- From: john_slatin <john_slatin@forum.utexas.edu>
- Date: Thu, 22 Aug 2002 09:25:40 -0500
- To: "'Charles McCathieNevile'" <charles@w3.org>, WAI GL <w3c-wai-gl@w3.org>
Charles makes an excellent point. Perhaps the advice section for 4.1 could include something to the effect that authors should follow the conventions appropriate to the natural language of the content. A further point: even in English, it's not always appropriate to avoid the passive. There are times when it isn't possible to assign grammatical agency-- especially in bureaucratic writing. The Section 508 standards would fail this criterion if we were to insist on it, for example. There are implicit cultural assumptions here, too. In the United States, for example, many people place high value on coming directly to "the point," both in writing and in oral communication. But in many countries such directness is considered rude, and in some cases it may be politically dangerous (which is why satire flourishes under repressive regimes). John John Slatin, Ph.D. Director, Institute for Technology & Learning University of Texas at Austin FAC 248C, Mail code G9600 Austin, TX 78712 ph 512-495-4288, f 512-495-4524 email jslatin@mail.utexas.edu web http://www.ital.utexas.edu -----Original Message----- From: Charles McCathieNevile [mailto:charles@w3.org] Sent: Thursday, August 22, 2002 9:05 am To: WAI GL Subject: 4.1 success criteria - proposal for division Hi, I think it is important that any success criteria for language use includes a list of applicable languages. For example, there is a proposal not to use noun sequences. In french, one can reasonably say la version du loi de droits de general de gaulle (either: General de Gaulle's version of the law of rights, or the version of the law of General de Gaulle's rights). Similarly, it is proposed that verbs in the passive mood be avoided. (I.e. the last sentence would fail, twice). I don't know if this applies in all languages. If we do not think that a criterion works for a particular language, we should not say anything. If we think that a criterion does not work for a particular language, we should say so. I realise that this will leave us with a weaker list than we might have, but hopefully it will encourage people with relevant expertise to help fill the list. It will also hopefully mean we avoid saying things that are wrong and would cause problems. cheers chaals -- Charles McCathieNevile http://www.w3.org/People/Charles tel: +61 409 134 136 SWAD-E http://www.w3.org/2001/sw/Europe ------------ WAI http://www.w3.org/WAI 21 Mitchell street, FOOTSCRAY Vic 3011, Australia fax(fr): +33 4 92 38 78 22 W3C, 2004 Route des Lucioles, 06902 Sophia Antipolis Cedex, France
Received on Thursday, 22 August 2002 10:25:43 UTC