Re: Proposal for 4.2, Ensure that user interfaces are accessible

Loretta Guarino Reid writes:
 > 
 > [6] New GL 1.3 Level 1 SC
 > <proposal>
 > The role, state and value of every element of the web content can be
 > programmatically determined.

Proposal 1: Amend the above to "label, role state and value".

Proposal 2: Replace "every element of the Web content" with "every
user interface component of the Web content", then define "user
interface component" as any part of the Web content that can receive
focus and accept input from the user.

Alternatives terms to "component" are "control" or "interactor".

Rationale

1. If we remove interaction from non-text content under guideline 1.1,
   then we need to require that labels can be programmatically
   determined with respect to user interface controls (or "components"
   or "interactors" or whatever you wish to call them).

If the user interface component is associated with a graphical or
auditory icon, then it must have a text alternative under guideline
1.1, hence a label in textual form; but this does not in itself
mandate that the association between the label and the control can be
determined programmatically. The suggested amendment to the 1.3
proposal introduces this requirement.

If the u i component has a text label, then it still needs to be
"programmatically determined", i.e., its being the label for this
specific u i component must be ascertainable by the user agent. Hence
we need the additional 1.3 requirement.

2. Not every element of Web content has, or need have, role/state
   information. Thus I think we need to restrict the success criterion
   to apply only to elements (portions of the Web content, not
   necessarily elements in the XML sense) for which this makes good
   sense. Otherwise, someone could rightfully ask what is the
   state/role information for a paragraph, a heading, a table cell,
   part of an SVG image... which isn't meaningful, unless I'm
   seriously mistaken.

Alternative to proposal 1: add a success criterion stating that the
albel of each user interface control is explicitly associated with the
control.

This might, or might not, be clearer than the above proposal.

Received on Friday, 29 April 2005 02:05:27 UTC