Conformance Requirements proposal

This proposal is a followup to Loretta's post on our impact analysis of GL
4.2, where we promised that we would propose some modifications to the
conformance section based on our proposed definition of baseline.  [1]

Also, see my latest modification to the baseline definition incorporating
Jason's comments [2].

<proposal>
Conformance Requirements

WCAG 2.0 defines accessibility guidelines and success criteria as
functional outcomes that are technology independent to allow conformance
using any Web technology that supports accessibility. WCAG 2.0 therefore
does not require or prohibit the use of any specific technology. It is
possible to conform to WCAG 2.0 using W3C and non-W3C technologies,
provided they are supported by accessible user agents. In choosing
technologies to rely upon, developers need to know what technologies they
can assume are supported by user agents. This is called the baseline.

Baselines may be defined outside the WCAG 2.0 guidelines as part of a more
comprehensive accessibility policy. Baseline considerations will be
significantly different if the organization defining the baseline can
guarantee the user agents used by the users. For example, a company or
government agency provides its employees with the information technology
tools they need to do their jobs. So for intranet sites used only by
employees, it is reasonable for the baseline to include newer technologies
that might only be supported in one user agent. For guidance, see "WCAG 2.0
Guide to Choosing Baselines".

Technologies that are NOT in the baseline may still be used as long as all
Web content and functionality is available, in a conforming way, to users
whose user agents do not support the additional technologies.

1. Any conformance with WCAG 2.0 requires that all level 1 success criteria
for all guidelines be met assuming user agent support for only the set of
baseline technologies.

2. WCAG 2.0 conformance at level A means that all level 1 success criteria
for all guidelines are met assuming user agent support for only the set of
baseline technologies.

3. WCAG 2.0 conformance at level Double-A means that all level 1 and all
level 2 success criteria for all guidelines are met assuming user agent
support for only the baseline technologies.

4. WCAG 2.0 conformance at level Triple-A means that all level 1, level 2
and level 3 success criteria for all guidelines are met assuming user agent
support for only the baseline technologies.
</proposal>

<current wording>
Conformance Requirements
   1. Any conformance with WCAG 2.0 requires that all level 1 success
      criteria for all guidelines be met.
   2. WCAG 2.0 conformance at level A means that all level 1 success
      criteria for all guidelines are met.
   3. WCAG 2.0 conformance at level Double-A means that all level 1 and all
      level 2 success criteria for all guidelines are met.
   4. WCAG 2.0 conformance at level Triple-A means that all level 1, level
      2 and level 3 success criteria for all guidelines are met.
</current wording>

[1] http://lists.w3.org/Archives/Public/w3c-wai-gl/2005AprJun/0015.html
[2] http://lists.w3.org/Archives/Public/w3c-wai-gl/2005AprJun/0095.html

Andi

Received on Friday, 8 April 2005 19:47:27 UTC