Re: Finding Help

Hello Rachael,

moving the examples to the understanding section is certainly a good idea. We appreciate if all the allowed compliance options show discrete examples on conforming to this SC.

However, we think that the option of providing an FAQ may not be the very best idea. FAQs are typically short and very general. FAQs are nice to have but do not qualify to fulfill the SC:

Our experience with questions from users with special needs are the opposite, ranging from basic to very very specific, such as "what keyboard key can I use to open the value help in a combobox", or "what other touch gestures are provided for the list control, other than 'tap'." These questions are typically not reflected in an FAQ and would make FAQs endless.

Therefore the "self-help option" should point to help facilities, which are able to offer information on very detail. Online documentation and context help support it, specifically because the later two often support search capabilities.

We agree Human help comes first. Nevertheless we suggest the order is based on distance, from direct human contact, to indirect human contact, to a computer contact (chatbot) and finally self-help.
In addition all options should look balanced, that means the details on the chatbot should also go into the understanding section.

Kind regards,
Oliver (and Gundula)





On 8. Apr 2020, at 20:25, Rachael Bradley Montgomery <rachael@accessiblecommunity.org<mailto:rachael@accessiblecommunity.org>> wrote:

Hello Oliver and Gundula,

We are trying to move Finding Help<https://docs.google.com/document/d/1fX4Iw169OGUny5RTd70S8qAneYy5e0hr7zupE21gPBM/edit#heading=h.c1ri43umkho0> to CFC and want to work with you to resolve your objections to the SC.

Oliver, we believe we have addressed your point about the balance of the bullets by moving the examples from all the bullets to the understanding documents.

Gundula, you objected to including self-help as an option but, as Oliver and others pointed out in previous conversations and emails, many websites and preshipped software can not support a human option. The intent of this SC, which I believe is being met with the current SC text, was to:
1. Ensure some form of help was provided and
2. Ensure it is in a consistent location.

To address your concern that organizations may fall back to the self help option only as it is easiest, I've added a phrase to the understanding document that states "Human help is the recommended option but if a human is not available to help, other methods such as a Frequently Asked Questions page must be provided. "

Do these changes address your concern?

Thank you,

Rachael

--
Rachael Montgomery, PhD
Director, Accessible Community
rachael@accessiblecommunity.org<mailto:rachael@accessiblecommunity.org>

"I will paint this day with laughter;
I will frame this night in song."
 - Og Mandino