RE: Call for feedback on accessible DHTML menus

Accessibility and functionality are not the same.

A site can be accessible with dhtml menus if one can still use the site.
You should think of drop down menus as more link options. If the main
links (at the top of the menu) are still usable it doesn't matter. Most
of this is completely a mute point for screen readers which often see
the entire menu anyway since the dhtml menus usually just visually hide
the extra options they don't want on screen at any point.

Tom Croucher

Co-founder Netalley Networks
(http://www.netalleynetworks.com),
BSc(Hons) Computing Student / Information Services Staff University of
Sunderland
(http://www.sunderland.ac.uk),
Accessibility Co-ordinator Plone CMS
(http://www.plone.org)


-----Original Message-----
From: w3c-wai-ig-request@w3.org [mailto:w3c-wai-ig-request@w3.org] On
Behalf Of Geoff Deering
Sent: 22 September 2003 21:16
To: James Craig
Cc: WAI Interest Group
Subject: RE: Call for feedback on accessible DHTML menus


To quote directly from

http://www.w3.org/DOM/

<q>
"Dynamic HTML" is a term used by some vendors to describe the
combination of
HTML, style sheets and scripts that allows documents to be animated.
</q>

The title of your subject is "Call for feedback on accessible DHTML
menus".

If you turn scripts off in the user agent it disables this type of
menuing
system because it depend on scripts being turned on to be operatable.
Have
you tried using it with scripts turned off?  This is what I mean by the
site
being dependant on DHTML.  If it is built on such a menuing system it is
dependant on DHTML and for anyone with scripts turn off it is unusable.

Geoff

-----Original Message-----
From: James Craig [mailto:work@cookiecrook.com]
Sent: Tuesday, 23 September 2003 1:23 AM
To: gdeering@acslink.net.au
Subject: Re: Call for feedback on accessible DHTML menus

Geoff Deering wrote:
> The problem with this is WCAG1 Checkpoint 6.3 P1.  There is enough
data
out
> there to indicate that a good percentage of your audience do browse
with
> scripts turned off, and there is also those out there with scripts
turned
> on, but with ad blockers installed to control or disable various
sections
of
> the DOM, or using a modern browser that allows custom control over the
DOM
> and other media.  If your site is "Dependant" on DHTML to operate,
then I
> don't see how it can comply with this checkpoint.

Of course, the site isn't dependent on DHTML. How do you figure it is?

Thanks,
James

--
http://www.cookiecrook.com/

Received on Tuesday, 23 September 2003 09:35:54 UTC