)

PART 1: Re-word the existing Note #2 in the Introduction:
-----
3. The term "accessible content" (and related terms, such as "accessible 
template") is used by ATAG 2.0 to refer to "content that would conform 
to WCAG 2.0, at either Level A, AA, or AAA, assuming that any web 
content technologies relied upon to satisfy the WCAG 2.0 success 
criteria are accessibility supported. The definition of the term echoes 
the WCAG 2.0 note that even content that conforms to the highest level 
of WCAG 2.0 (i.e., Level AAA) may not be "accessible to individuals with 
all types, degrees, or combinations of disability". For more 
information, see "Relationship to the Web Content Accessibility 
Guidelines (WCAG) 2.0".


PART 2: Re-word the first 3 paragraphs of the existing Conformance: 
"Relationship to the Web Content Accessibility Guidelines (WCAG) 2.0"
-----
At the time of publishing, WCAG 2.0 [WCAG20] is the current W3C 
Recommendation regarding web content accessibility. For this reason, it 
is natural for ATAG 2.0 to refer to WCAG 2.0 when setting requirements 
for (1) the accessibility of web-based authoring tool user interfaces 
(in Part A) and (2) how authors should be enabled, supported, and guided 
toward producing web content that is accessible to end users with 
disabilities (in Part B).

In particular, ATAG 2.0 refers to WCAG 2.0 within its definition of the 
term "accessible content" (and related terms, such as "accessible 
template"). The definition of "accessible content" is content that would 
conform to WCAG 2.0, at either Level A, AA, or AAA, under the assumption 
that any web content technologies that are relied upon to satisfy the 
WCAG 2.0 success criteria are accessibility supported. The phrase "at 
either Level A, AA, or AAA" takes into account that the definition of 
"accessible content" can differ depending on the context of use (e.g. in 
a Level A success criterion of ATAG 2.0 versus in a Level AAA success 
criterion)
The definition also includes two notes:
- The first is "[i]f accessibility support for the relied upon 
technologies is, in fact, lacking, then the content will not conform to 
WCAG 2.0 and one or more groups of end-users with disabilities will 
likely experience difficulty accessing the content."
- The second is "[c]onformance to WCAG 2.0, even at the highest level 
(i.e., Level AAA), still may not make content 'accessible to individuals 
with all types, degrees, or combinations of disability'."

In order to highlight success criteria or defined terms in ATAG 2.0 that 
depend on WCAG 2.0, they are marked with the parenthetical: "(WCAG)".



PART 2: Re-word the following existing definitions in the glossary:
-----

Accessible Content:
Content that would conform to WCAG 2.0, at either Level A, AA, or AAA, 
assuming that any web content technologies relied upon to satisfy the 
WCAG 2.0 success criteria are accessibility supported.
Note 1: If accessibility support for the relied upon technologies is, in 
fact, lacking, then the content will not conform to WCAG 2.0 and one or 
more groups of end-users with disabilities will likely experience 
difficulty accessing the content.
Note 2: Conformance to WCAG 2.0, even at the highest level (i.e., Level 
AAA), still may not make content "accessible to individuals with all 
types, degrees, or combinations of disability".


Cheers,
Jan


(MR) JAN RICHARDS
PROJECT MANAGER
INCLUSIVE DESIGN RESEARCH CENTRE (IDRC)

T 416 977 6000 x3957
F 416 977 9844
E jrichards@ocadu.ca

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Received on Monday, 23 January 2012 20:10:11 UTC