Re: Questions from Face to Face

Most of Joe's stuff I agree with as is and so have removed. On a few poiints
I have made some further comments, interspersed

chaals

On Tue, 26 Mar 2002, Joe Clark wrote:

  >>* Guideline 1 - Perceivable
  >>o Checkpoint 1.1 Provide a text equivalent for all non-text content.
[snip]
  >  * Does this require a text equivalent for every QT movie, Flash
  >element or PDF it they meet Guideline 5?

  Inside <object>, probably. (Just a functional equivalent will do
  there: "Star Wars trailer.") Inside <embed>, probably not, though I
  suppose you could use title="".

Presumably similar kinds of content are added to a page using object and
embed elements - it is more a case of where you rate standardisation in
importance than a difference in what kind of content is being provided.

(the technical details for embed are that a noembed element can be included,
allowing the same kind of content that would be provided inside an object
element, but it works more like a noscript element - i.e. there isn't the
ability to have a cascade of content, as I understand the element. I note
that I have not been able to find any specification of it for about 3 years,
so my memory mey be faulty).

  >>  o Checkpoint 1.3 Make all content and structure available
  >>independently o f presentation.
  >

  >* Can I use the <font> tag?

  In HTML variants where it is not deprecated, yes, and even when it
  is, it's not so bad:

  	<font class="v" face="Verdana" size="+1">
  and
  	.v { font-family: Verdana, Trebuchet, Georgia, Geneva,
  Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 14px }

  works in pretty much every browser since 1996.
(and earlier, although those browsers don't necessarily provide font control)

  >>* Guideline 2 Operable
  >>o Checkpoint 2.1 Provide keyboard access to all functionality of
  >>the cont ent. *
  >
  >Do all forms require the use of accesskey?

  Unfortunately, that does seem to be the requirement as written. I
  think it's too strong.

I agree that such a requirement is too strong, and not necessarily helpful.

  >  * Do all controls of technologies other than XML applications
  >require s hortcut keys? i.e. does the play button of a video player
  >require a shortcut ke y?

  Yes, definitely.

well, a keyboard acticvation method, which might be something slightly
different, but I agree. Also for things that are XML applications.

  >>* Guideline 3 - Orientation/Navigation
  >>o Checkpoint 3.1 Provide structure within content.
  >
  >* Do all HTML pages require use of <h1> through <h6> elements?

  No, just valid markup. <p></p> is structural. So is <input> or
  <samp>. It all depends.

In general, one or more heading elements are useful in an HTML page. Although
p elements are structural elements, using differently formatted p elements to
identify titles or subheadings, items in a list, and so on, (as unfortunately
done by many current and most obsolete authoring tools) would be breaking
this checkpint. But as Joe says, It depends.

  >>  o Checkpoint 3.2 Emphasize structure through presentation(s),
  >>positioning , and labels.
  >
  >* Do all heading elements have to be formatting differently? i.e
  >does < h3> have to be different <h4> in HTML?

  A CSS question. No, they don't. I cover this in my forthcoming book.

In terms of distinguishing the levels, it is helpful if they are.

  >>o Checkpoint 4.4 Identify the primary natural language of text and
  >>text e quivalents and all changes in natural language.
  >
  >* What about phrases that have coopted by the primary language? For
  >exa mple the City of Prarie du Chien in Wisconsin, U.S. is not
  >pronounced in French .

  But it isn't a French word anymore (tennis and rendezvous aren't,
  either). Sushi isn't a Japanese word anymore. Loanwords are clearly
  exempt, and arguably proper names should always be exempt.

I agree with what Joe says. Maybe we should clarify further the point - that
this is for pronunciation, translation (including simplification by
auto-translation), and braille contraction to be done correctly.

An intersting issue arises in connection with teh discussion of how to do
quotes in other languages. In an english text, where there is a passage of
dialogue in french, the normal thing to do would be to use english dialogue
presentation style, but if the dialogue is marked as french then a browser
would normally apply french style for that section (I think, depending on how
the markup is done). I will follow this up further. But it is an edge case
for most users in monolingual countries.

  >>* Guideline 5 - Pot Luck

  >>  o Checkpoint 5.2 Ensure that content remains usable when
  >>technologies tha t modify default user agent processing or behavior
  >>are turned off or not suppor ted.
  >
  >* Does that mean every element that is not written as an XML
  >applicatio n must have a text equivalent?

No, it means that any kind of technology beyond the (still undetermined)
baseline must not be relied on for use of a page or site. (which is also
relevant for the question of "what technologies are accessible?")

chaals

Received on Wednesday, 27 March 2002 01:58:59 UTC