Re: Restructuring guidelines

Jon Gunderson wrote:
> 
> Ian,
> Thank you for your summary and proposals related to restructuring the
> guidelines.
> 
> Over the weekend I was thinking about some of Ian's ideas related to
> navigation techniques versus checkpoints. Here are some of my thoughts on
> what I think he is proposing. Let me know if these are the types of
> changes you were proposing.

Hi Jon,

My summary was not a clear proposal because I hadn't finished
reflecting. Here are some more thoughts, though still incomplete. 

I would like to remove navigation from the semantics where possible,
and instead use checkpoints to identify the accessibility goal.
Treat navigation as a technique where possible, then introduce
a couple of navigation checkpoints to ensure compatibility.

Please note that we've already done this for table cells. Navigation
and lineary rendering were both considered techniques for the
real goal: access to the information of an individual cell. I think
we can use the same logic in other places to reduce the number
of navigation checkpoints.

Therefore....

ON AVAILABILITY OF CONTENT:

1) Make element content available to the user. Priority 1, Both.
  (Technique: use a viewport, allow different types of navigation.)

2) Make individual element content available to the user. Priority 1,
AT.
   (Technique: e.g., use selection/focus for identification 
    of the element, use the DOM.).

ON AVAILABILITY OF METADATA:

I'm not sure how detailed these checkpoints should be. I think
to be verifiable, the checkpoints should be specific:
"Make available the following metadata for links: number of link, etc."
I'm not entirely convinced of these checkpoints yet.

ON ACTIVATION OF ACTIVE ELEMENTS:

3) Allow the user to activate any
   active element -- links, form controls, elements with explicitly
   associated event handlers. Priority 1, both.
   (Technique: Navigate to elements, then activate. Or, activate
   through keyboard shortcuts, menu interface, etc.)

4) Allow device-independent/keyboard activation. Priority 1, Both.

5) Allow the user to turn on/off
   support for types of active elements (e.g., don't navigate
   elements with event handlers). Priority 2, Both.

ON NAVIGATION and SEARCHING


6) Allow the user to sequentially navigate selected element types.
   NOTE: This includes frames, tables, block elements, etc. P2

7) Allow the user to configure sets for sequential navigation. P2

8) Allow the user to navigate the document tree. P2
   (Technique: Use the DOM)

9) The user agent should allow the user to search for elements based
   on text content. P2

10) The user agent should allow the user to search for attributes
   based on their values. (Which ones?) P2

 _ Ian

 
> Potential changes to current checkpoints:
> ----------------------------------------------------------------------------
> Current checkpoint: Sequential access to active elements
> Current checkpoint: Search for a link based on its text content
> Current checkpoint: Allow the user to select a link from a list
> 
> would be combined into something like:
> 
> New checkpoint: Allow user to navigate only to active elements
> 
> The new checkpoint would reference different types of techniques related to
> all the ways to navigate to active elements: sequential, direct and searching
> -------------------
>---------------------------------------------------------
> Current checkpoint: Search for an element based on its text content
> Current checkpoint: Sequential access to all elements
> Current checkpoint: Search for content based on attribute value [metadata
> information)
> Current checkpoint: Search for the next element with the same attributes as
> the current element
> Current checkpoint: Allow the user to navigate the Document Object Model
> 
> would be combined into a new checkpoint:
> 
> New checkpoint: Allow user to navigate to all elements
> 
> The technique for the new checkpoint would cover the different ways to
> navigate to a particular element.
> ----------------------------------------------------------------------------
> Current checkpoint: Allow the user to move the focus to a frame from a list
> 
> New checkpoint: Allow user to navigate between frames
> 
> The technique for the new checkpoint would cover the different ways to
> navigate between frames
> ----------------------------------------------------------------------------
> Current checkpoint: Allow the user to move to a header from a list
> 
> New checkpoint: Allow user to navigate to only headers
> 
> The technique for the new checkpoint would cover the different ways to
> navigate between headers: sequential, direct and searching
> ----------------------------------------------------------------------------
> Current checkpoint: Allow the user to move the focus to the first control
> of a form from a list
> 
> New checkpoint: Allow the user to navigate between forms
> ----------------------------------------------------------------------------
> Current checkpoint: Allow the user to move the focus to a form control from
> a list
> New checkpoint: Allow the user to navigate between form controls
> ----------------------------------------------------------------------------
> Current checkpoint: Allow the user to select a alternative content from a
> list of alternative content, P2, subgroup: DUA
> New checkpoint: Allow the user to select alternative content
> ----------------------------------------------------------------------------
> Current checkpoint: Allow the user to move the selection to a table from a
> list
> New checkpoint: Allow the user to navigate between tables
> ----------------------------------------------------------------------------
> 
> 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

-- 
Ian Jacobs (jacobs@w3.org)   http://www.w3.org/People/Jacobs
Tel/Fax:                     (212) 684-1814

Received on Thursday, 3 June 1999 22:27:05 UTC