math and science

Per the teleconference discussion on 28 January, the following four items
are being proposed to cover the "math and science" issue.  This does not
include proposals for how to handle math and science in the Techniques
document.  A similar proposal was sent to the list on 1/25, but was not the
exact wording to be used nor did it have the reworded checkpoint as
proposed in point 3 below. 

thoughts?  


1.  Sprinkle MathML in Intro to Transform Gracefully
"Since HTML, XML, and other W3C technologies (such as MathML and SMIL) are
designed with the flexibility to create documents that may be formatted in
various ways on a variety of platforms, by virtue they support
accessible design. Non-accessible pages are a result of giving up
this flexibility. Creating pages that transform gracefully is not
more costly, but requires a different design approach that also
makes pages compatible with emerging mobile technologies. The
following section A guidelines address the issue of creating pages
that transform gracefully."

2.  Mention math in discussion of alt-text for images (A.1.1):
Provide alternative text
for all images (e.g., in HTML, via the "alt" attribute of the
IMG and INPUT elements, or via "title" or within the content of
OBJECT). Note. This includes images used as image maps, spacers, bullets in
lists, graphical buttons, links, and to present mathematical equations.

3. In A.6 ("Indicate structure with structural elements, and control
presentation with presentation elements and style sheets.") rewrite A.6.4
to read:

Where possible, use a markup language to mark up content rather than using
images.  For example, use MathML to mark up mathematical equations, and
Cascading Style Sheets to create text formatting and control layout.
[Priority 2]

Note.  Since new markup languages are evolving it will take some time for
the browsers to be released as well as time for users to adopt the new
browsers.  Therefore, until a majority of browsers in use support new
languages, simple tables (to control layout) and bitmap text with alt-text
(for special text effects, including mathematical equations) may be used.
Where necessary, provide an alternative page to ensure that the information
is accessible.  (See also A.9 and A.14).

4.  List a sample of W3C technologies in A.14.1 so that it reads:
If W3C technologies are used (e.g., MathML, SMIL, HTML, XML, CSS), use the
latest W3C specification whenever possible. [Priority 2]

Received on Monday, 8 February 1999 16:57:24 UTC