Re: CAST Announces Bobby upgrade & Beta release of Bobby Application

I concur strongly with Bruce on this.  Especially in relation to Bobby
not making allowances for tables with only two rows or only two columns and
just a few words per cell.  Such tables usually manageable with a screen
reader regardless if they are read line by line, column by column, or row by
row.

Otherwise, Bobby is/can be a wonderful tool for web authors who are
unfamiliar with accessibility issues.

Wayne

Wayne Crotts
Network Administrator
Program on Human Development and Disability
A University Affiliated Program
College of Family & Consumer Science
University of Georgia
Athens, GA

706-542-4968
706-542-4815 (FAX)
-----Original Message-----
From: Bruce Bailey <bbailey@clark.net>
To: 'w3c-wai-ig@w3.org' <w3c-wai-ig@w3.org>
Date: Friday, April 24, 1998 3:40 PM
Subject: Re: CAST Announces Bobby upgrade & Beta release of Bobby
Application


>I have been lurking for a while so I know the debate on the
>merits/limitations of Bobby.
>
>Let us agree that:
>A) Bobby is great (or at least very good) and it is fantastic that it
>exists.
>B) Bobby has it's share of quirks.
>
>Let me pose this question to the group:
>Do we, who are in the accessibilty field, dare snub a "Bobby Approved"
>rating because we KNOW our finely crafted pages to be screen reader
>friendly, just because Bobby says otherwise?
>
>I, for one, am commited to the "Bobby Approved" rating and will change my
>work to accomodate the limitations of the program, even when Bobby
>complains about nonsense.
>
>That said, let me publicly vent my two most severe Bobby complaints.
> (Sorry David Clark, you took too long to answer in private.)
>
>1) Bobby should reject HREF'ed IMG's with ALT="" unless the link is
>available elsewhere on the same page.  Take a look at url:
> http://www.dors.state.md.us/test.html
>This short page has four invisible buttons, yet Bobby complains not at all!
>
>2) Bobby discriminates between full-blown text-heavy tables and simple
>tables that are used to align graphics with text.  Bobby should also make
>allowences for tables with only two rows or only two columns and just a few
>words per cell.  Such tables usually manageable with a screen reader
>regardless if they are read line by line, column by column, or row by row.
>
>Before Bobby 2.0, I had taken great pains to code a name/telephone table
>that rendered well in Lynx or a GUI and tested it with a couple different
>screen readers.  The failure of this simple table to pass muster was my
>primary motivation for breaking Bobby with a simple example.   Granted,
>there is no way Bobby could test for _good_ (or even approriate) alt text
>(e.g., a photo.jpeg with alt="yes").  Deliberately empty alt text that
>hides a link deserves special scrutinization.
>
>Bruce Bailey
>Maryland Division of Rehabilitation Services
>http://www.dors.state.md.us
>
>

Received on Friday, 24 April 1998 16:07:22 UTC