Re: Using the terms "normative" and "informative" in EO documents

Gregg's suggestion is probably the best of all.

Wayne
----- Original Message ----- 
From: "Gregg Vanderheiden" <gv@trace.wisc.edu>
To: "Shawn Henry" <shawn@w3.org>
Cc: "EOWG (E-mail)" <w3c-wai-eo@w3.org>; "Judy Brewer" 
<jbrewer@w3.org>
Sent: Tuesday, November 25, 2008 11:03 AM
Subject: Re: Using the terms "normative" and "informative" in EO 
documents


>
> Personally,
>
> unless we are talking legal issues - I don't think they are 
> important.
>
> For most people these are 'guidelines' that can be followed
>
> those that NEED to know the difference - probably already know 
> the  difference.
>
>
> so I would just not focus on them
>
>
>
> Gregg
> -----------------------
> Gregg Vanderheiden Ph.D.
> Director Trace R&D Center
> Professor Ind and Biomed Engr
> University of Wisconsin-Madison
>
>
>
>
>
>
> On Nov 25, 2008, at 7:54 AM, Shawn Henry wrote:
>
>>
>> EOWG and others who want to comment,
>>
>> Question for discussion on the EOWG mailing list:
>> How much should we use the terms "normative" and "informative" 
>> in  our basic introductory, education, and outreach material 
>> related to  WCAG and the other WAI technical specifications? 
>> Is it good to  introduce and reinforce these terms, which are 
>> used in the technical  documents, in our basic material? Or is 
>> it unnecessary to complicate  the our basic material with what 
>> is to some jargony terminology?
>>
>> (Note that WCAG 2.0 itself provides definitions of the terms.)
>>
>> Background:
>>
>> Last week in discussing "How to Update Your Web Site from WCAG 
>> 1.0  to WCAG 2.0", we considered adding these terms in: "The 
>> WCAG 2.0  technical standard itself is a stable, normative 
>> document that will  not change once it is completed. However, 
>> Understanding WCAG 2.0 and  Techniques for WCAG 2.0 are 
>> supporting informative resources that  can be updated. As 
>> technology develops, they will be enhanced with  additional 
>> tips, techniques, and best practices." See the next-to- last 
>> paragraph in 
>> <http://www.w3.org/WAI/EO/Drafts/transition1to2/transition1to2-20081121.html
>> > for how it's formatted and linked.
>>
>> Here's an example of not using the actual terms: "Thus with 
>> WCAG  2.0, there are extensive supporting materials, which are 
>> advisory  documents. The WCAG 2.0 guidelines document itself 
>> is the only  document intended to be a Web standard..." - 
>> <http://www.w3.org/WAI/WCAG20/wcag2faq#docs
>> >
>>
>> There are several places where we talk about the different 
>> types of  documents, for example:
>> * Overview of WCAG 2.0 Documents (old draft) 
>> <http://www.w3.org/WAI/intro/wcag20.php
>> >
>> * The WCAG 2.0 Documents (old draft) 
>> http://www.w3.org/WAI/WCAG20/wcag20-docs
>> * How WAI Develops Accessibility Guidelines through the W3C 
>> Process:  <http://www.w3.org/WAI/intro/w3c-process.php>
>> * WAI-ARIA Overview <http://www.w3.org/WAI/intro/aria.php>
>>
>> Your thoughts on whether or not we should use "normative" and 
>> "informative" in some of these types of EO documents? If some 
>> but  not all, which?
>>
>> Regards,
>> ~Shawn
>>
>> -----
>> Shawn Lawton Henry
>> W3C Web Accessibility Initiative (WAI)
>> e-mail: shawn@w3.org
>> phone: +1.617.395.7664
>> about: http://www.w3.org/People/Shawn/
>>
>>
>>
>>
>>
>
>
>

Received on Tuesday, 25 November 2008 20:40:28 UTC