Re: Plugins as SC - thread was: Visual Indicators

On 17/04/2020 16:16, Andrew Kirkpatrick wrote:
> Where WCAG is prescriptive, we better have clear and incontrovertible 
> evidence to support that.
> 
> I think that we need to be increasingly careful about placing additional 
> demands on authors. One of the key requests during our re-chartering was 
> that our decisions are based on research, and I’m concerned that we 
> don’t have that here. I do believe that we have heard from people that 
> some UI doesn’t convey that it is able to be interacted with clearly and 
> that is a problem for them, but a broad “every link must be ___” mandate 
> has a sweeping effect on all web content and unless there is a way that 
> this can be handled through correct use of semantics we should expect 
> pushback.
> 
> I think that we need to be very critical about whether we have enough 
> research to back up the need for being prescriptive and about the impact 
> of what is being required, on the end-users and on authors. I’m not sure 
> that we have that.

Strongly agree. I'm also, as commented on the actual document, very 
nervous about WCAG trying to prescribe things that go further into 
requiring very specific design/aesthetic aspects. While I understand the 
desire to be unambiguous, this easily can go the opposite way of 
becoming far too restrictive (not to mention "of the moment" ... the 
guidelines may limit options to only what is - aesthetically/graphically 
- current and possible now, but cannot foresee other approaches/design 
trends/styling abilities that may emerge or become fashionable etc.

Oddly, despite my usual ranting about "this isn't clearly defined in the 
spec", I do think there are aspects that may need tp be kept a little 
bit looser and open to interpretation (and if it then comes to some law 
suit relating to accessibility, let the lawyers try to argue for/against 
something being "clear enough" or not)

P
-- 
Patrick H. Lauke

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Received on Friday, 17 April 2020 18:33:30 UTC