Re: Acrobat PDF & Accessibility

> 
> the problem is that it is an "application" 

That's a misunderstanding of application in MIME terms.  Modern HTML,
even without scripting, is more accurately described as application/html,
and I think that this actually an allowed alternative, or was.

Application means that the material is not an image, but not suitable
for direct human consumption.  Clean HTML can get away with text, because
it can be read with notepad.  Typical commercial HTML ought to be classified
as application, because it is only suitable for viewing with a browser.

> I know some firewalls at high security instalations that block
> "applications" of all types so even if it could be read it couldn't get
> through

Application doesn't mean executable.  Moreover, most commercial HTML contains
executable components, which is what the firewalls are really trying to 
block, even though they are labelled as text.  (A firewall might take the
view that Microsoft and Netscape are capbable of implementing the Javascript
security model so well that the executable can do no harm, but probably let
it through because there would be an uproar if most (UK at least) commercial
sites got blocked.

Received on Thursday, 20 December 2001 18:12:08 UTC