- From: Ian Jacobs <ij@w3.org>
- Date: Fri, 27 Aug 1999 19:27:54 -0400
- To: thatch@us.ibm.com
- CC: w3c-wai-ua@w3.org, jasonw@ariel.ucs.unimelb.edu.au
thatch@us.ibm.com wrote: > > Ian, Point of information. Below you said: quote We have mostly been thinking > about how speech and braille devices can switch dictionaries automatically when > there's a marked up change in language. endquote. Which braille and speech > devices do this? I looked for information about this in the GL list and found you and Jason White addressing the same issues in April ([1], [2]). [1] http://lists.w3.org/Archives/Public/w3c-wai-gl/1999AprJun/0112.html [2] http://lists.w3.org/Archives/Public/w3c-wai-gl/1999AprJun/0114.html This is where the background information comes from. But I confess, I don't know which braille and speech devices do this. Perhaps Jason, or Gregory, or someone more familiar with the technology can answer this. > I continue to contend that this is not a priority 1 accessibility issue. For > example, though I cannot understand Japanese, I can understand English when it > is spoken by a Japanese tts engine - with difficulty. The same is true for a > Japanese speaker; in fact it is probably easier fro them to understand the > poorly pronounced English. Though I don't think anybody is doing it, I suspect a > similar statement can be made for braille. I'll add this to the issues list. - Ian > > Ian Jacobs <ij@w3.org> on 08/27/99 05:30:24 PM > > To: Jon Gunderson <jongund@staff.uiuc.edu> > cc: Kitch Barnicle <kab42@columbia.edu>, w3c-wai-ua@w3.org > Subject: Re: "For dependent user agents" > > Jon Gunderson wrote: > > > > Response in JRG: > > > > At 02:39 PM 8/20/99 -0500, Kitch Barnicle wrote: > > > >I have been reading the guidelines with the notion that those check points > > >that say "For Dependent User Agents" in front of them, only apply to > > >dependent user agents. However in several cases that didn't seem to make > > >sense. For example why would checkpoints 7.3, "Render content according to > > >natural language identification," or 9.3 "Allow the user to view a document > > >outline constructed from its structural elements." only apply to dependent > > >user agents.? > > > > JRG: Natural language means that if the user agent can identify the > > langauge of > > the element content (primarily markup of the element) that the user agent > > should render through speech, visual or braille that appropriate language. It > > seems to me that this should apply to all user agents, I am not sure why it is > > just for dependent user agents. > > I think you're right and it should be for all user agents. > > BACKGROUND: We have mostly been thinking about how speech > and braille devices can switch dictionaries automatically > when there's a marked up change in language. > > However, the checkpoint applies to graphical desktop browsers > that support HTML as well. From the HTML 4.0 spec, section 8.2 [1]: > > > If a document contains right-to-left characters, > > and if the user agent displays these characters, > > the user agent must use the bidirectional algorithm. > > [1] http://www.w3.org/TR/REC-html40/struct/dirlang.html#h-8.2 > > In other words, user agents are supposed to handle bidi > text correctly (although they may not have a font handy > to display the text). > > Furthermore, HTML user agents are meant to support "lang", > presumably on screen as well as on other devices. From > HTML 4.0, section 8.1 [2]: > > > The intent of the lang attribute is to allow user agents > > to render content more meaningfully based on accepted cultural > > practice for a given language. This does not imply that > > user agents should render characters that are atypical for a > > particular language in less meaningful ways; user agents > > must make a best attempt to render all characters, regardless > > of the value specified by lang. > > > > For instance, if characters from the Greek alphabet > > appear in the midst of English text: > > > > <P><Q lang="en">Her super-powers were the result of > > γ-radiation,</Q> he explained.</P> > > > > a user agent (1) should try to render the English content > > in an appropriate manner (e.g., in its handling the > > quotation marks) and (2) must make a best attempt to > > render γ even though it is not an English > > character. > > Presumably, this would involve choosing a suitable glyph > for rendering a gamma. > > [2] http://www.w3.org/TR/REC-html40/struct/dirlang.html#h-8.1 > > - Ian > > -- > Ian Jacobs (jacobs@w3.org) http://www.w3.org/People/Jacobs > Tel/Fax: +1 212 684-1814 -- Ian Jacobs (jacobs@w3.org) http://www.w3.org/People/Jacobs Tel/Fax: +1 212 684-1814
Received on Friday, 27 August 1999 19:28:07 UTC