Re: [techs] Review of tests 97, 109

In his review of tests #97 an #109 Michael Cooper proposed:
>[ACCEPT] Test 97 [4] Document must be readable when stylesheets are not 
applied.
>[ACCEPT] Test 109 [5] Document must be readable when stylesheets are not 
applied.
>[NEW] test for STYLE element

First, I don't think it is practical to run test 109 manually.   It would 
be nearly impossible for a author to find every instance of a style 
attribute on the page and to remove it for testing.  Perhaps this is 
easier with automated testing tools.

Also, the HTML technique associated with these tests,  CSS Fallback [1], 
is associated with Guideline 2.4 Level 3 success criteria #1 while the 
tests are associated with Guideline 1.3 and no success criteria are 
identified.  While the Guideline 1.3 success criteria for color apply to 
these tests, I don't think that the tests belong under Guideline 1.3.

I think the issues of stylesheets needs further discussion.  In many ways 
the use of CSS is tied together with JavaScript to create dynamic web 
applications.  If stylesheets are removed, the page may still be readable 
but the application may not function properly.  Consider a keyboard 
accessible menu that uses styles to show focus when the user arrows to a 
particular menu item.  If the styles are removed, the user has no 
indication that the item has received focus and the menu is not usable.

References: 
[1]  http://www.w3.org/TR/WCAG20-HTML-TECHS/#css-fallback

Becky Gibson
Web Accessibility Architect
                                                       
IBM Emerging Internet Technologies
5 Technology Park Drive
Westford, MA 01886
Voice: 978 399-6101; t/l 333-6101
Email: gibsonb@us.ibm.com