- From: Gregory J. Rosmaita <unagi69@concentric.net>
- Date: Wed, 01 Sep 1999 05:29:46 -0400
- To: User Agent Guidelines Emailing List <w3c-wai-ua@w3.org>
CONFORMANCE EVALUATION OF THE 27 AUGUST WORKING GROUP DRAFT OF THE WAI USER AGENT GUIDELINES, USING HAL95/NT, version 1.0 RELEASE DATE: 1 SEPTEMBER 1999 PART ONE: INTRODUCTORY COMMENTS AND NOTES A) MATERIALS USED IN THIS CONFORMANCE EVALUATION A1. Assistive Technology Used in This Evaluation: HAL for Windows 9x/NT, version 3.03 (manufactured by Dolphin Computer Access, LLC <http://www.dolphinusa.com/>) using "JAWS" key set emulation A2. Speech Synthesizer: Dolphin Orpheus software synthesizer (running on a NeoMagic MagicWave 3DX Sound System (driver: NMA255.VXD version 4.03.2420 A3. Operating System: Windows95 (version 4.01.0.971.B) A4. Computer: Gateway Solo 2500 (laptop; using Micron Windows95 keyboard) with 96MB RAM and a Pentium II processor running at 366MHz A5. Browsers Evaluated: Microsoft Internet Explorer, version 5.00.2314.1003 (MSIE update versions: ;q231452;q231450;3717) Netscape Navigator, version 4.08 Opera, version 3.60 B) Specialized Browser Configuration Settings, Set in Accordance with Dolphin Access' "Application Readme for Hal 95/NT" B1) Specialized Setting for Use With MSIE [NOTE: No analogous information or list of configuration settings was provided for Netscape or Opera.] -- begin quote Hal works well with Microsoft Internet Explorer 4.0, but doing the following will ensure that it runs optimally: 1. Turn off Internet Explorer's Status Bar.[GJR: disabled MSIE status bar for duration of review] This can be done by entering Internet Explorer's View menu using ALT+V and then deselecting the Status Bar option by pressing S. Doing this will ensure that the application's focus will be in the window containing the web page by default. [GJR's note: Whilst disabling the Status Bar allows HAL to start voicing the content being rendered by MSIE immediately and reliably, in order to compensate for the loss of feedback that the Status Bar can provide, HAL should announce when the page has finished loading. Likewise, it should be able to aurally alert the user to the other types of information that is made available via the Status Bar: i.e. "Making Connection", "Web Site Found", etc., especially since HAL offers a "Read Status Bar" hotkey. And, although the tips quoted here were issued prior to the release of IE5, they still apply, as screen echoing of rendered content by HAL is severely hampered by presence of the MSIE Status Bar. An additional complication is the use of sound cards to perform speech synthesis -- if the status information is being communicated to the user via canned audio files, the software synthesizer manufacturer must be careful to ensure that the sound card is able to play the 2 most common Windows- compatible audio formats -- WAV and AU -- without interfering with speech synthesis.] 2. Alter the following options in the Advanced property sheet of Internet Explorer 4's Properties, as they will enable Internet Explorer 4 to work better with screen readers in general: Turn on "Move system caret with focus/selection changes" in the Accessibility branch [GJR: this is the configuration I normally use.] Turn on "Always expand alt text for images" in the Accessibility branch. [GJR: this is the configuration I normally use.] Turn off "Use AutoComplete" in the Browsing branch. This will stop Internet Explorer from trying to guess what URL you are typing in the Address Bar and try to complete it automatically for you. This can be very confusing, as this feature keeps altering the name of the URL as you're typing. [GJR: this is the configuration I normally use.] 3. Turn off the Links option in the Toolbars sub-menu of Explorer's View menu. This is because in Explorer 4.0 you can TAB from object to object and removing Links means there's once less TAB to go through to put the focus back onto the web page again. [GJR: this is the configuration I normally use.] -- end quote C) ABBREVIATIONS & CONVENTIONS IE5: Microsoft Internet Explorer, version 5.00.2314.1003 (update versions: ;q231452;q231450;3717) N48: Netscape Navigator, version 4.8 O36: Opera, version 3.60 NOTE: For purposes of searching, each guideline is preceded by a plus (+) sign. PART TWO: CONFORMANCE EVALUATION OF THE 27 AUGUST WORKING GROUP DRAFT OF THE WAI USER AGENT GUIDELINES, USING HAL95/NT + Guideline 1. Support input and output device-independence 1.1 Ensure that all functionalities offered through the user interface may be operated through standard input device APIs supported by the operating system. [Priority 1] IE5: "MouseOver" events, such as the exposition of the TITLE attribute (when contained in the A, ABBR, ACRONYM, or HR elements) were not voiced when mouse-emulation was used to navigate a document encoded using the TITLE attribute for both hyperlinks and horizontal rules [Document tested: <http://www.hicom.net/~oedipus/vicug/index.html>] N48: Netscape crashes when attempting to load <http://www.hicom.net/~oedipus/vicug/index.html> even though the document source for that page uses W3C validated HTML4 and CSS2. Invariably, the error message returned by Windows95 is: NETSCAPE caused an invalid page fault in module <unknown> at 0000:00000009. [NOTE: further details deleted] When using HAL with N48, neither the hyperlink text nor the TITLE (if present) associated with hyperlinks are voiced when tabbing from link to link. This is true on every page that did not cause N48 to crash, including the WCAG <http://www.w3.org/TR/WAI-WEBCONTENT/> O36:: Using Opera's "Go to URL/address field" keystroke (F8), caused the focus to be switched to the appropriate point of regard, but the URL/address was not automatically voiced. In order to ascertain that the cursor had been routed to the URL/address bar, and to have it spoken, it was necessary to route the application cursor to the speech (mouse-emulation/navigation) cursor. In order to move out of the URL/address bar, it was necessary to use Opera's "Restore focus on current window" (F9) keyboard command. Doing so, however, caused HAL to echo the screen erratically as I resumed navigating the rendered content (in the midst of an ordered list) link by link. The first hyperlink moved- to using Opera's CONTROL-DownArrow command was announced as "Edit Area", while the hyperlink text of the next hyperlink moved-to was voiced correctly. This alternation continued until I moved out of the ordered list, and was not alleviated by reloading the page, using Opera's F5 keystroke. [Document tested: <http://www.hicom.net/~oedipus/vicug/index.html>] It should be further notice that the aural black holes were caused by the use of markup within the hyperlink text--either ACRONYM, ABBR, or EM. However, this phenomenon is apparently limited to hyperlinks contained in either an ordered or unordered list, as similarly marked up hyperlink text NOT contained within an ordered or unordered list is correctly voiced by HAL. The items in the ordered list which were not spoken upon receiving focus contained in the URI cited above are,: 2, 4, 7, 8, 10, 12, and 14. 1.2 Ensure that the user can interact with all active elements of a document in a device independent manner. [Priority 1] IE5: if alternative textual equivalents are present, the image map is keyboard navigable. N48: Hot areas of image-maps not voiced when selected by sequential navigation, despite presence of ALT attribute in AREA element. O36: Voiced with clarity and precision by Opera, due to presence of ALT attribute in AREA element; navigation performed via CONTROL+DownArrow and CONTROL+UpArrow keys 1.3 Ensure that the user can install the user agent software in a device independent manner. [Priority 1] IE5: I have not tried to install MSIE using HAL--rather, I used JAWS for WINDOWS (JFW), which is the screen reader with which I am most comfortable and familiar to install IE5. For comments upon the installation of IE5 using JFW 3.3, please refer to: <http://lists.w3.org/Archives/Public/w3c-wai- ua/1999JulSep/0292.html> N48: I have (yet) not tried to install N48 using HAL, but upon request, I shall. O36: 1. "Welcome" window completely self-voiced 2. "Software License Agreement" window: only the window title and active control ("Next" button) self-voiced. HAL's "Read the current application's title bar followed by the current focus" command caused only the window title and active control ("Next" button) to be voiced. Only by tabbing to the scrolling child window/non- editable text-entry field that contains the actual license agreement was the window's header ("Software License Agreement") and the license agreement text spoken. 3. "Select Destination Directory" window completely self- voiced. 4. "Select Group" window: only window title and the control with focus ("Next" button) self-voiced. [NOTE: at this point I canceled the installation, since I already have Opera 3.6 installed on the computer I am using to perform this evaluation. The confirmation of the cancellation dialog box completely self-voiced.] 1.4 Ensure that the user can configure the user agent in a device independent manner. [Priority 1] IE5, N48, and O36: One of the strategies used by blind and low vision cybernauts operating in the GUI environment is to force the user agent to ignore author-defined colors for hyperlink text, so that it is always displayed in a consistent, uniform manner. This includes the use of user- defined colors for visited and unvisited links, which is not only useful for the low vision user, but also for the blind user. Under adverse circumstances (which, for the purposes of this review includes using HAL with Netscape), a blind user will be forced to use screen review commands to have the font attributes for a character (or a selected/highlit string of text) spoken, so as to ascertain whether or not the mouse-emulation cursor is positioned on a hyperlink, and whether or not that hyperlink has been previously selected. All three of the user agents examined in this evaluation offer the user some level of control over the visual presentation of hyperlink text. [NOTE: Please refer to the comments following Checkpoint 9.6 for further discussion of this issue.] Of the three, Opera offers the greatest amount of user configurability for hyperlink presentation -- enabling the user to configure the browser so that, for example, unvisited links are underlined and visited hyperlink text appears struck-through, thereby allowing the user a supplemental means of distinguishing between visited and unvisited links. All three user agents provide the user with the ability to define his or her own color scheme for visited and unvisited links, along with the option to override colors defined for a document by the document's author. All three, however, also fail to provide alternative textual equivalents for the colors available to the user, instead presenting the choice of colors as a palette comprised of "swatches-in-a-box", which are completely inaccessible to the blind user without sighted assistance. 1.5 Ensure that the user can access user agent documentation in a device independent manner. [Priority 1] IE5: Help layout is annoying, since there is no "no frames" option N48: "NetHelp" layout is atrociously graphically and visually oriented, and, hence, extremely disorienting to anyone using speech output. It is one of the most speech- hostile environments that I personally have ever encountered -- and one of the most frustrating, since it refuses to shut .down in response to keyboard input (ALT+F4; ALT-SpaceBar, C) and has to be closed either by a sighted assistant with a mouse or via the "Close Program" interface. O36: Help files available as hypertext documents. Option to switch between framed and no-framed version of the help files provided. 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. [Priority 1] IE5: Information conveyed via the status/navigation bar. N48: Information conveyed via the status/navigation bar. O36: Information conveyed via the status/navigation bar. + Guideline 2. Ensure keyboard access to user agent functionalities 2.1 By default and without additional customization, ensure that all functionalities offered by the user agent are accessible using the keyboard. [Priority 1] Note. This checkpoint intends to ensure compatibility with dependent user agents that rely on keyboard input. Functionalities include being able to show, hide, resize and move windows or panes created by the user agent. IE5: yes N48: yes O36: yes 2.2 Provide documentation on default keyboard commands and include with user agent documentation and/or user help system. [Priority 1] IE5: yes, quite clearly N48: extremely brief and perfunctory -- only gross navigation possible via keyboard input: PageUp, PageDown, UpArrow, DownArrow, ALT+LeftArrow (to go back), TAB (to location field, then to FORM controls, if present) O36: yes -- very strong 2.3 Provide information to the user about the current keyboard configuration. [Priority 1] IE5: clear and concise N48: non-existent O36: clear and concise 2.4 Allow the user to configure the keystrokes used to activate user agent functionalities. Wherever possible, allow single key activation of functions. [Priority 2] IE5: yes N48: unavailable / not documented O36: yes 2.5 Allow the user to turn on and off author-specified keyboard configurations. [Priority 2] IE5: implementation of ACCESSKEY spotty; TABINDEX broken N48: ACCESSKEY and TABINDEX not supported/recognized O36: ; implementation of ACCESSKEY spotty; TABINDEX works extremely well 2.6 Use platform conventions to indicate which keys activate which user agent functionalities. [Priority 2] IE5: well integrated into normal menus, dialog boxes, and property sheets N48: integrated into normal menus O36: well integrated into normal menus, dialog boxes, and property sheets 2.7 Avoid default keyboard configurations that interfere with system conventions. [Priority 2] IE5: yes N48: yes O36: confusing use of some default Windows keyboard commands, particularly CONTROL+F, which activates FORM- navigation mode, rather than a "Search for." dialog box. 2.8 Provide a default keyboard configuration for frequently performed operations. [Priority 3] IE5: yes N48: minimal (refer also to comments on Checkpoint 2.2) O36: yes + Guideline 3. Ensure user access to document content General checkpoints: 3.1 Ensure that the user has access to document content, including alternative representations of content. [Priority 1] IE5: support for ALT and limited support for TITLE element (supported in A, and by MouseOver for ACRONYM) N48: support for ALT O36: support for ALT; limited support for TITLE element (displayed in a discrete status bar) 3.2 For dependent user agents only. Ensure that the user has access to the content of an element selected by the user. [Priority 1] IE5: no N48: no O36: no, save for FORM content 3.3 For dependent user agents only. Render content according to natural language identification. For unsupported natural languages, notify the user of language changes when configured to do so. [Priority 1] IE5: no (version of HAL used supports only US English) N48: no (version of HAL used supports only US English) O36: no (version of HAL used supports only US English) 3.4 Provide time-independent access to time-dependent active elements or allow the user to control the timing of changes. [Priority 1] IE5: no N48: no O36: no 3.5 When no alternative text representation has been specified, indicate what type of object is present. [Priority 2] IE5: no (if so, visually displayed without alternative textual equivalent) N48: no O36: yes 3.6 When alternative text has been specified explicitly as empty (i.e., an empty string), render nothing. [Priority 3] IE5: yes N48: yes O36: yes Checkpoints for captions and description tracks: 3.7 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. [Priority 1] IE5: not applicable N48: not applicable O36: not applicable 3.8 If a technology allows for more than one description track (e.g.,caption, auditory description, video of sign language, etc.), allow the user to choose from among the tracks. [Priority 1] IE5: not applicable N48: not applicable O36: not applicable Checkpoints for audio: 3.9 If a technology allows for more than one audio track, allow the user to choose from among tracks. [Priority 1] IE5: not applicable N48: not applicable O36: not applicable + Guideline 4. Allow the user to turn off features that may reduce accessibility 4.1 Allow the user to turn on and off rendering of images. [Priority 1] IE5: yes N48: yes O36: yes 4.2 Allow the user to turn on and off rendering of background images. [Priority 1] IE5: yes N48: yes, although from the "Color" property sheet, it is unclear that background image loading will be disabled when the "Always use my colors, overriding document" checkbox is checked O36: yes 4.3 Allow the user to turn on and off rendering of video. [Priority 1] IE5: yes N48: not clear either from preferences property sheets, nor from product documentation O36: yes 4.4 Allow the user to turn on and off rendering of sound. [Priority 1] IE5: yes N48: not clear either from preferences property sheets, nor from product documentation O36: yes 4.5 Allow the user to turn on and off rendering of audio captions. [Priority 1] IE5: not applicable N48: not applicable O36: not applicable 4.6 Allow the user to turn on and off animated or blinking text. [Priority 1] IE5: theoretically, this can be disabled by checking all 3 checkboxes in the "Formatting" group in the "Accessibility" property sheet. N48: option not explicitly included in "Preferences" property sheets O36: option not explicitly included in "Preferences" property sheets, but in theory, yes 4.7 Allow the user to turn on and off animations and blinking images. [Priority 1] IE5: allows user to turn off animation (although as for the question of whether or not it works, I have no independent verification either way.) N48: allows user to turn off animation (although as for the question of whether or not it works, I have no independent verification either way.) O36: allows user to turn off animation (although as for the question of whether or not it works, I have no independent verification either way.) 4.8 Allow the user to turn on and off support for scripts and applets. [Priority 1] IE5: yes N48: yes O36: yes 4.9 Allow the user to turn on and off support for user style sheets. [Priority 1] IE5: no N48: no O36: yes 4.10 Allow the user to turn on and off support for author style sheets. [Priority 1] IE5: no, allows the user to specify their style sheet, but author style sheets cannot be totally disabled. N48: no, allows the user to specify their style sheet, but author style sheets cannot be totally disabled. O36: yes 4.11 Allow the user to turn on and off support for spawned windows. [Priority 1] IE5: unclear if such an option is supported N48: unclear if such an option is supported O36: yes 4.12 Allow the user to turn on and off rendering of frames. [Priority 2] IE5: no N48: no O36: yes 4.13 Allow the user to turn on and off author-specified page forwards that occur after a time delay and without user intervention. [Priority 3] IE5: no N48: no O36: unclear if such an option is supported 4.14 Allow the user to turn on and off automatic page refresh. [Priority 3] IE5: no N48: no O36: unclear if such an option is supported + Guideline 5. Ensure user control over document styles Checkpoints for fonts and colors: 5.1 Allow the user to control font family. [Priority 1] IE5: yes N48: yes O36: yes 5.2 Allow the user to control the size of text. [Priority 1] IE5: yes N48: yes O36: yes 5.3 Allow the user to control foreground color. [Priority 1] GENERAL NOTE: The color palettes available for all three browsers lack alternative textual equivalents of the available colors. IE5: yes N48: yes O36: yes 5.4 Allow the user to control background color. [Priority 1] GENERAL NOTE: The color palettes available for all three browsers lack alternative textual equivalents of the available colors. IE5: yes N48: yes O36: yes 5.5 Allow the user to control selection highlighting (e.g., foreground and background color). [Priority 1] GENERAL NOTE: As a totally blind user, I am not sure what level of user-control (if any) Windows 9x's "High Contrast" mode (part of the Control Panel's "Accessibility Options") exerts over highlighting. IE5: not via UA N48: not via UA O36: not via UA 5.6 Allow the user to control focus highlighting (e.g., foreground and background color). [Priority 1] GENERAL NOTE: As a totally blind user, I am not sure what level of user-control (if any) Windows 9x's "High Contrast" mode (part of the Control Panel's "Accessibility Options") exerts over highlighting. IE5: possible via a user style sheet N48: theoretically possible via a user style sheet O36: yes, via the "Invert Marked Text" setting contained in the "Document Appearance" property sheet; as noted in the product documentation, this setting greatly enhances a screen reader's ability to monitor focus highlighting when navigating from link to link. Checkpoints for applets and animations: 5.7 Allow the user to control animation rate. [Priority 2] IE5: not applicable N48: not applicable O36: not applicable Checkpoints for video. 5.8 Allow the user to control video frame rates. [Priority 1] IE5: not applicable N48: not applicable O36: not applicable 5.9 Allow the user to control the position of audio captions. [Priority 1] IE5: not applicable N48: not applicable O36: not applicable 5.10 Allow the user to start, stop, pause, and rewind video. [Priority 2] IE5: not applicable -- video support via a plug-in N48: not applicable -- video support via a plug-in O36: not applicable -- video support via a plug-in Checkpoints for audio: 5.11 Allow the user to control audio playback rate. [Priority 1] IE5: not applicable -- audio support via a plugin N48: not applicable -- audio support via a plugin O36: not applicable -- audio support via a plugin 5.12 When the user agent renders audio natively, allow the user to control the audio volume. [Priority 2] IE5: not applicable -- audio support via a plugin N48: not applicable -- audio support via a plugin O36: not applicable -- audio support via a plugin 5.13 Allow the user to start, stop, pause, and rewind audio. [Priority 2] IE5: not applicable -- audio support via a plugin N48: not applicable -- audio support via a plugin O36: not applicable -- audio support via a plugin Checkpoints for speech: GENERAL NOTE: None of the targeted user agents provides native support for speech; HAL, of course, offers control over speech rate, speech volume, pitch, gender and other articulation characteristics 5.14 Allow the user to control speech playback rate. [Priority 1] IE5: not applicable N48: not applicable O36: not applicable 5.15 Allow the user to control speech volume, pitch, gender and other articulation characteristics. [Priority 2] IE5: not applicable N48: not applicable O36: not applicable Checkpoints for changes to the user interface: 5.16 When new windows or user interface components are spawned, allow the user to control window size and position. [Priority 2] IE5: although, in theory, it should, even though I have set IE5 to run Maximized, when a new window is spawned it is spawned as a "Normal" window N48: no O36: While Opera offers a host of options, and respects window sizing when spawning new windows, the only effective way to use Opera with a GUI screen reader is to set Opera to run maximized at startup, and to cascade new windows. It is then possible to cycle through the open windows using the CONTROL+TAB keystroke. The biggest shortcoming of this strategy is that Opera does not inform the screen reader user (at least, not those using HAL, JFW, or Window-Eyes) that a new child window has been spawned. The "Tile" option is not an option, as the horizontally truncated windows are incompletely voiced, even when navigating link-by-link, for the first principle of most screen readers is that they can only read what is displayed in the current viewport The "Tile Horizontal" option, while superior to the "Tile" option, can be problematic when attempting to use a screen reader's "continuous read" command. + Guideline 6. Observe system conventions and standard interfaces 6.1 Use and provide accessible interfaces to other technologies. [Priority 1] To promote interoperability, open standards and W3C specifications should be used wherever possible. IE5: online help needs desperately to be (a) validated, and (b) made WCAG Triple-A compliant; use of scripting should be optional, as should the use of frames N48: online help needs desperately to be (a) validated, and (b) made WCAG Triple-A compliant; use of scripting should be optional, as should the use of frames O36: aside from the previously mentioned key conflicts, Opera is a very intelligently designed tool -- once, that is, you get the hang of using a very intelligently designed tool! 6.2 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. [Priority 1] IE5: PowerToys (for IE4) and PowerTweaks (for IE5), too mouse centric. As noted in the comments on Checkpoint 8.5, it is actually a pleasure to use HAL when searching for a text-string contained within a hyperlink, as the focus is routed to the search term, which therefore becomes the current point of regard. This means that one can activate the cursor at the current (highlit) point of regard simply hitting TAB, and then hitting ENTER (if the link found is the link for which you were searching) to activate the link. If the link is not the link for which you were searching, tabbing moves you forward, link-by-link, from the first instance of the text string for which you were searching. N48: keyboard support in Netscape has always been extremely poor; use of custom controls often problematic, as is use of scripting in documentation O36: While I am encouraged by the progress made by Opera in addressing accessibility issues since I first attempted to use Opera to surf the web, there still is much work to be done in order to eliminate the keybinding conflicts between Opera and the Windows 9x environment. 6.3 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. [Priority 1] IE5: HAL unaware when new windows spawned or when the viewport moved from frame to frame. N48: HAL unaware when new windows spawned or when the viewport moved from frame to frame. O36: HAL unaware when new windows spawned or when the viewport moved from frame to frame. 6.4 For graphical desktop browsers only. Comply with W3C Document Object Model specifications and export interfaces defined by those specifications. [Priority 1] IE5: Web Developer's DOM tool (adds "Document Tree" menu item to the "Tools" menu) is useless for anyone using speech output, as the window does not voice unless screen review (mouse emulation) mode is engaged. Moreover, since the output is javascripted, none of the items contained in the "Document Tree" can be navigated via IE's keybindings, but only via mouse emulation keys, despite the presence of an ACCESSKEY defined in the document source (I was unaware of the ACCESSKEY's existence until I listened to the document source for the "Document Tree" window. N48: not available or not documented O36: not available or not documented 6.5 For graphical desktop browsers only. Provide programmatic exchange of information in a timely manner. [Priority 2] IE5: no -- does not provide timely access to the DOM N48: unavailable or undocumented O36: unavailable or undocumented 6.6 Follow operating system conventions and accessibility settings. In particular, follow conventions for user interface design, default keyboard configuration, product installation, and documentation. [Priority 2] IE5: labeling of controls spotty: in the "Save As" dialog box, for example, none of the screen readers I have used recognized the "Up One Level" or "Create New Folder" graphics without being the graphics first being manually labeled. N48:poor native keyboard support; documentation largely inaccessible; perhaps the biggest problem, however, is the lack of a system caret that moves with focus and/or selection changes O36: there still is much work to be done in order to eliminate the key configuration conflicts between Opera and the Windows 9x environment. + Guideline 7. Support applicable W3C technologies and guidelines 7.1 Implement the accessibility features defined for supported specifications. [Priority 1] IE5: support spotty -- particular areas of concern are: FORM controls (especially the broken TABINDEXing); lack of uniform and keyboard addressable support for the TITLE attribute; does not support LONGDESC N48: support either incidental, or non-existent O36: support spotty (handles FORM controls better than IE5 or N48); needs cleaner way of handling -- and passing along to AT -- support for the TITLE attribute, particularly in hyperlinks and for the expansion of the ACRONYM and ABBR elements; does not support LONGDESC 7.2 Support appropriate W3C Recommendations. [Priority 2] IE5: support for: HTML, XML, style sheets; incomplete support for CSS N48: support for: HTML, style sheets; very incomplete support for CSS O36: support for: HTML, XML, style sheets, CSS + Guideline 8. Provide navigation mechanisms 8.1 Allow the user to navigate viewports (including frames).[Priority 1] Note. Navigating into a viewport makes it the current viewport. IE5: yes, but it is not always clear when one navigated from one viewport to another. Even on relatively straight- forward pages, this was a problem with IE5. For example, after initially getting lost in the search form at the bottom of <http://www.hwg.org/> the first time I pressed the TAB key after the page loaded, HAL read the graphical list of links in order. N48: while it is possible to move from frame to frame, the only way I was able to do so was by sequential navigation of all active elements (the last link in one frame led me to the first link in the next frame); HAL does not announce the presence of frames in N48, nor does the viewport and point of change accordingly O36: yes, but it is not always clear when one has done so 8.2 For user agents that offer a browsing history mechanism, when the user returns to a previous view, restore the point of regard in the viewport. [Priority 1] IE5: yes -- this feature has been getting stronger since the release of IE4.01 N48: no -- absolutely not O36: no 8.3 For dependent user agents only. Allow the user to navigate just among table cells of a table (notably left and right within a row and up and down within a column). [Priority 1] IE5: not available via HAL N48: not available via HAL O36: not available via HAL 8.4 Allow the user to navigate just among all active elements in the document. [Priority 2] IE5: yes, but in a mouse-centric manner; no ability to navigate scripting events; "List of Links" PowerTweak would be more useful if it provided the option to use TITLE (if present) rather than just the hyperlink text; likewise, the "Image List " would also be of more utility if it rendered the ALT-text associated with the listed images N48: no O36: yes -- particularly strong as regards FORM controls 8.5 Allow the user to search for rendered text content, including alternative text content. [Priority 2] IE5: Using CONTROL+F to search for a text string works especially well with hyperlinks. The focus is routed to the search term, which therefore becomes the current point of regard. This means that one can activate the cursor at the current (highlit) point of regard simply hitting TAB, and then hitting ENTER (if the link found is the link for which you were searching) to activate the link. If the link is not the link for which you were searching, tabbing moves you forward, link-by-link, from the first instance of the text string for which you were searching. For graphically defined hyperlinks with alternative textual content, search includes ALT text. N48: search excludes ALT text O36: search does not include ALT text 8.6 Allow the user to navigate the document structure. [Priority 2] IE5: not available N48: not available O36: not available, although an Enable/Disable Tables option is available 8.7 Allow the user to configure structured navigation. [Priority 3] IE5: not available N48: not available O36: not available + Guideline 9. Help orient the user 9.1 Provide a mechanism for highlighting and identifying (through a standard interface where available) the current viewport, selection, and focus. [Priority 1] IE5: uses Active Accessibility, to which HAL is largely indifferent; HAL does not announce the presence of frames, nor when the point of regard is moved from one frame to another N48: HAL does not announce the presence of frames, nor when the point of regard is moved from one frame to another O36: HAL does not announce the presence of frames, nor when the point of regard is moved from one frame to another 9.2 For dependent user agents only. Provide the user with information about the number of viewports. [Priority 2] IE5: information not available via HAL N48: information not available via HAL O36: information not available via HAL Document information: 9.3 For dependent user agents only. Allow the user to view a document outline constructed from its structural elements (e.g., from header and list elements). [Priority 2] IE5: not available using HAL N48: not available using HAL O36: not available using HAL 9.4 Describe a selected element's context within a document (e.g., numerical or relative position). [Priority 2] IE5: available only if "Document Tree" plug-in is installed; please refer to comments on Checkpoint 6.4 for detailed comments on the shortcomings of the "Document Tree" interface N48: not available/unsupported O36: not available, unsupported, or undocumented Link information: 9.5 For a selected link, indicate whether following the link will involve a fee. [Priority 2] IE5, N48, and O36: There is currently no support for this checkpoint, which is (in my opinion) too specific to be a checkpoint, and belongs, instead, in the techniques document, as an example of the type of information about links that the user agent should make available to the user. 9.6 For a selected link, provide information to help the user decide whether to follow the link. [Priority 3] Note. Useful information includes: whether the link has already been visited, whether it designates an internal anchor, the type of the target resource, the length of an audio or video clip that will be started, and the expected natural language of target resource. Note. Using color as the only distinguishing factor between visited and unvisited links does not suffice since color may not be perceivable by all users or rendered by all devices. GENERAL NOTE: Using HAL's "Speak background and foreground color" and/or "Speak font attributes" key command, when the point of regard is a hyperlink allows the user to ascertain a limited amount of information about the currently selected link. The information that is available is as follows (NOTE: the terminology used to enumerate information about font attributes available to the user on demand, does not correspond to the syntax used in CSS): "Say Font Attributes (LeftControlKey+F) 1. font family (e.g. Times New Roman) 2. font weight (bold or normal) 3. font style (italic, underline, strike-through, etc) 4. font size (in points) "Say foreground and background color" (LeftControlKey+5) 1. foreground color 2. background color When querying HAL as to the fore- and background colors for hyperlink text, however, HAL was only able to report those colors defined using the hexadecimal notation (i.e. "#RRGGBB") and not those defined using the semantic equivalents defined for CSS (i.e. white, blue, red, etc.) Despite this, hexadecimal color values are reported by HAL in plain English (e.g. the hexadecimal value "#00009C" is reported as "very dark blue", while the style defined as "background-color : white;" is reported as "background color unknown". All three of the user agents examined in this evaluation offer the user some level of control over the visual presentation of hyperlink text. IE5: No UA support for providing information about links in a media independent fashion. The only configuration option is to force IE to ignore colors, font styles, and font sizes specified on web pages (available through the "Accessibility" property sheet under "Internet Options") and to use user-defined colors. As noted in the comments following Checkpoint 1.4, the "Color" property sheet uses exclusively visual cues (i.e. one is presented with a box containing a sample of a color, but which lacks an alternative textual equivalent of the color contained in the sample area). N48 does allow the user to choose whether or not Netscape will underline hyperlink text. : N48: Links not spoken by HAL unless screen review is initiated. The only configuration options available are: (1) force Netscape to "Always use my colors, overriding document" (available through the "Colors" sub-category of N48's "Appearance" property sheet); and (2) "Use my default fonts, overriding document specified fonts". As noted in the comments following Checkpoint 1.4, the "Color" property sheet uses exclusively visual cues (i.e. one is presented with a box containing a sample of a color, but which lacks an alternative textual equivalent of the color contained in the sample area). N48 does allow the user to choose whether or not Netscape will underline hyperlink text. O36: Of the three user agents examined in this evaluation, Opera offers the greatest amount of user configurability for hyperlink presentation, offering the user with the ability to: a) underline hyperlink text b) strike through hyperlink text c) define a color for visited and unvisited links {please refer to the comments on Checkpoint 1.4 for more information about the inaccessibility of the color selection dialog box.) and/or d) display hyperlink text as bolded, italicized, and/or "framed" Such a variety of configuration options might provide an extremely sophisticated and confident user with the ability to distinguish between visited and unvisited links by routing the cursor to the current point of regard as one navigates from link-to-link and issuing either or both of HAL's available "font attribute" commands. SUMMATION: Obviously, such limited information is not sufficient, and the exclusive reliance upon color changes to signify whether a link has already been visited means that IE5 and N48 abjectly fail to pass this checkpoint -- especially in light of the second note appended to Checkpoint 9.6. And, while Opera offers more configurability as regards the visual presentation of hyperlinks, the limitations of relying on font attributes such as underline, strike- through, and font-color to provide information about the currently selected link are obvious. Likewise, offering the user the option to use his or her own style sheet (as is possible with IE5 and O36) is far from sufficient, as -- in the absence of a "style sheet wizard" -- it places an undue burden upon the user. SUPPLEMENTAL NOTE: Please also refer to my comments on Checkpoint 1.4 9.7 Provide a mechanism for highlighting and identifying (through a standard interface where available) active elements of a document. [Priority 3] Note. User agents may satisfy this checkpoint by supporting the appropriate style sheet mechanisms, such as link highlighting. IE5: yes N48: yes O36: yes Table information: 9.8 For dependent user agents only. Provide access to header information for a selected table cell. [Priority 1] IE5: not available via HAL N48: not available via HAL O36: not available via HAL 9.9 For dependent user agents only. Indicate the row and column dimensions of a selected table. [Priority 3] IE5: not available via HAL N48: not available via HAL O36: not available via HAL Form control information: 9.10 Provide the user with access to any label explicitly associated with a form control. [Priority 2] GENERAL NOTE: The forms tested to evaluate this checkpoint, Seti-Search: <http://www.seti-search.com/> VICUG NYC Survey <http://www.hicom.net/~oedipus/vicug/.html> Universally Accessible RealAudio Download Form (version 1.2) <http://www.hicom.net/~oedipus/ra_form.html> are all valid HTML 4.0, as validated by the W3C Validator <http://validator.w3.org/> between the three forms, the form control commands tested include: LABEL, LEGEND, FIELDSET, and TABINDEX IE5: TABINDEX order not followed by UA, LABEL text not spoken, VALUE attribute defined for the INPUT types "submit" and "reset" voiced correctly N48: Respected TABINDEX order, but did not speak any LABEL text. VALUE attribute defined for the INPUT types "submit" and "reset" voiced correctly. O36: Respected TABINDEX order, sporadically (and not necessarily accurately) voiced LABELs defined for input fields, VALUE attribute defined for the INPUT types "submit" and "reset" voiced correctly. Consistency: 9.11 Maintain consistent user agent behavior and default configurations between software releases. Consistency is less important than accessibility and adoption of system conventions. [Priority 3] IE5: On the surface, not much has changed between IE4.01SP2 and IE5, although "less frequently" used interfaces operate in a significantly different manner. N48: Netscape remains one of the least used browsers on my computer, due in no small part, to the lack of user interface consistency between versions. O36: Interface has remained consistent since I began using Opera, less than a year ago. + Guideline 10. Notify the user of document and viewport changes 10.1 Provide information about document and viewport changes (to users and through programming interfaces). [Priority 1] IE5: HAL is indifferent to MSAA and (currently, at least) has means of accessing the DOM API N48: none provided O36: none currently provided 10.2 Ensure that when the selection or focus changes, it is in the viewport after the change. [Priority 2] IE5: yes N48: no O36: yes 10.3 Allow the user to selectively turn on and off notification of common types of document and viewport changes. [Priority 3] IE5: it is possible to set IE5 to be quite a nag (i.e. prompting every time it encounters a script) by customizing the "Security" property sheets N48: very little user configurable notification options O36: 10.4 When loading a resource (e.g., document, video clip, audio clip, etc.) indicate what portion of the resource has loaded and whether loading has stalled. [Priority 3] IE5: some information available via status line N48: information available via status line O36: information available via status line; type of information displayed is extremely user-configurable 10.5 Indicate the relative position of the viewport in a resource (e.g., the percentage of the document that has been viewed, the percentage of an audio clip that has been played, etc.). [Priority 3] IE5: visually dependent (scroll bars) N48: visually dependent (scroll bars) O36: yes: both through (optional) scroll bars and through a user-configurable status monitor 10.6 Prompt the user to confirm any form submission not explicitly initiated by the user. [Priority 2] IE5: no -- automatic FORM submit on ENTER N48: no -- automatic FORM submit on ENTER O36: no -- automatic FORM submit on ENTER + Guideline 11. Allow the user to configure the user agent 11.1 Allow the user to configure the user agent in named profiles that may be shared (by other users or software). [Priority 2] IE5: no N48: yes O36: yes 11.2 Allow the user to configure the graphical arrangement of user interface controls. [Priority 3] IE5: no N48: yes, via drag-and-drop of personal toolbar items O36: no + Guideline 12. Provide accessible product documentation and help 12.1 Provide a version of the product documentation that conforms to the Web Content Accessibility Guidelines. [Priority 1] IE5: no N48: most definitely not O36: yes (help available in both framed and no frames views) 12.2 Ensure that all user agent functionalities that promote accessibility are documented. [Priority 1] IE5: yes N48: no O36: yes 12.3 Describe product features known to promote accessibility in a section of the product documentation. [Priority 2] IE5: yes N48: no O36: yes -------------------------------------------------------- He that lives on Hope, dies farting -- Benjamin Franklin, Poor Richard's Almanack, 1763 -------------------------------------------------------- Gregory J. Rosmaita <oedipus@hicom.net> President, WebMaster, & Minister of Propaganda, VICUG NYC <http://www.hicom.net/~oedipus/vicug/> --------------------------------------------------------
Received on Wednesday, 1 September 1999 05:28:20 UTC