- From: Kynn Bartlett <kynn-hwg@idyllmtn.com>
- Date: Thu, 03 Jun 1999 09:36:47 -0700
- To: "Bruce Bailey" <bbailey@clark.net>
- Cc: "WAI IG" <w3c-wai-ig@w3.org>
At 07:45 AM 6/3/1999 , Bruce Bailey wrote: >Can (or should) the W3C validator be used as a mainstream test for basic >compliance with the Web Content Accessibility Guidelines? No, not completely. >If one authors a document that meets the following criteria: >1) validates as HTML 4.0 (transitional or strict); and >2) Does NOT include applets or scripts; and >3) Does NOT include video or sounds or other multimedia (images are okay); >does that document, by definition, meet some level of compliance with WCAG? No. What if my ALT text is all "The image description goes here..."? That passes HTML 4.0 and your requirements above. Also, I get really worried whenever someone lists accessibility criteria that include NOT using applets, scripts, video, and sound. That sends the WRONG message, said message being "applets etc are NOT accessible, don't use them!" which translates into "don't even bother trying to make an accessible page if you want to use applets etc" which translates into "if you want a cool page, it can't possibly be accessible!" The WCAG go in the right direction, "if you use <stuff>, here's what to do..." -- Kynn Bartlett <kynn@hwg.org> President, Governing Board Member HTML Writers Guild <URL:http://www.hwg.org> Director, Accessible Web Authoring Resources and Education Center <URL:http://aware.hwg.org/>
Received on Thursday, 3 June 1999 12:41:40 UTC