Hiding unwanted -- by all -- content with CSS; hurts people who do not use your CSS?

Hi All,

Is it a 100% WCAG pass to use CSS to hide content that must, at times, be hidden from all for the content to work, and yet perhaps some users browse with my CSS disabled?

If not, where do I go in WCAG to identify that hiding content with CSS is a fail or partial fail?

Example: For all except Jane my form works perfectly. But Jane has developed her own style sheet that she uses in place of site style sheets as it ensures the visual presentation (sizes, content widths, colours) works for her visual abilities. If my form is for animal adoption, with my CSS missing, Jane sees form fields that prompt her to provide details about cats when she has selected to adopt a dog.

It seems to me that, if Jane exists, then using CSS in this way is a fail (e.g.: 1.3.1,  1.3.2) and to pass WCAG I must use a different technique to hide content (e.g. JavaScript etc).

My Google is full of results about hiding content but I can find nothing about this - about whether hiding illogical content with CSS is a fail as it impacts only those who use their own style sheets.

Cheers,

Alan

Alan Bristow
Web Programmer
Policy and Public Affairs
Elections Canada
Desk 9-A-053
30 Victoria Street, Gatineau, QC K1A 0M6
alan.bristow@elections.ca<mailto:alan.bristow@elections.ca>
Tel.: 819-939-2232