[Techniques] Draft of general technique re acronyms and abbreviations

Guideline 3.1 L1 SC2 requires:

<current>

2. The meaning of abbreviations and acronyms can be

programmatically located.

</current>

 

I propose the following draft for the next internal working draft of the
General Techniques for WCAG 2.0. Guideline 3.1 L1 SC2 (quotd above) is
another criterion that may depend upon the feasibility of using
cascading dictionaries or lexicons, but this draft doesn't address that
issue.

 

<proposed>

Short-name for this technique:

Abbreviations and acronyms

 

Task:

Definitions of abbreviations and acronyms in the content are available
to user agents.

 

Description

Acronyms and abbreviations may be difficult for some users to
understand. Acronyms that sound like "real" words may be especially
difficult.  

 

Some markup languages have tags for identifying these semantic elements
and providing their meanings. These elements should be used when
possible.  

 

Other possibilities include:

*        Linking to a glossary of acronyms and abbreviations used in the
content

*        a form that searches an acronym server or dictionary like the
ones listed under "Other resources"

 

Resources

HTML Techniques

http://www.w3.org/TR/WCAG20-HTML-TECHS/#abbr
<http://www.w3.org/TR/WCAG20-HTML-TECHS/#abbr>  Abbreviations

http://www.w3.org/TR/WCAG20-HTML-TECHS/#acronym
<http://www.w3.org/TR/WCAG20-HTML-TECHS/#acronym>  Acronym

http://www.w3.org/TR/WCAG20-HTML-TECHS/#link_structure
<http://www.w3.org/TR/WCAG20-HTML-TECHS/#link_structure>  The [Note: it
would be useful to have an HTML technique specific about glossary links,
as these will be important for a number of techniques related to
3.1]link element and navigation tools

 

CSS Techniques

RDF Techniques

Other resources


http://www.ucc.ie/cgi-bin/acronym <http://www.ucc.ie/cgi-bin/acronym>
Acronym Server Simplified (University College, Cork; definition
submission form to be available "Real Soon Now")

http://www.acronymfinder.com/ <http://www.acronymfinder.com/>   Acronym
Finder
 (commercial service, with flashing Flash animation; claims 377,000
definitions, includes definition submission tool)

http://www.libraryspot.com/acronyms.htm
<http://www.libraryspot.com/acronyms.htm>  Acronyms: Library Spot
  (commercial, search form plus links to several acronym dictionaries)

http://www.lib.utexas.edu/refsites/dictionaries.html
<http://www.lib.utexas.edu/refsites/dictionaries.html>  UT Austin
Dictionaries and languages page (list of general and specialized
dictionaries, including English and other languages; some require UT id,
others available to the general public)

</proposed>

"Good design is accessible design." 
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/>