RE: Plain language at AAA

+1  I like the idea of 'mandated' to follow a specific writing style…

Best wishes
E.A.

Mrs E.A. Draffan
WAIS, ECS , University of Southampton
Mobile +44 (0)7976 289103
http://access.ecs.soton.ac.uk<https://www.outlook.soton.ac.uk/owa/redir.aspx?C=69b1RzNTDwem3wbm4pLRmuYfTLt16YjcghtEpZBsF5Sebx78I2DUCA..&URL=http%3a%2f%2faccess.ecs.soton.ac.uk%2f>
UK AAATE rep http://www.aaate.net/<https://www.outlook.soton.ac.uk/owa/redir.aspx?C=WUwOCw_4FszLSzcUbkoFdDkad8-Q_GrRfPYUJ_ol5l2ebx78I2DUCA..&URL=http%3a%2f%2fwww.aaate.net%2f>

From: John Foliot [mailto:john.foliot@deque.com]
Sent: 24 July 2017 14:58
To: EA Draffan <ead@ecs.soton.ac.uk>
Cc: lisa.seeman <lisa.seeman@zoho.com>; W3c-Wai-Gl-Request@W3. Org <w3c-wai-gl@w3.org>; public-cognitive-a11y-tf <public-cognitive-a11y-tf@w3.org>
Subject: Re: Plain language at AAA

Hi,

I unfortunately do not have the cycles to further contribute to this this week, but I would caution on the use of "penalizing" anyone/anything. That is neither the spirit nor language of WCAG, which should take a positive tone and provide guidance and instruction towards specific outcomes. Perhaps something like:

"... or the content is mandated to follow a specific writing style, such as...

JF



On Mon, Jul 24, 2017 at 3:33 AM, EA Draffan <ead@ecs.soton.ac.uk<mailto:ead@ecs.soton.ac.uk>> wrote:
Thank you for letting us know Lisa and on rereading I have to admit that the exemption sentence makes me feel that the one would be penalized if the writing does not conform to a particular style for specific types of content


"… or content will be penalized for not conforming to a given writing style such as a game, a literary work, teaching new terms, a CV, dissertation, or Ph.D. proposal."

Was it meant to be

"… or content will not be penalized for conforming to a given writing style such as a game, a literary work, teaching new terms, a CV, dissertation, or Ph.D. proposal."

Best wishes
E.A.

Mrs E.A. Draffan
WAIS, ECS , University of Southampton
Mobile +44 (0)7976 289103<tel:+44%207976%20289103>
http://access.ecs.soton.ac.uk<https://www.outlook.soton.ac.uk/owa/redir.aspx?C=69b1RzNTDwem3wbm4pLRmuYfTLt16YjcghtEpZBsF5Sebx78I2DUCA..&URL=http%3a%2f%2faccess.ecs.soton.ac.uk%2f>
UK AAATE rep http://www.aaate.net/<https://www.outlook.soton.ac.uk/owa/redir.aspx?C=WUwOCw_4FszLSzcUbkoFdDkad8-Q_GrRfPYUJ_ol5l2ebx78I2DUCA..&URL=http%3a%2f%2fwww.aaate.net%2f>

From: lisa.seeman [mailto:lisa.seeman@zoho.com<mailto:lisa.seeman@zoho.com>]
Sent: 24 July 2017 09:06
To: W3c-Wai-Gl-Request@W3. Org <w3c-wai-gl@w3.org<mailto:w3c-wai-gl@w3.org>>
Cc: public-cognitive-a11y-tf <public-cognitive-a11y-tf@w3.org<mailto:public-cognitive-a11y-tf@w3.org>>
Subject: Plain language at AAA


We did not get plain language in a t double AA but we would like to retry at AAA. This way issues such as author burden will not matter as much.

The issue is at https://github.com/w3c/wcag21/issues/41


(The discussion is really at issue 30)

It is the same as what we had at AA other than we changed the scope to include important information.
The current wording is:



For error messages, instructions, headings, important information, labels and navigational elements all of the following are true:
Double negatives
Double negatives are not used to express a positive statement.
Common words
Provide words, phrases or abbreviations that are the most-common form to refer to the concept in a public word frequency list for the identified context.
Concrete language
Non-literal language is not used, or can be automatically replaced, via an easy-to-set user setting. All meaning must be retained when non-literal text is replaced.

Exceptions: Content is exempt if the writing style is an essential part of the main function of the site, or content will be penalized for not conforming to a given writing style such as a game, a literary work, teaching new terms, a CV, dissertation, or Ph.D. proposal.




All the best

Lisa Seeman

LinkedIn<http://il.linkedin.com/in/lisaseeman/>, Twitter<https://twitter.com/SeemanLisa>



--
John Foliot
Principal Accessibility Strategist
Deque Systems Inc.
john.foliot@deque.com<mailto:john.foliot@deque.com>

Advancing the mission of digital accessibility and inclusion