Re: precis - write the first paragraph last

Please keep in mind that there are 65 WCAG checkpoints which means *at 
least* 65 techniques in our document.  We often have more than one 
technique for each checkpoint.

I would prefer if people keep the checkpoint number in the subject. I don't 
care if its at the end or the front, but it is **very** useful to me.  As I 
edit a checkpoint I can easily gather the other e-mail associated with that 
checkpoint.  This reduces the number of times I may need to edit a 
particular technique.  I am not often able to read and reacte to the e-mail 
as it comes in.  Thus, I may be working on a whole week's worth of e-mail 
at one time.  I can find all of the e-mail related to a particular 
technique and synthesize a single proposal from my understanding of the thread.

I will try to make the e-mail that I send more readable for others by 
referencing which version of the document we are discussing.

--wendy

At 03:53 PM 2/5/00 , Al Gilman wrote:
>There is a tradeoff between making an email message clear on its own and
>making it work with desktop tools in the process of editing a document.
>
>Jonathan wrote:
> >Subject: please put a precis in the header and/or at the top of the email
> >
> >I do like the way this discussion is going.
>
> >However I still complain about excessive use of "1.13" etc in my email/on
> >the wai site. I simply am not aware of what you speak.
> >
>
>For example, one subject line reads:
>
>   "Technique 1.1.7 [priority 1] Verify that text equivalents are provided for
>                         audio files where necessary"
>
>Where the topic could be summarized as
>
>   "Text equivalents for audio"
>
>What Wendy used as her subject line is a literal cut of a technique title
>from the current draft of the ERT document.  Using the exact text of the
>document makes it easy to find where one is in the cited document by using
>text searching, known as "Find" in the Windows environment.  The context
>for the message has been invoked by title.  This works well if one is
>reading this mail with a copy of the draft document open for comparison,
>and less well otherwise.
>
>One technique that can help is to write a topic paragraph for your post
>after you have written the detailed version, and to write or re-write the
>subject header as a concise title after that.  The writing order should be
>the reverse of the reading order.
>
>In or adjacent to the topic paragraph is a good place to have something
>like the full text of the title for the corresponding section in the
>document being commented on.  This is the plain text version of a link.
>Come to think of it, it should be a fully qualified reference including
>both the URL for the document and the text string to find.
>
>On the W3C site, references to other documents or sections by number should
>be accompanies with references by hyperlink, so one can visit the cited
>discussion and return, if desired.
>
>Al

--
wendy a chisholm
world wide web consortium
web accessibility initiative
madison, wi usa
tel: +1 608 663 6346
/--

Received on Friday, 18 February 2000 16:18:19 UTC