Re: definition of User Agent

Another resource: CSS2.1 [1] defines a "user agent" as:

"A user agent is any program that interprets a document written in the 
document language and applies associated style sheets according to the 
terms of this specification. A user agent may display a document, read it 
aloud, cause it to be printed, convert it to another format, etc.
An HTML user agent is one that supports the HTML 2.x, HTML 3.x, or HTML 4.x 
specifications. A user agent that supports XHTML [XHTML], but not HTML (as 
listed in the previous sentence) is not considered an HTML user agent for 
the purpose of conformance with this specification."

Are there any parts of this definition that may be of interest to us?   I 
think it's good to be as consistent
as possible and approriate across W3C specifications, or to articulate the 
reasons why such consistency
cannot be achieved..

[1]: http://www.w3.org/TR/CSS21/conform.html#q1

Thanks and best wishes
Tim Boland NIST

PS - The term "user" is also defined in CSS2.1

At 12:00 AM 10/30/2005 -0500, you wrote:
>xmlns:ns0="urn:schemas-microsoft-com:office:smarttags">
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>I just noticed the definition of user agent in our guidelines
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>It is
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>user agent
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>In this document, the term "user agent" is used in two ways:
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>1.      The software and documentation components that together, 
><http://www.w3.org/TR/WAI-USERAGENT/conformance.html#Conformance>conform 
>to the requirements of the <http://www.w3.org/TR/UAAG10/>User Agent 
>Accessibility Guidelines 1.0 (UAAG 1.0). This is the most common use of 
>the term in this document and is the usage in the UAAG checkpoints.
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>2.      Any software that retrieves and renders Web content for users. 
>This may include Web browsers, media players, plug-ins, and other programs 
>including 
><http://www.w3.org/TR/WAI-USERAGENT/glossary.html#def-assistive-technology>assistive 
>technologies that help in retrieving and rendering Web content.
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>Note:  This term was taken verbatim from 
><http://www.w3.org/TR/WAI-USERAGENT/glossary.html>User Agent Accessibility 
>Guidelines 1.0 (UAAG 1.0) Glossary
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>The note states that this was taken verbatim from UAAG.   Actually this is 
>an adaptation of the definition in UAAG because it would make no sense in 
>our document as written.
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>Here is the definition verbatim from UAAG.
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>User agent
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>In this document, the term "user agent" is used in two ways:
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>1.      The software and documentation components that together, 
><http://www.w3.org/TR/UAAG10/conformance.html#Conformance>conform to the 
>requirements of this document. This is the most common use of the term in 
>this document and is the usage in the checkpoints.
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>2.      Any software that retrieves and renders Web content for users. 
>This may include Web browsers, media players, 
><http://www.w3.org/TR/UAAG10/glossary.html#def-plug-in>plug-ins, and other 
>programs including 
><http://www.w3.org/TR/UAAG10/glossary.html#def-assistive-technology>assistive 
>technologies that help in retrieving and rendering Web content.
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>First we should change our note since it isn t accurate.
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>Second I wonder if our adaptation of UAAG definition is accurate for our 
>guidelines.  Isn t the second definition the one we mean most?  Not the first?
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>In fact isn t the second definition the only thing we mean by the term 
>user agent?
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>Gregg
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>------------------------
>
>Gregg C Vanderheiden Ph.D.
>Professor - Depts of Ind. Engr. & BioMed Engr.
>Director - Trace R & D Center
>University of Wisconsin-Madison
><<http://trace.wisc.edu/>http://trace.wisc.edu/> FAX 608/262-8848
>For a list of our list discussions http://trace.wisc.edu/lists/
>
><http://trace.wisc.edu:8080/mailman/listinfo/>
>
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