- From: Jon Gunderson <jongund@staff.uiuc.edu>
- Date: Wed, 25 Aug 1999 09:34:45 -0700
- To: Charles McCathieNevile <charles@w3.org>, WAI UA group <w3c-wai-ua@w3.org>
Do the guidelines seem to apply to the design of Amaya? Were there checkpoints that were ambigious or difficult to interpret for Amaya features? Jon At 07:50 PM 8/23/99 -0400, Charles McCathieNevile wrote: >I have done an initial assessment of the conformance of Amaya to the UAGL, >using the checklist. I am not an Amaya developer, and do not know much about >the code. I have been using Amaya pretty frequently for the last six months, >in part because as well as a browser it is an authoring tool - I used it to >edit the checklist table. > >Amaya is an open source project, primarily worked on by a few members of the >W3C team as a testbed for implementing new spcifications such as MathML and >XHTML (and accesibility guidelines).It is in more or less permanent alpha, >although releases of stable versions are made from time to time. This review >is based on the amaya 2.1 release of late June. > >I have been going through the documentation to ensure that it complies to >WCAG, and documents how to use accessibility features, and the next release >should reflect that (the changes are committed to the latest CVS bleeding >edge version as I make them). > >Anyway, the following is a lynx print of my comments - I will also make the >HTML available. > >Charles McCN > > >Priority 1 checkpoints > > In General (Priority 1) Yes No N/A > 3.1 Ensure that all product documentation conforms to the Web Content > Accessibility Guidelines. The documentation mostly conforms. It is > being reviewed currently to ensure that it is all at least double-A > > 3.2 Ensure that all user agent functionalities that promote > accessibility are documented. This is being checked as part of the > review. Specifically, documentation of keyboard access is being added > > 5.5 Allow the user to turn on and off rendering of captions. > Amaya does not render timed presentations - N/A > 7.1 Ensure that the user has access to document content, including > alternative representations of content. This is available through the > structure view. Most content is also available through either the > formatted view or the alternate view > 7.2 For dependent user agents. Ensure that the user has access to the > content of an element selected by the user. Amaya is not a > dependent user agent, but satisfies this checkpoint anyway > 7.3 For dependent user agents. Render content according to natural > language identification. For unsupported natural languages, notify the > user of language changes when configured to do so. Amaya is not a > dependent user agent, but satisfies this checkpoint anyway > User Interface (Priority 1) Yes No N/A > 5.6 Allow the user to turn on and off animated or blinking text. > Amaya does not support any blinking mechanisms > 5.7 Allow the user to turn on and off animations and blinking images. > Amaya does not support any animation mechanisms > 5.9 Allow the user to turn on and off support for user style sheets. > Amaya allows each style sheet to be enabled or disabled > 5.10 Allow the user to turn on and off support for author style > sheets. Amaya allows each style sheet to be enabled or disabled > 5.11 Allow the user to turn on and off support for spawned windows. > Amaya only spawns windows as a result of user-initiated events - > following a link in a document which has been edited and not saved. > 6.1 Allow the user to control font family. Amaya does this through > CSS > 6.2 Allow the user to control font size. Amaya does this through CSS > > 6.3 Allow the user to control foreground color. Amaya does this > through CSS > 6.4 Allow the user to control background color. Amaya does this > through CSS > 6.5 Allow the user to control selection highlighting (e.g., foreground > and background color). I think this can be done in the Unix version, > but it is not very obvious and is not documented. It may be a system > function. > 6.6 Allow the user to control focus highlighting (e.g., foreground and > background color). I think this can be done in the Unix version, but > it is not very obvious and is not documented. It may be a system > function. > 6.14 Allow the user to control speech playback rate. Amaya does > not support any audio - N/A > 8.1 Allow the user to navigate views (notably those with frame > viewports). Amaya relies on the Operating system to navigate > between windows. It sets window titles as "Amaya" or as a filename, > which probably doesn't help. > 8.2 Keep track of the user's point of regard in each view and restore > it when the user returns to the view. I don't think Amaya does > this. > 9.1 Provide a mechanism for highlighting and identifying (through a > standard interface where available) the current view, selection, and > focus. Amaya relies on the operating system to do this. > Keyboard Support (Priority 1) Yes No N/A > 2.1 By default and without additional customization, ensure that all > functionalities offered by the user agent are accessible using the > keyboard. Several important functions require the mouse. > 2.2 Provide documentation on default keyboard commands and include > with user agent documentation and/or user help system. This is > being added to the documentation at the moment. > 2.3 Provide information to the user about the current keyboard > configuration. Keyboard shortcuts for menu functions are listed > after the relevant item in each menu. > Device Independence (Priority 1) Yes No N/A > 1.1 Ensure that all functionalities offered through the user interface > may be operated through standard input device APIs supported by the > operating system. I believe that this is the case for all > functionalities. Note that in some cases there are device-specific > APIs which must be used. > 1.2 Ensure that the user can interact with all active elements of a > document in a device independent manner. This is not yet the case. > > 1.3 Ensure that the user can install the user agent software in a > device independent manner. For the Unix version there is a simple, > text-based installation process, which can be automated for platforms > which support GUI-based installation of rpm packages via rpmfind (e.g. > Gnome). I believe Amaya uses a standard instalshield for windows, and > I don't know how accessible it is. > 1.4 Ensure that the user can configure the user agent in a device > independent manner. Most configuration is done through editing a text > file (which can be done in a plain-text edditor, or Amaya itself), or > through menu options which can be activated via keyboard or mouse (and > therefore through APIs) > 1.5 Ensure that the user can access user agent documentation in a > device independent manner. Documentation is HTML pages, available in > the installation package and online. > 1.6 Ensure that all messages to the user (e.g., warnings, errors, > etc.) are available through standard output device APIs supported by > the operating system. I think this is the case. > For Tables (Priority 1) Yes No N/A > 8.3 For dependent user agents. Allow the user to navigate among table > cells of a table (notably left and right within a row and up and down > within a column). Amaya is not a dependednt user agent. It does > this in a partial way - there are some inconsisitencies in > implementation > 9.7 For dependent user agents. Provide access to header information > for a selected table cell. Amaya is not a dependent user agent. > It provides access to all attributes of a cell, but does not use the > HTML algorithm to associate other information. > For Images, animations, and image maps (Priority 1) Yes No N/A > 5.1 Allow the user to turn on and off rendering of images. This can > be done through CSS, but it does not cause the rendering of alt text - > that is supplied in the alternate or structure views. > 5.2 Allow the user to turn on and off rendering of background images. > This is a menu option > For Multimedia (Priority 1) Yes No N/A > 5.3 Allow the user to turn on and off rendering of video. Amaya > does not render video - n/a > 5.4 Allow the user to turn on and off rendering of sound. Amaya > does not render sound - n/a > 6.8 Allow the user to control video frame rates. Amaya does not > render video - n/a > 6.9 Allow the user to control the position of captions. Amaya > does not render video - n/a > 6.11 Allow the user to control audio playback rate. Amaya does > not render sound - n/a > 7.6 If a technology allows for more than one caption or description > track (e.g., caption, auditory description, video of sign language, > etc.), allow the user to choose from among the tracks. Amaya does > not render video or sound - n/a > 7.7 Allow the user to specify that description tracks (e.g., caption, > auditory description, video of sign language, etc.) be rendered at the > same time as audio and video tracks. Amaya does not render video > - n/a > 7.8 If a technology allows for more than one audio track, allow the > user to choose from among tracks. Amaya does not render sound - > n/a > For Events, applets, and scripts (Priority 1) Yes No N/A > 5.8 Allow the user to turn on and off support for scripts and applets. > Amaya does not interpret scripts or applets - n/a > 10.1 Provide information about document and view changes (to the user > and through programming interfaces). Amaya does not interpret > scripts or applets - n/a > For Standards and Conventions (Priority 1) Yes No N/A > 11.1 Implement the accessibility features defined for supported > technologies. Amaya does not do this yet > 12.1 Use and provide accessible interfaces to other technologies. > This checkpoint is not really clear. How does it differ from 1.1? > 12.2 Provide programmatic read and write access to user agent > functionalities and user interface controls (including selection and > focus) by using operating system and development language > accessibility resources and conventions. Amaya does this by using > standard libraries only. > 12.3 Notify dependent user agents of changes to the document and user > interface controls (including selection and focus) by using operating > system and development language accessibility resources and > conventions. Amaya does this using standard operating system > libraries (eg Motif) > 12.4 For graphical desktop browsers. Comply with W3C Document Object > Model specifications and export interfaces defined by those > specifications. I don't know if Amaya does this. > >Priority 2 checkpoints > > In General (Priority 2) Yes No N/A > 3.3 Describe product features known to promote accessibility in a > section of the product documentation. How is this different from 3.2 > (which is priority 1)? > 7.4 When no alternative text representation has been specified, > indicate what type of object is present. Attributes are available > to the user, but information such as the content-type is not > 8.4 Allow the user to navigate among all active elements in the > document. Amaya supports links and form controls. The user can > navigate links in the links view. > 8.5 Allow the user to search for rendered text content, including > alternative text content. > 8.6 Allow the user to navigate the document structure. Amaya provides > a structure view, which allows element-by-element navigation, and a > table of contents view which allows navigation of the header elements. > > 9.4 Make available information about an element's context within a > document (e.g., numerical or relative position). I don't think Amaya > does this, except through the scrollbar position. It does give the > ancestor elements of the current element in the status bar > User Interface (Priority 2) Yes No N/A > 4.1 Allow the user to configure the user agent in named profiles that > may be shared (by other users or software). This can be done through > the use of multiple configuration directories. They are only read at > application intialisation time - changing the directory requires > exiting and restarting Amaya > 6.15 Allow the user to control speech volume, pitch, gender and other > articulation characteristics. Amaya does not render Audio - n/a > 9.3 For dependent user agents. Allow the user to view a document > outline constructed from its structural elements (e.g., from header > and list elements). Amaya is not a dependent user agent, but does > this anyway > 10.2 Ensure that when the selection or focus changes, it is in the > viewport after the change. Amaya does this, except that it allows a > selection to be under a search or dialogue window. > Keyboard Support (Priority 2) Yes No N/A > 2.4 Allow the user to configure the keystrokes used to activate user > agent functionalities. Wherever possible, allow single key activation > of functions. Amaya does this > 2.5 Allow the user to turn on and off author-specified keyboard > configurations. Amaya does not support accesskey (so far as I know) > > 2.6 Use platform conventions to indicate which keys activate which > user agent functionalities. Amaya does this > 2.7 Avoid default keyboard configurations that interfere with system > conventions. Amaya does this > For Links (Priority 2) Yes No N/A > 9.5 Make available whether following a link will involve a fee. > It is not clear how this can be known by the user agent. > For Frames (Priority 2) Yes No N/A > 5.12 Allow the user to turn on and off rendering of frames. Amaya > does not render frames > 6.16 When new windows or user interface components are spawned, allow > the user to control window size and position. Amaya does this through > system conventions and a configuration option > 9.2 For dependent user agents. Provide the user with information about > the number of viewports. Amaya is not a dependent user agent, > -n/a > For Forms (Priority 2) Yes No N/A > 9.9 Provide the user with access to any label explicitly associated > with a form control. I don't think Amaya does this > For Images, animations, and image maps (Priority 2) Yes No N/A > 6.7 Allow the user to control animation rate. Amaya does not > support animations - n/a > For Multimedia (Priority 2) Yes No N/A > 6.10 Allow the user to start, stop, pause, and rewind video. > Amaya does not support multimedia - n/a > 6.12 Allow the user to control audio volume. Amaya does not > support multimedia - n/ > 6.13 Allow the user to start, stop, pause, and rewind audio. > Amaya does not support multimedia - n/ > For Standards and Conventions (Priority 2) Yes No N/A > 11.2 Support appropriate W3C Recommendations. Amaya does this (mostly > - in theory all specifications will be fully implemented) > 12.5 For graphical desktop browsers. Provide programmatic exchange of > information in a timely manner. This is done through the operating > system. > 12.6 Follow operating system conventions and accessibility settings. > In particular, follow conventions for user interface design, default > keyboard configuration, product installation, and documentation. > Amaya mostly does this on unix, and to a lesser extent on windows. > >Priority 3 checkpoints > > In General (Priority 3) Yes No N/A > 7.5 When alternative text has been specified explicitly as empty > (i.e., an empty string), render nothing. Amaya does this > 8.7 Allow the user to configure structured navigation. Amaya does > not do this > 10.4 When loading a document, make available what portion of the > document has loaded, whether loading has stalled, and when the user > may begin to browse. This is in the status bar (when the user can > begin to browse is when the rendering changes. I think that triggers > an event in the system toolkits but I am not sure) > 10.5 Make available what portion of the document the user has viewed. > Amaya does this through the scrollbar > User Interface (Priority 3) Yes No N/A > 4.2 Allow the user to configure the graphical arrangement of user > interface controls. Amaya doesn't do this > 5.13 Allow the user to turn on and off author-specified page forwards > that occur after a time delay and without user intervention. Amaya > does not support http-equiv refresh (since it isn't part of http) > 5.14 Allow the user to turn on and off automatic page refresh. > Amaya does not support automatic refreshing > 9.10 Maintain consistent user agent behavior and default > configurations between software releases. Consistency is less > important than accessibility and adoption of system conventions. > Amaya does this as far as possible, consistent with accessibility > being a higher priority (for example, some default keyboard shortcuts > have changed in order to conform to platform standards or allow for a > wider range of available shortcuts) > Keyboard Support (Priority 3) Yes No N/A > 2.8 Provide a default keyboard configuration for frequently performed > operations. Amaya does this (to a cetain extent - not all functions > can be activated from teh keyboard, and not all functions which can > have a default keyboard activation) > For Links (Priority 3) Yes No N/A > 7.9 Provide a mechanism (e.g., through style sheets) to distinguish > visited links from unvisited links. Amaya does this through CSS > 7.10 Allow the user to specify (e.g., through style sheets) that > images used in links must have borders. Amaya does this through CSS > > 9.6 Make available information about a link that will enable the user > to decide whether to follow the link. Apart from the fee question > and the attributes of the link element ( for which see above) it is > not clear what information can be provided. > For Tables (Priority 3) Yes No N/A > 9.8 Make available the dimensions of a selected table. Amaya does > not do this > For Forms (Priority 3) Yes No N/A > 10.6 Allow the user to request to be prompted before a form is > submitted. The user must activate a form manually, but there is no > further prompting required > For Events, applets, and scripts (Priority 3) Yes No N/A > 10.3 Allow the user to configure the user agent for notification of > certain types of document changes only. Amaya doesn't really do > this. > 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 Wednesday, 25 August 1999 10:29:57 UTC