- From: Jason White <jasonw@ariel.ucs.unimelb.EDU.AU>
- Date: Sat, 16 Jan 1999 11:25:30 +1100 (AEDT)
- To: WAI Markup Guidelines <w3c-wai-gl@w3.org>
Such expressions as "element", "table", etc., are generic terms and are not specific to HTML. The term "element" for example connotes an SGML concept. Likewise, a table or a link can be constructed in XML or SGML, as can any other document component mentioned in the guidelines. XSL can be used in place of CSS in relation to any guideline or checkpoint that mentions style sheets. I would also dispute the proposition that the guidelines assume that the web consists of static documents. Rather, what they assert is that until the technology evolves further, scripts executed by client software are and will remain inaccessible. Accessible scripting at the client level requires three components: (1) a scripting language which the user agent can interpret; (2) a mechanism by which changes caused by the script are reflected in the user interface, including effective communication with any non-visual interfaces that are being used; (3) appropriate handling of such changes by non-visual interfaces so that the user can understand and work with the dynamic content. On the other hand, scripts executed by the server and which provide appropriate HTML to the client are appropriate and accessible using today's user agents and adaptive technologies. Thus it is necessary to recognise that, in order to make web content accessible, there must be a static version of it made available in addition to, or in place of, any version that relies on user agents to execute scripts.
Received on Friday, 15 January 1999 19:25:36 UTC