- From: Joe Clark <joeclark@joeclark.org>
- Date: Fri, 13 Jun 2003 13:23:53 -0400
- To: WAI-GL <w3c-wai-gl@w3.org>
I don't see a purpose to this guideline in 2003/2004. There just is no plausible scenario in which a disabled person would be using a browser that cannot render CSS and JavaScript *except* for Lynx or the even rarer competing text-only browsers. The guideline requires the page to be readable without stylesheets. The ramifications of ordering HTML elements so they can be read have not been fully understood, either. Maybe Eric Meyer could explain the difference between floated and positioned elements and the requirements for linear position in source code. Even if that were an issue, I contend that the document could still be *read* even if components were not in the same order as in CSS presentation. Remember, we're assuming valid HTML here. Nobody's expecting the same joy of use and ease of understanding with and without CSS. I don't see what problem this guideline could actually solve here in the 21st century. It appears to attempt to restrict authors from using CSS and JavaScript, both of which have no inevitable bearing on accessibility. It seems to attempt to punish authors for making sophisticated Web sites rather than plain-HTML sites. WCAG 2.0 needs to encourage the use of CSS, not force authors to use it in one guideline ("use CSS for layout") and penalize them in another ("make things work fine without CSS"). This guideline embodies one of the many contradictions in WCAG 1.0. I note that nobody can come up with real-world examples, save for one very unusual page. It's just not applicable. Hence, this guideline should not be included in WCAG 2.0. -- Joe Clark | joeclark@joeclark.org Accessibility <http://joeclark.org/access/> Weblogs and articles <http://joeclark.org/weblogs/> <http://joeclark.org/writing/> | <http://fawny.org/>
Received on Friday, 13 June 2003 13:37:24 UTC