Draft 2005-05-31
Submitted by John Slatin
The following are modified versions of SC in my original proposal.
L2 SC3
[Updated 31 May] One or more of the following are available as supplements when text requires the reading ability expected of native speakers who have completed at least nine years of school:
A text summary that can be read by adults with the reading ability expected of native speakers who have completed fewer than seven years of school.
Graphical illustrations of concepts or processes that must be understood in order to use the content.
A spoken version of the text content.
Rationale: Discussion on the list suggested that the use of the term "alternative versions" in the original proposal might have caused confusion. Some people appeared to be concerned that graphical illustrations, etc., would be required to be presented instead of the text. I hope the new wording makes it clear that summaries, graphical illustrations, and spoken versions are meant to appear in addition to the text.
L3 SC2
[Updated 25 May] A mechanism is available for finding the correct pronunciation of any word whose pronunciation cannot be determined from context.
Rationale: Relieves the burden of requiring pronunciation support for all words in content. Raises new question of how to test whether pronunciation can be determined from context.
L1 SC1: [Adopted] The primary natural language or languages of the content can be programmatically determined.
Anything in the full proposal below that is not marked as having been adopted or rejected remains to be discussed. The updated items listed above appear below as well, so that they can be read in context.
<proposed>Guideline 3.1 . Make text content readable and understandable.
[Adopted 26 May] The primary natural language or languages of the delivery unit can be programmatically determined.
A mechanism for finding the expanded form of acronyms and abbreviations is available.
[Rejected 26 May]A measure of the education level required to read
the content is available.
A mechanism is available for finding definitions for all words in text content.
A mechanism is available for identifying the natural language of each foreign passage or phrase in the content. Foreign passages or phrases are written in a language that is different from the language of the delivery unit as a whole.
Note: This requirement does not apply to individual words or phrases that have become part of the primary language of the content. This is because "correct" pronunciation of such words and phrases might confuse or distract native speakers of the content’s primary language.
[Updated 31 May] One or more of the following is available as a supplment to text content that requires the reading ability expected of native speakers who have completed at least nine years of school:
A text summary that can be read by adults with the reading ability expected of native speakers who have completed fewer than seven years of school.
Graphical illustrations of concepts or processes that must be understood in order to use the content.
A spoken version of the text content.
[Adopted 26 May] A mechanism is available for identifying specific definitions of words used in an unusual or restricted way, including idioms and jargon.
[Updated 25 May] A mechanism is available for finding the correct pronunciation of any word whose pronunciation cannot be determined from context.
Section headings and link text are understandable when read by themselves or as a group (for example in a list of links or a table of contents).
A mechanism is available to identify text that states important ideas or provides important information.
For delivery units at the first or second level in a set of delivery units, text content can be read by adults with the reading ability expected for native speakers who have completed fewer than seven years of school.
For delivery units below the second level in a set of delivery units, text content can be read by adults with the reading ability expected for native speakers who have completed fewer than nine years of school.
Simplified graphical illustrations are available when text presents ideas or describes processes that users must understand in order to use the content.
A spoken version of text content is available.
Signed video is available for key pages or sections of pages.
Guide to GL 3.1 L3 SC9 (in progress)
L1 SC 1: Adopted; "programmatically determined" replaces "A mechanism is available"
L1 SC3: Rejected
L3 SC1: adopted, with proviso to work on processes for testing "unusual" and "restricted"
Not yet discussed by WG: L3 SC2 (pronunciation( has been changed so that it now requires a mechanism for finding the "correct pronunciation" of "any word whose pronunciation cannot be determined from context" instead of requiring pronunciation support for "all" words in text content. This still isn't quite right: it introduces a new problem of testing whether pronunciation can be determined from context. But pronunciation support is important and I think this is better than my original proposal requiring support for all words in the content.
Several SC were rewritten to describe functional outcomes, as per LA decision and baseline analysis: L1 SC1, SC2; L2 SC1, SC2; L3 SC 1, SC2
L2 SC1 (meaning and pronunciations) is broken into two SC and the SC about pronunciation information has been moved to L3
L2 SC2 (idioms) has been moved to L3 and merged into L3 SC1. Rationale: L3 SC1 deals with words used in highly specific ways. An idiom is a word used by native speakers in a way that breaks the bounds of the dictionary definition, so I think that idioms and jargon both qualify as instances of the more general category.
L3 SC3 (statement asserting that the following list of strategies for reducing complexity has been considered) is deleted.
A number of new SC have been introduced. The primary goal was to replace L3 SC3 with meaningful and testable success criteria that would promote readability and make understanding easier for people with a range of disabilities, including reading disabilities.The new SC are:
L1 SC3: requires a description of the education level of the intended audience for the content.
L2 SC3: requires one or more alternative versions (including optional non-text alternatives) for text content that requires education level at or above 10th grade (US), 10 years in school/upper secondary level international classification.
L3 SC2: requires pronunciation information. This one was originally included in L2 SC1; has been separated from the issue of definitions and moved to L3 because it seems significantly more difficult to provide.
L3 SC4: requires a mechanism for identifying most important points in text content.
L3 SC5: requires that text on first- and second-level pages is readable at 6th grade level (US)/end of primary education international classification L3 SC6: requires that text below second-level is readable at 8th grade level (US)/late lower secondary international classification
L3 SC7: requires simplified graphical illustrations of important ideas/descritions of processes (this is an option at L2, required at L3
L3 SC8: requires spoken-word version of text content (also an option at L2 that becomes a requirement at L3
L3 SC9: requires signed video for key pages or passages