Re: WCAG 1.0 CP 6.1 Considered Harmful [was: Re: who does what]

At 06:03 PM 9/25/01 +0100, Sean B. Palmer wrote:
>Classes are (whether a good mechanism or not) a method of attaching 
>additional semantics to elements in XHTML, and as such, the author MUST 
>have a way to make those additional semantics known.

Let's say for the sake of argument that I am persuaded that this is so. 
Where will that "way" be provided? Is there some magic bullet or poison 
pill that we can put into words that will effect this? Would a checkpoint 
make it happen? Could UA do this? Does this require action by some HTML WG? 
Does it then take compliance by the browser makers?

How can we get the use of anything (not just "class") to have the therewith 
associated semantics revealed by the now-endlessly-beleaguered authors? 
Must they include something in the content saying "I have used these little 
red tracks to show that this train is an express and doesn't stop at 
Chatwick-on-Don"? I've been standing on the Chatwick platform for four ages 
as trains flash by heedless of the author's oversight!

Let's just scrap all this "normative" delusional and start publishing 
tips/techniques/tricks for providing accessibility and update it every few 
hours as new technology comes on line. With sufficient EARL we can provide 
useful pointers so Jonathan's students can get there from here if/when 
possible and we can make changes sooner than six months from whenever. The 
Eleventh Commandment has been in effect for aeons ("Thou shalt not publish 
inaccessible Web pages"), but finding how to avoid its violation is too 
deeply buried in Arcanaville. If we had a bunch of pointers available for 
EO to use in their publication
http://www.w3.org/WAI/gettingstarted
perhaps we could educate the next generation of authors to take some heed.

There is no tradition/prospect of providing semantics. As a species we have 
in the past, continue in the present, and can be expected in the future to 
endlessly confuse map with territory and failing to notice Empirical Nudity.

We've sort of isolated aspects of the problem: "no, not *there*, click 
*here*" but solutions via pronouncement rather than myriad exemplification 
are exercises in Pedantics rather than assistances with Semantics. Show and 
Tell. Over and over. [Over and out]
--
Love.
EACH UN-INDEXED/ANNOTATED WEB POSTING WE MAKE IS TESTAMENT TO OUR HYPOCRISY

Received on Tuesday, 25 September 2001 13:43:38 UTC