Guideline 1.1 - "text-equiv" issue summary and proposals

Addressed by current edits or OBE

Issue 952: Ease of access

Relates to SC 1.1.6, though the term "explicitly associated" is no longer part of the requirement, ease of access to the transcript is still important. I think the sufficient techniques outlined in our current draft should be enough to close this.

Close: The sufficient techniques section of the 23 November 2005 of How to Meet SC 1.1.6 addresses this issue.

Issue 1428: Clarify that multimedia link leads to technique document

Close: The 23 November 2005 draft includes the link phrase, "How to meet SC N.N."

Issue 1600: define live as "live audio-only content"

Close: The 23 November 2005 draft uses and defines terms "live audio-only" and "live video-only."

Suggest rejecting and closing

Issue 1624: Silent video and animation need indication that they are silent

This issue suggests that examples for 1.1.1 that discuss animations should indicate when no audio is present. A comment on this issue suggests rejecting it since this would imply that all video-only and animated content should either include "no audio present" or be captioned.

Close: Any video that includes audio would be (by definition) multimedia and would not be covered under guideline 1.1 where captions (or a text-transcript) are required.

Suggest closing with proposed changes

Issue 1599: reword "if text alternatives can not serve..."

This issue suggests rewording the clause "if text alternatives can not serve..." to clarify that this phrase refers only to situations where it is impossible for the author to supply a text alternative that would provide equivalent functionality, rather than cases where the supplied text alternative merely fails to provide equivalent functionality.

Current: For non-text content that is functional, text alternatives serve the same purpose as the non-text content. If text alternatives can not serve the same purpose as the functional non-text content, text alternatives identify the purpose of the functional non-text content.

Here are two possibilities for addressing this:

  1. Revise this success criterion to read, "For non-text content that is functional, text alternatives serve the same purpose as the non-text content. If it is not possible for text alternatives to serve the same purpose as the functional non-text content, text alternatives identify the purpose of the functional non-text content.
  2. Clarify this in the how to meet document by revising the intent section and adding examples to How to meet 1.1.2 as follows:

    The intent of this success criterion is to ensure that the function of non-text content, such as images used as submit buttons, is available in text form. In some cases, for example, whenfunctional content that is very complex, it is not possible for authors to describe the function of non-text content in a text alternative. In these cases, the purpose of the functional non-text content is identified in the alternative.

    Example: An online photo editor
    An embedded user interface allows uers to upload and modify photographs online. The interface includes the ability to crop, resize, color correct and apply various special effects to images. The text alternative identifies the purpose of the non-text content as "photo editor: upload and modify your photographs online." The photo editor interface is accessible.

Issue 1626: Sign languages do not translate directly from written languages

Asserts that the 1.1.1 benefit which reads, "People who are deaf, are hard of hearing, or who are having trouble understanding audio information for any reason can read the text presentation or have it translated and presented as sign language by assistive technology." implies that assistive technologies can somehow automatically convert text-alternatives into sign language.

Propose: Remove "by assistive technology" from this benefit and close this issue.

Keep open

Issue 666: UA support for obtaining textual descriptions and extraneous links

Raises some good points regarding the immediacy of a link to a transcript and metadata. Suggest that this be covered in How to Meet SC 1.1.6 and assign an action item to include (perhaps in advisory?) information about metadata.

Issue 937: Examples for Guideline 1.1

Includes some proposals and ideas regarding examples for the L3 SC1 criterion. Suggest we accept these suggestions and assign an action item to draft examples for inclusion in the corresponding How to meet documents.

Issues that need clarification

The following issues require clarification from the reviewer: