Proposal for Checkpoint 2.1

The discussion of checkpoint 2.1 has raised a number of issues on it's 
meaning and what is needed for conformance

I think the group has consensus on the following issues:

1. Alternative equivalents should be available through the User Interface 
in place of or in conjunction with primary content

2. Users need access to all content

3. All views need to be accessible

4. A source view is one way to make content available, but not the only way 
it should be made available

5. Access to the attributes of an element is useful and should be easy for 
the user to obtain.

I like Ian's [1] splitting out the alternative equivalent part of the 
checkpoint into a separate checkpoint.

I would like to propose the following 5 checkpoints to help make the 
requirement for checkpoint 2.1 clear.  The proposal is based on the 
comments that I have hearing for the past couple weeks.

Proposal:

Checkpoint 2.1a Ensure that the user has access to all content.  [Priority 1]

Note on 2.1a:
1) The combination of views offered by a user agent must provide access to 
all author supplied resources.  A source view is typically one of the views 
offered by a user agent, but is not a requirement for satisfying this 
checkpoint if resource information is available in the combination of other 
views.

2) When a users change the default rendering configuration (colors, style 
sheets, font size and style...) the view must provide access to all the 
content defined for that view.  In a graphical user agent this may require 
the ability of the user to scroll the contents of a view in a view port.

Checkpoint 2.1b Allow the user substitute alternative equivalents for 
primary content in views where alternative equivalents are not rendered by 
default. [Priority 1]

Note: For example, substituting the ALT text associated with an image 
and/or a link to the LONGDESC resource of an image for the original image.

Checkpoint 2.1c For synchronized alternative equivalents, provide a 
synchronized view of the alternative equivalent with primary 
content.  [Priority 1]

Note: This supports the current checkpoint for a means to provide 
positioning of a separate view in checkpoint 4.7

Checkpoint 2.1d Provide synchronized views of content. [Priority 2]

Note: If a user agent provides more than one view of content, allow the 
user to synchronize the views.  For example, when an element is selected in 
one view and the user switches to a source or a DOM tree view of the 
resource, the portion of the resource associated with the selected element 
is also selected in the source or DOM tree view.

Checkpoint 2.1e Provide access to only the attributes of a selected 
element. [Priority 3]

Note: In some cases the user needs access to the attributes of a selected 
element to determine the purpose or relationship of the element to other 
elements in a resource.

This is priority 3 since it is a convenience function.  The information 
would be required to be available through the user interface in 2.1a and 
partially supported in 2.1d.  AG and JW have said this maybe a common 
technique for XML, until more is understood about how XML will be used and 
made accessible.

Jon

[1] http://lists.w3.org/Archives/Public/w3c-wai-ua/2000AprJun/0223.html


Jon Gunderson, Ph.D., ATP
Coordinator of Assistive Communication and Information Technology
Chair, W3C WAI User Agent Working Group
Division of Rehabilitation - Education Services
College of Applied Life Studies
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
WWW: http://www.w3.org/wai/ua

Received on Monday, 1 May 2000 11:00:22 UTC