Updates
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Guideline |
Gateway |
HTML
Techniques |
CSS |
HTML
Test Cases (from Open
Accessibility Checks
unless otherwise noted. ) |
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Guideline 3.1 |
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3.1.2 Unambiguous
decoding:
Ensure that all characters and words
in the content can be unambiguously decoded. Editorial Note: This has been carried over from
WCAG 1.0. I (Tom) am slightly unsure as to the meaning or need implied
by this technique. |
10.10
Emoticons
Task:
Use emoticons and other ASCII symbols
judiciously. |
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3.1.3 Spell
and grammar checks Task:
Use spelling and grammar checkers. A person reading a page
with a speech synthesizer may not be able to decipher the synthesizer's
best guess for a word with a spelling error. Grammar checkers will help
to ensure that the textual content of your page is correct. This will
help readers for whom your document is not written in their native
tongue, or people who are just learning the language of the document.
Thus, you will help increase the comprehension of your page. |
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Level 1 Success
Criteria: |
The natural language of the document
as a whole can be identified by automated tools. [I] |
3.1.1 Language Task:
Ensure that the language of content
can be programmatically determined. Where the technology
support it ensure that all content is provided with a primary language,
specified with an international language code specified in the
document. When a change of language occurs make a note of the change of
language with a mechanism provided by the technology. Often in
languages include 'borrowed' words. For example English takes the
phrase 'laissez faire' from the French, however it has been almost
naturalized into the language. Many authors would choose not to mark
this as a change of language because it has been naturalized, however
screen readers and audio browsers are not capable of pronouncing this
correctly without the language change being noted. 'Laissez faire' is
pronounced "lay-sez fair" however a screen reader might pronounce it
"la-is-sez fair-ee" because it is trying to apply English grammar rules
to the word. This will not be true of all borrowed words but authors
should be aware of the issue and try to ensure that phrases which may
be mispronounced by assistive technology are marked up as a change in
language. Editorial Note: Add a reference to the language
codes. It is imperative however that any
significant changes in language of a document are marked up. If a
document contains several primary languages, it should be marked with
the primary language as that with the most content and the rest
declared individually in blocks. |
4.1
Identifying the primary language Task:
Use the |
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Level 1 Success
Criteria: |
The meaning of abbreviations and
acronyms can be programmatically located. [I] |
3.1.4 Abbreviations
and acronyms Task:
Ensure that the definition of
abbreviations and acronyms can be unambiguously determined. Editorial Note: References to dictionaries, and
site wide glossary definitions. Perhaps use the w3.org as an example. |
Task:
Use the Task:
Use the |
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From
Draft
UAAG test suite for HTML 4.01 : From OAC:
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Level
2 Success Criteria |
The meanings and pronunciations of all
words in the content can be programmatically located. [I] |
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5.10
Supplemental meaning cues Task:
Use the 1.4
Glossary
Task:
Provide a reference to a glossary |
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Level
2 Success Criteria |
The meaning of all idioms in the
content can be programmatically determined. [I] |
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5.10
Supplemental meaning cues Task:
Use the |
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Level
2 Success Criteria |
For each foreign language passage or
phrase in the body of the content, the language is identified through
markup or other means. Foreign passages or phrases are passages or
phrases that are in a language other than the primary language of the
document. [I] |
3.1.1 Language Task:
Ensure that the language of content
can be programmatically determined. Where the technology
support it ensure that all content is provided with a primary language,
specified with an international language code specified in the
document. When a change of language occurs make a note of the change of
language with a mechanism provided by the technology. Often in
languages include 'borrowed' words. For example English takes the
phrase 'laissez faire' from the French, however it has been almost
naturalized into the language. Many authors would choose not to mark
this as a change of language because it has been naturalized, however
screen readers and audio browsers are not capable of pronouncing this
correctly without the language change being noted. 'Laissez faire' is
pronounced "lay-sez fair" however a screen reader might pronounce it
"la-is-sez fair-ee" because it is trying to apply English grammar rules
to the word. This will not be true of all borrowed words but authors
should be aware of the issue and try to ensure that phrases which may
be mispronounced by assistive technology are marked up as a change in
language. Editorial Note: Add a reference to the language
codes. It is imperative however
that any significant changes in language of a document are marked up.
If a document contains several primary languages, it should be marked
with the primary language as that with the most content and the rest
declared individually in blocks. |
4.2
Identifying changes in language Task:
Use the |
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Level
3 Success Criteria |
Where a word has multiple meanings and
the intended meaning is not the first in the associated dictionary(s),
then additional markup or another mechanism is provided for determining
the correct meaning. [I] |
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5.10
Supplemental meaning cues
Task:
Use the |
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Section headings and link text are
understandable when read by themselves as a group (for example, in a
screen reader's list of links or a table of contents). [V] |
3.1.6 Link
text Task:
Use link text to describe your target
page as clearly as possible. Good link text should not be overly
general; don't use "click here." Not only is this phrase
device-dependent (it implies a pointing device) it says nothing about
what is to be found if the link if followed. Instead of "click here",
link text should indicate the nature of the link target, as in "more
information about sea lions" or "text-only version of this page". Note
that for the latter case (and other format- or language-specific
documents), content developers are encouraged to use content
negotiation instead, so that users who prefer text versions will
have them served automatically. 3.1.7 Duplicate
link text Task:
Do not use the same link phrase more
than once when the links point to different URLs. If more than one link on
a page shares the same link text, all those links should point to the
same resource. Such consistency will help page design as well as
accessibility. If two or more links
refer to different targets but share the same link text, distinguish
the links by specifying a different value for the "title"
attribute of each A
element. |
9.1
Supplement link text with the title attribute.
Task:
Where appropriate, use the 9.4
Link Groups
Task:
Group links structurally and identify
the group with the |
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There is a statement associated with
the content asserting that the Strategies for Reducing the Complexity
of Content (the following list) were considered. [V] |
3.1.5 Writing
style Task: Ensure that the content writing is
simple and well organized. Editorial Note: This is covered much more
in-depth by the guidelines. It is unsure where this content should be.
It is also very English centric. It should be discussed with the main
group where this is to go and if it is merely going to refer to a
techniques document for each language or whether it will be adapted
during translation. The following writing
style suggestions should help make the content of your site easier to
read for everyone, especially people with reading and/or cognitive
disabilities. Several guides (including [HACKER])
discuss these and other writing style issues in more detail. Strive for clear and accurate headings and link
descriptions. This includes using link phrases that are terse and that
make sense when read out of context or as part of a series of links
(Some users browse by jumping from link to link and listening only to
link text.) Use informative headings so that users can scan a page
quickly for information rather than reading it in detail. State the topic of the sentence or paragraph at the
beginning of the sentence or paragraph (this is called
"front-loading"). This will help both people who are skimming visually,
but also people who use speech synthesizers. "Skimming" with speech
currently means that the user jumps from heading to heading, or
paragraph to paragraph and listens to just enough words to determine
whether the current chunk of information (heading, paragraph, link,
etc.) interests them. If the main idea of the paragraph is in the
middle or at the end, speech users may have to listen to most of the
document before finding what they want. Depending on what the user is
looking for and how much they know about the topic, search features may
also help users locate content more quickly. Limit each paragraph to one main idea. Avoid slang, jargon, and specialized meanings of
familiar words, unless defined within your document. Favor words that are commonly used. For example,
use "begin" rather than "commence" or use "try" rather than "endeavor."
Use active rather than passive verbs. Avoid complex sentence structures. To help determine
whether your document is easy to read, consider using the Gunning-Fog
reading measure (described in[SPOOL]
with examples and the algorithm online at [TECHHEAD]).
This algorithm generally produces a lower score when content is easier
to read. As example results, the Bible, Shakespeare, Mark Twain, and TV
Guide all have Fog indexes of about 6. Time, Newsweek, and the Wall St.
Journal an average Fog index of about 11. |
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Guideline
3.1 (meaning) Issues
Phrases
from various languages are often interspersed in writing. When these
phrases
are identified, a speech synthesizer can voice text with the
appropriate accent
and pronunciation. When they are not identified, the speech synthesizer
will
use the default accent and pronunciation of the language on the rest of
the
content, which can make the phrase unintelligible. Identifying changes
in
language will also allow a tool to ask for automatic translations of
that
content. When editing content, authoring tools can switch between
appropriate
spelling dictionaries.
Providing
the expansion of abbreviations and acronyms not only helps people who
are not
familiar with the abbreviation or acronym but can clarify which meaning
of an
abbreviation or acronym is appropriate to use. For example, the acronym
"ADA" stands for both the American with Disabilities Act as well as
the American Dental Association.
Defining
key terms and specialized language will help people who are not
familiar with
the topic.
Facilitating
unambiguous decoding of characters and words in content is also helpful
for
individuals who are learning to read or learning a second language.
All
users, especially those with cognitive,
learning,
and/or reading disabilities
benefit from the
use of clear and simple writing. This should not discourage you from
expressing
complex or technical ideas.
Using
clear and simple language also benefits people whose first language
differs
from your own, including those people who communicate primarily in sign
language.
Sounds,
graphics, videos and animations can help make concepts presented in a
Web site
easier to understand, especially for people with cognitive, reading, or learning disabilities or
those who
are unfamiliar with the language of the text of the
site.
Summarizing
information that is difficult to understand helps people who do not
read well.
Providing
a summary of the visual cues that show relationships between complex
information helps people who do not use visual cues or who have
difficulty
using visual cues. For example, people who are completely blind do not use any
visual cues,
while people with dyslexia
or with low vision
might have difficulty interpreting visual cues.
Note:
Designers need to be cautious in
deciding when to use illustrations.
Reading a picture is probably a learned activity that is easier for
some than
others. Some users skip the pictures; others read only the pictures.
Designers must
also recognize that visual conventions are not universal and that
individuals
develop their own mental schema and expectations in interpreting visual
information