Re: 9 August 2001 WCAG WG telecon minutes

I don't think so. Appropriate is grouped with possible in describing the
clarity and simplicity of the writing.

In plain English I would say there are a number of steps implied here:

The writing must be as clear as possible. It must be as simple as possible.
It must be as simple as appropriate. It must be as clear as is appropriate.
Which brings up an intersting question. Is it appropriate to eschew
sesquipedalianism exclusively in popularisation of the more refined external
to the academe and other exceptionally accepting milieux, or does it make
sense to write clearly and simply even to explain complex ideas to people in
universities?

Actually i would argue that it is not any more appropriate to obfuscate
meaning through terminology when the audience is a Masters degree seminar in
philosophy than when the audience is a school class. Specifically, it will
make it difficult for people who have lingistic processing difficulties, but
who would otherwise be perfectly capable of understanding and processing the
concepts required.

There is a balance. Some terminology is used for being precise, instead of
using many more, but simpler terms, to convey a rough sense. In other words
some jargon is used to reduce the amount of language needed to express an
idea.

Assessment of this reqiuires some intelligent thinking to be done well. It
also requires some language skill. But it is important. The big question is
how much we can successfully codify the requirements beyond this initial
vague statement - either in terms of requirements or in terms of procedures.

chaals

On Fri, 10 Aug 2001, Anne Pemberton wrote:

  In the following, the word should be "appropriately" instead of
  appropriate. The verb is "write". Clearly, Simply and Appropriately are
  adverbs that describe the act of writing.

                                                           Anne

  >3.3
  >JM Checkpoint 3.3 Write as clearly and simply as is possible and
  >appropriate for the site's content.
  >Action WC: change 3.3 to read: Write as clearly and simply as is possible
  >and appropriate for the site's content.

  Anne Pemberton
  apembert@erols.com

  http://www.erols.com/stevepem
  http://www.geocities.com/apembert45


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Received on Friday, 10 August 2001 06:57:20 UTC