RE: renaming the guidelines (issue #3 from yesterday's telecon)

<<
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.
>>

Let me see if I get this right - any page which employs scripting, or does
dynamic effects, with or without scripting, is considered inaccessible
unless a static version is also available?

My goal in making comments to this list is to try to improve the relevance
the guidelines have to the type of HTML design I'm working with.

I look at http://www.investor.msn.com and http://www.msnbc.com and ask "How
can the guidelines help here?"  and am at a loss - scripting isn't covered
(provide static versions), dynamic HTML (not W3C) isn't covered, ActiveX
objects (not W3C) aren't covered.

Yet - the guidelines are supposed to be for all "web content" and not
specific to HTML.  Does that mean that HTML contained in product
documentation and user interfaces (such as many Microsoft products) are not
covered?

-----Original Message-----
From: Jason White [mailto:jasonw@ariel.ucs.unimelb.EDU.AU]
Sent: Friday, January 15, 1999 4:26 PM
To: WAI Markup Guidelines
Subject: RE: renaming the guidelines (issue #3 from yesterday's telecon)


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 21:38:09 UTC