Re: Legal Guidelines

Bruce:
I found it easier to 'pre-process' my pages by creating a page template with the DOCTYPE and the W3C HTML 4.01 referrer link already in it, and I don't use frames. I can't speak to the image map issue, as I haven't tried it. 
FrontPage 2000 has a wizard for adding a database to a web and creating the queries and ASP pages; if they had a wizard for adding images that prompted people for the alt text and/or a longdesc,  that would really help.
Please note, though, that FrontPage is far more than just an HTML editor, though. 
In my mind, its strengths lie in its Web Management and Publishing features (the old FP Explorer in FP98).  The way it keeps track of what goes where and fixing your internal hyperlinks for you during the publishing process can't be beat!

Kathleen Anderson, Webmaster
State of Connecticut, Office of the State Comptroller
55 Elm Street, Room 101, Hartford, Connecticut  06106
voice: (860) 702-3355  fax: (860) 702-3634
email: kathleen.anderson@po.state.ct.us
URL: http://www.osc.state.ct.us
CMAC Access: http://www.cmac.state.ct.us/access
AWARE: http://aware.hwg.org/



  ----- Original Message ----- 
  From: Bruce Bailey 
  To: w3c-wai-ig@w3.org ; Kathleen Anderson ; Michael W Baker 
  Cc: KristineBradow ; "Charles (Chuck) Oppermann" 
  Sent: Monday, May 08, 2000 2:02 PM
  Subject: RE: Legal Guidelines


  Dear Kathleen,
  Thanks for this very terse and honest evaluation of FP 2k limitations.
  Another P1 violation:  It is not even possible using FP only to add ALT content to image map hotspots.  I believe that its implementation of frames is also broken from a WCAG perspective.
  To its credit, if one is an "expert" user, ALT content can be attached to mundane images using FP alone, but the operation is non-trivial.  FP can thus be used to construct most "average" pages which are P1 compliant.  It would be hard to argue that FP facilitates this process.  IMHO, someone who knows HTML well enough to make FP construct P1 compliant pages will have very significant objections to other limitations of the the tool.
  There is NO work around for the DOCTYPE and other problems.  One can always post-process pages with NotePad or another text editor, but then what's the point of using a WYSIWYG editor in the first place?
  If Microsoft gets the message that this is a serious issue, they will eventually fix the problem.  In the meantime my advise to Michael (et al.) is to write Microsoft a letter, then buy something else.  That is all that we could do.
  I am looking forward to FP 2001!
  -- 
  Cheers,
  Bruce Bailey
  http://www.dors.state.md.us/
    -----Original Message-----
    From: w3c-wai-ig-request@w3.org [mailto:w3c-wai-ig-request@w3.org]On Behalf Of Kathleen Anderson
    Sent: Friday, May 05, 2000 11:58 AM
    To: w3c-wai-ig@w3.org; Michael W Baker
    Subject: Re: Legal Guidelines


    Hi Michael:
    The answer to your third question is 'yes', FrontPage does produce pages that are not compliant with accessibility guidelines. 
    Two examples:
    it does not include DOCTYPE at the beginning of your pages, and it does not add alt text (or even 'suggest' that you should) when you place an image on your page.
    Kathleen Anderson, Webmaster
    State of Connecticut, Office of the State Comptroller

      ----- Original Message ----- 
      From: Michael W Baker 
      To: w3c-wai-ig@w3.org 
      Sent: Friday, May 05, 2000 11:00 AM
      Subject: Legal Guidelines


      I work for a company that designs a great deal of government web sights and am in charge of defining design standards to meet the accessibility requirements. I have been following numerous lists and discussions and can't seem to get a clear answer to a few very important questions. Any help would be greatly appreciated.
      Here they are:

      1)What are the specific legal standards for accessible design for government web sights? I'm under the impression that they are not fully agreed upon and this issue is still being resolved. Am I right? If so, when is a decision expected?

      2)What is the time frame that existing government sites will be required to comply with accessibility standards? 

      3) Does Front Page render pages that are not compliant with accessibility guidelines. I would imagine so, but I can't get a definitive answer. If so, do you know if there fixes in the future that will enable Front page to be used?
      Thank you,
      Mike Baker
      Zin Technologies (formerly ADF)
      e-CITe Division
      (216) 977-0363
      Michael.W.Baker@grc.nasa.gov