Subsumation

When Anne and Jonathan first raised the notion of "alt images for text" I 
had, shall we say, strong reservations. Now as I look rather 
dispassionately at the items in the "Device Independent" box of 
http://rdf.pair.com/xguide.htm and attend to the third: "Illustrate 
appropriately" I am persuaded that although what this conjures up is a 
graphic associated with a blob of text, which isn't currently contained in 
GL 1, it is an even more general statement of the first bullet: "Provide 
content equivalents" (which covers the first three GL 1 checkpoints).

Illustrating appropriately is easily thought of as including alt text for 
images and all the caption/summary/description/+ activities that are so 
laboriously delineated in connection with multimedia via SMIL, etc. It also 
includes what is now the second bullet "Emphasize
content/structure with presentation" since such action is importantly 
illustrative.

And of course the roots of "depiction" infer evoking a "mental image" of 
something. That mental image is actually a lower level of abstraction from 
the sub-verbal level of semantics and is what communicating is about. The 
details of its evocation are enumerated at differing levels by the 
checkpoints/techniques/examples.

Basically I'm arguing to include what is now (obliquely?) called for in 3.4 
"Use multimedia to illustrate concepts" - although that doesn't specify 
illustrating text - under GL 1.

Any takers?

--
Love.
                 ACCESSIBILITY IS RIGHT - NOT PRIVILEGE

Received on Saturday, 13 January 2001 09:32:00 UTC