RE: issue about the WCAG and XSLT

Michael Cooper writes:
 > 
 > I'll take a stab at answering your questions. I think the question
 > of whether client-side XSLT causes issues with WCAG requirements
 > depends on how we resolve what is now known as "the baseline
 > question". But in principle, if we can count on proper client
 > support for the XSLT, and the output of the XSLT meets WCAG
 > requirements, then this should be WCAG conformant.

Michael's analysis is correct. Moreover, this is an excellent example
of why there should not be a "baseline" hard-wired into WCAG 2.0. If
there were such a baseline, it would presumably not include
client-side XSLT. Thus, despite all the benefits of client-side XSLT to users,
authors would be disentitled to rely on it for purposes of WCAG
conformance, however readily available user agent implementations
became.

There should be no user agent baseline set in stone by WCAG. In fact,
I don't particularly like the term "baseline" at all, as it suggests
establishing a fixed minimum that is required to be assumed by content
developers. It would be better to refer to the question of user agent
support, rather than to "baseline" in describing the problem at hand.

Received on Monday, 14 March 2005 08:31:20 UTC