Re: Validating for Accessibility: Prototype

Nick and I chatted about this on IRC earlier today. Here are some of my comments:

 i like that the messages are short and sweet and point directly to the checkpoint text in the guidelines. very clear.
i also like that the validation errors/warnings are distinct from the accesibility errors.
i wish there was a better way to test for "Table cells should be associated with headers"
how hard would it be to do the following test for tables: (looking at the cnn page)
if a cell only has a few words or an image, it's likely a layout table and thus headers are not needed.

also for scripts. not all scripts need an alternative.  that's a problem w/WCAG, it needs to be clearer there.

I also like that you can select which level you want to check for: A, AA, or AAA

<nick_kew> Note the style is different for the three levels (the red border)
<wendy> hmmm, that should work for people with color deficits really well, but what about someone using a screen reader?
<wendy> perhaps put a p1, p2, p3 at the end of each one?
<nick_kew> Indeed, I should add something in text.

cool - a spacer image gets the warning, "Use CSS to control layout and presentation."

<wendy> wonder why this table gets the following message 3 times:
<wendy> <table width="770" border="0" cellspacing="0" cellpadding="0"> 
<wendy> Use CSS to control layout and presentation. 
<wendy> Use CSS to control layout and presentation. 
<wendy> Use CSS to control layout and presentation. 
<wendy> Table cells should be associated with headers 
<wendy> Provide summaries for tables 
<wendy> b/c it's nested?
[14:35] <nick_kew> Probably attributes like "align"?
[14:35] <nick_kew> or "border"
[14:36] <nick_kew> cellspacing/padding/...

Overall, I think this will be very useful.

--wendy

At 10:58 PM 1/16/02, Nick Kew wrote:
>As hinted at in the past, I've been developing a capability within
>visval to run additional tests on document elements and attributes.
>This is aimed at integrating WCAG-based accessibility testing within
>the validator.
>
>I have today installed a working prototype at
><URL:http://valet.webthing.com/page/wcag.html>
>It remains work-in-progress, but should at least offer a proof-of-concept.
>
>I'll be very interested in feedback on this one, particularly with
>regard to whether it should be more or less fussy, what other tests it
>should or shouldn't run, whether the presentation and the brevity
>of the messages is OK.
>
>
>-- 
>Nick Kew
>
>Site Valet - the mark of Quality on the Web.
><URL:http://valet.webthing.com/> 

-- 
wendy a chisholm
world wide web consortium 
web accessibility initiative
seattle, wa usa
/--

Received on Thursday, 17 January 2002 14:44:00 UTC