Comments on technical errors/corrections to guidelines

The following Technical errors or omissions have been brought to our
attention this week.  

Issue 1
Discussion: The guidelines provide an example of an image map in which the
coordinates of the active regions are given in anchor elements, as
permitted by HTML 4.0. This version of HTML also allows block-level content
to be included in MAP. The example could be enriched by providing a more
detailed description of the library within the MAP element, such as would
appear from the image map (for example, a brief synopsis of the layout of
certain facilities).

Action: No action taken at this time.  This is an excellant suggestion for
the next version.

References:
http://lists.w3.org/Archives/Public/w3c-wai-gl/1998JanMar/0030.html 



Issue 2
Discussion: The guidelines suggest taking advantage of the media attribute
of the LINK element to facilitate automatic retrieval of "text only"
alternative documents, where these are deemed necessary. While I would not
disapprove of this approach, I would emphasise that alternative pages
should be avoided wherever possible. As Daniel has correctly stated on more
than one occasion, the goal of the WAI is for there to be a single document
which can be rendered in different media with equal success. In relation to
the technical side of this proposal, the HTML 4.0 specification (at 6.13)
defines a media type of "aural" for speech synthesizers, rather than
"speech" as is incorrectly claimed in the guidelines. Also, to encompass
all types of non-graphical devices, the MEDIA value should read:
media="aural, braille, tty".

Action: All references to "speech" were replaced with "aural."  The cited
example was changed to include braille and tty.  The reference to the full
list of media types was updated to include tv and handheld.

References:
http://lists.w3.org/Archives/Public/w3c-wai-gl/1998JanMar/0030.html 








-- ------------------------------
Gregg C Vanderheiden Ph.D.
Professor - Human Factors
Dept of Ind. Engr. - U of Wis.
Director - Trace R & D Center
gv@trace.wisc.edu    http://trace.wisc.edu
FAX 608/262-8848  
For a list of our listserves send "lists" to listproc@trace.wisc.edu

Received on Wednesday, 28 January 1998 17:29:44 UTC