RE: Action item: Proposed wording for Guideline 3.4

Good points, Sailesh.  Your message prompts me to think that consistency
should occur at at least the following levels:
 
1. Across multiple pages within a single site or a single resource on
large sites that contain multiple resources.
2. Across multiple sections/resources on sites that contain multiple
sections or resources.
 
From the standpoint of our interests in both clarity and brevity, I
think it would probably be best to incorporate wording like my #1 and #2
above into the Success Criteria rather than the wording of the actual
guideline; I think this would also hold for scoping the consistency of
interface element behavior. But perhaps others will agree that we should
include these specifics in the guideline itself.
 
I would prefer not to use wording such as "Use a consistent layout for
organizing content..."  The word "layout" refers to a concept that's
primarily spatial and secondarily visual, and I wanted to get at
something that is more "sense-neutral" and capable of being specified
independently  of the mode of presentation.  If components are ordered
consistently in the source document, they will be consistent for any
user agent that relies on source-code order, while the display order may
be quite different with user agents that support CSS positioning, etc.
 
Thanks!
John
 
 
"Good design is accessible design." 
Please note our new name and URL!
John Slatin, Ph.D.
Director, Accessibility Institute
University of Texas at Austin
FAC 248C
1 University Station G9600
Austin, TX 78712
ph 512-495-4288, f 512-495-4524
email jslatin@mail.utexas.edu
web http://www.utexas.edu/research/accessibility/
<http://www.utexas.edu/research/accessibility/> 


 

-----Original Message-----
From: w3c-wai-gl-request@w3.org [mailto:w3c-wai-gl-request@w3.org] On
Behalf Of Sailesh Panchang
Sent: Thursday, February 19, 2004 9:22 am
To: w3c-wai-gl@w3.org
Subject: Re: Action item: Proposed wording for Guideline 3.4


Hello All,
From: John M Slatin <mailto:john_slatin@austin.utexas.edu>  

	Sent: Wednesday, February 18, 2004 9:18 AM
	>I'd like to propose a change to my proposed >wording for the
guideline itself.
	 
	>3.4 Organize page content in a consistent >manner and make
interactive components  > act in predictable ways.
	
	>[This replaces the wording proposed in
>http://lists.w3.org/Archives/Public/w3c-wai->gl/2004JanMar/0302.html
<http://lists.w3.org/Archives/Public/w3c-wai->gl/2004JanMar/0302.html> 
	>3.4 Use layouts that are consistent and >make interactive
components act
	>in predictable ways.]
	SP: - consistency is across pages and using  "Page content" may
be confusing. Also it may not be consistent throughout a site but across
specific sections  or applications.  This should be recognized.
	- "Predictable ways" too can be termed ambiguous. Predictable by
whom? 
	- "layout" is an important term  here and is necessary to be
mentioned in the context of organizing content.
	- consistency applies to use of interactive components also,
right?
	So here is a proposal:
	
	Rewording for the guideline 3.4:
	How about
	- Use a consistent layout for organizing content across the site
/ its specific sections

		- Ensure that interactive components behave consistently
and in a manner  defined for the component.

	 
	Thanks,
	Sailesh Panchang
	Senior Accessibility Engineer 
	Deque Systems,11180  Sunrise Valley Drive, 
	4th Floor, Reston VA 20191
	Tel: 703-225-0380 Extension 105 
	E-mail: sailesh.panchang@deque.com
	Fax: 703-225-0387
	* Look up <http://www.deque.com> *