PROPOSAL(revised): User Agent Types

I am reposting my orginal proposal with a more explicit statement of
description and examples of current technology.

A particular user agent can embody more than one user agent type and some
user agents may embody only part of one type (i.e playing audio files, but
not video for the MM type).

Proposed User Agent Types: 
TYPE: Text Only(TO)
DESCRIPTION: Rendering of document text content on text only displays.
Typically cannot natively render images or other multi-media formats.
Typically inly uses a keyboard interface to control the user agent.
EXAMPLES: Lynx and W3 (referenced from Charles last e-mail)

TYPE: Visual Standard (VS)
DESCRIPTION: Rendering of document text content and graphical images on bit
mapped visual displays with greater than 640x480 pixels resolution with
default font sizes less than 48 point(the font size is only an initial
guess).   
EXAMPLES: Mass market browsers like Microsoft Internet Explorer, 
Opera and Netscape navigator.

TYPE: Visual Restricted(VR)
DESCRIPTION: Rendering of document text content and/or images on bit mapped
visual displays with funcational resolutions smaller than 640x480 pixels or
with default font sizes greater than 48 point. 
EXAMPLES:  Screen magnifiers like Zoomtext from AISquared and 
Magic from Henter-Joyce for people with visual impairments, and portable
hand held 
user agent technologies for the mass market. 

TYPE: Multi-Media (MM)
DESCRIPTION: Rendering of audio, video or animations from file formats 
that contain sampled and compressed sound, bit mapped video or image 
information. 
EXAMPLES: Wave, mpeg and avi files.  Multi-media player sequencing formats
like SMIL and SAMI
 
TYPE: Aural (A)
DESCRIPTION: Rendering of document text and text alternative renderings of
non-text content using text-to-speech synthesis technology. Includes the
use of non-speech sounds for conveying information related to the content
or the rendering status of a document (for example: the sound of a door
opening when a new document is being loaded and the sound of the door
hitting a door jam when the document is completely loaded). 
EXAMPLES:  Screen reader like Jaws from Henter-Joyce and Outspoken from
Alva when used with a mass market browser, and browsers developed for the
visually impiared like pwWebSpeak, IBM Homereader and VPInfoNet.  This also
includes technology like telephone based user agents for the mass market.

TYPE: Braille (B)
DESCRIPTION: Rendering of document text and text alternative rendering of 
non-text content using dynamic Braille display technology. 
EXAMPLES:  Screen readers like Jaws from Henter-Joyce and Outspoken from Alva 
when used with a dynamic Braille display in conjunction with a mass market
browser.

Jon Gunderson, Ph.D., ATP
Coordinator of Assistive Communication and Information Technology
Division of Rehabilitation - Education Services
University of Illinois at Urbana/Champaign
1207 S. Oak Street
Champaign, IL 61820

Voice: 217-244-5870
Fax: 217-333-0248
E-mail: jongund@uiuc.edu
WWW:	http://www.staff.uiuc.edu/~jongund
	http://www.als.uiuc.edu/InfoTechAccess

Received on Tuesday, 22 December 1998 10:04:02 UTC