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Under "Perceivable", "Use sufficient contrast to make things easy to see and
hear."

"contrast" is so closely associated with visual perception that it's not
clear that there are other implications; e.g. what does it imply for
hearing, touching - in general the semantics demand that in the same way
that we must stay aware of "device independence" we must recognize that
sensory impairments aren't only visual/audible/tactile/cognitive. Perhaps
"optimize comprehensibility through distinctive presentation" - I know those
are not the best words, but we'll find the right ones without using
"contrast" - or at least try.

Under "Operable", "Make all functionality keyboard accessible."

The old bugaboo of device independence rears its ugly head once more. Just
as in WCAG 1 we failed by being so HTML-centric, so here we might succeed
better by generalization. What is actually being addressed is not
"functionality" but "user input" and the charge to the designer isn't to
select one device (the keyboard), no matter how widespread it may be, but to
deal at the more abstract level: "input mechanism" so that the person who
runs his wheelchair AND his computer by a single-switch (sip/puff, for
example), etc. is attended to.

Under "Understandable", "Make text readable and understandable."

The bullets are presumably to elaborate/define the heading and saying
"understandable means understandable" is not too swift.  Perhaps
"comprehensible"? Although it's not much, if at all, more informative.

Under "Robust", "Maximize compatibility with current and future
technologies."

"compatibility" might be better served by becoming "interoperability",  of
which it's sort of a subset. Also "with" could be taken to mean "using" and
I doubt that's what is meant?

Love.

Received on Monday, 21 July 2008 08:02:57 UTC