Developing Websites for Older People comment reply

Dear EOWG,

A participant of the WCAG working group provided comments on the final draft of Developing Websites for Older People, which is at: http://www.w3.org/WAI/EO/Drafts/sites-older-users/

The comments are online at: http://www.w3.org/egov/wiki/User:Cbeer/WCAG_20100909

A draft reply to the commenter is below.

Please review the draft reply below and send any comments to the list in preparation for discussion in EOWG this Friday.

Thanks,
~Shawn

# DRAFT START #

Dear Chris,

Thank you for your comments on the draft Developing Websites for Older People document.
	Document: http://www.w3.org/WAI/EO/Drafts/sites-older-users/
	Comments: http://www.w3.org/egov/wiki/User:Cbeer/WCAG_20100909
Please find below responses from EOWG.

# Overall comments:

Many of the aspects you raise are beyond the scope of this document, which is intended for developers who are looking for concrete guidance on how to improve their websites rather than for background information.

Some of these aspects are covered in the Literature Review [1], which provides the foundation for this document. The Literature Review is
currently a working draft and we welcome your comments on it, too, if you are interested.

[1] Web Accessibility for Older Users: A Literature Review
  - <http://www.w3.org/WAI/intro/wai-age-literature>

We also expect readers of this document to have read Web Accessibility and Older People: Meeting the Needs of Ageing Web Users [2] and obtained additional background about older people using the Web before they read this document. (Although of course we cannot be certain that they have other background information, it is not the purpose of this document to provide it.)

[2] Web Accessibility and Older People: Meeting the Needs of Ageing Web Users
  - http://www.w3.org/WAI/older-users/

# Perceivable information and user interface - CAPTCHA

As this technique is not applicable to all websites (in particular, to the many websites of smaller organizations or of individuals) and not ideal for many people (for instance, because of cost of making a call, limitations of phone operator availability, etc). This does not make it apt to weight it above other technical solutions that provide alternatives that are integral parts of a website.

# Operable user interface and navigation - Distractions (audience)

The level of conformance that website owners select or must adhere to is a policy question and out of scope for this particular document.

# Robust content and reliable interpretation - Older equipment/software

This document maps some of the needs of older people identified in the Literature Review to existing WCAG 2.0 Techniques. Developing such
techniques is, however, out of scope of this particular effort. We encourage the development of additional WCAG 2.0 Techniques that we can add to this document.

Thank you again for taking the time to read and comment on this document.

Regards,
Andrew Arch,
Shadi About Zahra,
Shawn Henry,
for EOWG


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Received on Tuesday, 21 September 2010 14:23:13 UTC