Re: General Exception for Essential Purpose

At 9:41 AM -0400 10/27/00, Leonard R. Kasday wrote:
>Also, please keep in mind that even when this "exception" applies, 
>the author still has to provide an alternative version of the page 
>that strictly follows the guideline, e.g. pure text in the icicle 
>example.  And if the exception doesn't apply, then even an 
>alternative version doesn't suffice.

What if you don't put the pure text version on a new page, but instead
put it on a different page?

(By the way, the whole concept of "a page" is technology specific;
we need to be careful with our assumptions.)

The trick here is to express the _need_ and urge that the _need_ be
met without dictating the _form of the solution_.  We need to define
what a valid solution looks like, but we don't need to list every
solution (except perhaps in techniques) in our guidelines.

So, the problem here is:

      "If you use anything which fixes the font size of text --
       be it CSS or images -- then someone who needs to enlarge
       that text may not be able to do so, and may be unable to
       understand what you're trying to say."

A guideline is:

      "Do not restrict the user's ability to increase their own
       access to your content by changing their font size."

A test for a solution is:

      "The user must have access to content where the size of text
       can be resized using the browser's font size controls."

One solution is:

      "Do not use images in text; use CSS instead, and use relative
       font sizes."

Another solution is:

      "Allow the user to specify whether or not she wants scalable
       fonts, or fixed graphics.  Fully explain this option and allow
       the user to switch at any time."

Another solution is:

      "If you use images in text, also provide that image somewhere
       on the page -- with the equivalency stated in markup or content
       -- in text.  For example, provide a text navigation bar at
       the bottom of the page which mirrors the graphical navigation
       bar at the top."

Another solution is:

      "Create an alternative page labeled 'text only' which contains
       the same content and is updated as frequently, but which does
       not use images as text.  Link this clearly from the graphical
       page."

etc.

Oh, if we're talking about technology-specific techniques, we will also
want to divide these up into "general" "css" "html" etc.  If someone is
_just_ using HTML and is _not_ using CSS, we need to explain what they
can do then.

In other words, it's not enough to simply say "well, if you are using
HTML + CSS, you can do it, but if you are using HTML alone, you had
better start using CSS."  Or is it?  Note that many web designers do
not wish to use CSS for a variety of legitimate reasons; are we here
to force them to use a specific technology or are we here to achieve
accessibility improvements?  (Note that the nature of the W3C itself
introduces a degree of conflict -- are we obligated to _promote_ W3C
technologies simply by virtue of them being W3C innovations?)

--Kynn
-- 
Kynn Bartlett <kynn@idyllmtn.com>
http://www.kynn.com/

Received on Friday, 27 October 2000 14:29:50 UTC