- From: David MacDonald <befree@magma.ca>
- Date: Mon, 10 May 2004 10:31:39 -0400
- To: "'Wendy A Chisholm'" <wendy@w3.org>, <w3c-wai-gl@w3.org>
- Cc: <caldwell@trace.wisc.edu>
- Message-Id: <200405101431.i4AEVZTL021997@mail2.magma.ca>
Hi Team I was assigned Bug #506 in which Kansas Web Accessibility Subcommittee writes: "Checkpoint 1.3: Clarify the definition of "structure" more. There should be a clear understanding of the difference between structure of code and layout of information. Example: Developers use xml to semantically mark up content but the output uses html/css to render screen layout." I had a good conversation with Frances Grenier, Public Service Administrator for the Kansas Rehabilitation Services, SRS, who wrote this. I send a summary of our entire conversation soon. She feels that there will be confusion among web masters as to whether we are speaking about layout of information or whether we are talking about code such as server side stuff (i.e., PHP) The answer, as I understand it, is that we are referring to both the layout and the code **as it is perceived by the user agent**. In other words we are not referring to programming on the back end except to the degree to which it is being sent to the client. Frances suggested the following rewording: Current: Guideline 1.3 "Ensure that information, functionality, and structure are separable from presentation" Frances' recommendation: "Ensure that information, functionality, and structure of the code and layout are separable from presentation" My recommendation is that it would perhaps be better to fix this in the appendix under the definition of "structure". Also our technical documents would give specific coding examples that would help clarify the guideline. I've added a sentence to the definition of "Structure" in the appendix. (I also fixed a typo and a spelling error that were in this definition) structure Structure includes both hierarchical structure of the content and non-hierarchical relationships such as cross-references, or the correspondence between header and data cells in a table. The hierarchical structure of content represents changes in context. For example, 1. A book is divided into chapters, paragraphs, lists, etc. Chapter titles help the reader anticipate the meaning of the following paragraphs. Lists clearly indicate separate, yet related ideas. All of these divisions help the reader anticipate changes in context. 2. A bicycle is divided into wheels and a frame. Further, a wheel is divided into a tire and a rim. In an image of the bicycle, one group of circles and lines becomes "wheel" while another group becomes "frame." <new>We refer to structure as it is perceived by a User Agent such as a browser on the client side. </new>
Received on Monday, 10 May 2004 10:35:08 UTC