Re: longdescs and screen-shots

Gregory,
The long description issue is one of the issues we will be discussing at
today telecon.  I must say your proposals are long descriptions and we can
discuss today what types of long descriptions are needed for different
types of images used in the document.
Jon


At 03:49 AM 3/16/00 -0500, Gregory J. Rosmaita wrote:
>aloha, ian & jon!
>
>while i know that the focus is now firmly upon the Guidelines document 
>itself, i am still concerned about the lack of long descriptions for the 
>screen shots that have been embedded into the Techniques document, as i 
>believe it would be unconscionable for the UA WG to issue a document on 
>accessibility without following accessible authoring practices...
>
>i have prepared 2 long descriptions for the screen snapshots which i 
>provided for the Techniques document, and in doing so, developed what i 
>believe to be a workable template for others to provide long descriptions 
>of the screen shots that they have contributed...
>
>this is an issue that i am ready to take a strong stand on, for to 
>distribute a Techniques document that includes screen shots that lack long 
>descriptions would set an extremely poor precedent...  in effect, we would 
>be telling others to do as WCAG says, but don't let it bother you that the 
>WAI itself doesn't always adhere to WCAG to the greatest extent possible....
>
>ian, i realize that you are one over-burdened individual, and i am amazed 
>by, and grateful for, all of the work, dedication, persistence and 
>perseverance that you continually display...  however, i am concerned that, 
>in the rush to get the document out, logistics have forced a certain amount 
>of corner-cutting -- in particular a failure to provide textual equivalents 
>that fully convey the content and purpose of the graphic when an 
>understanding of the detail contained in that graphic is essential to a 
>complete understanding of the concept being conveyed by the text of the 
>document in conjunction with the graphic...  moreover, simple D-links and 
>use of the "longdesc" attribute in the HTML version of the Techniques is 
>clearly insufficient -- the content of the longdesc files should be 
>included inline in the plain text version of the Techniques document, where 
>currently only the ALT text defined for the screen shots appears...
>
>i don't believe that it is your individual responsibility to provide 
>longdescs for all of the illustrations included in the Techniques document 
>-- clearly, it is the responsibility of the individuals who have provided 
>screen shots for inclusion into the Techniques document to also provide 
>long descriptions of those screen shots...  it was with that thought in 
>mind that i consciously created a template that could be recycled in order 
>to provide longdescs for the other graphical elements in the Techniques 
>document...
>
>and so, at the risk of incurring the wrath of the process wonks, i'm 
>attaching copies of the proposed longdesc files to this emessage, as a 
>means of getting the WG's input as to whether or not they think this is a 
>worthwhile endeavor to pursue...  the references to the TR stylesheets in 
>the doc source is absolute, so when the attached are archived in the 
>w3c-wai-ua hyperarchive the stylesheets should be applied 
>correctly...  some of what i've included in my longdescs could, perhaps, 
>find a more appropriate home elsewhere in the Techniques document, or even 
>in the Implementation document, but i included everything i believed 
>necessary to explain the content of the screen shot and the functionality 
>associated with each control illustrated by the screen shot...
>
>if the underlying template could be worked into your script, would it be 
>possible to include the attached (or some edited version thereof) in the 
>Techniques document?  could anyone who has submitted, or who is planning on 
>submitting, a screen shot for the Techniques document please also submit a 
>detailed description of the contents of the screen shot as well?  at the 
>very least, they could be incorporated into the plain text version of the 
>Techniques now, and added as actual D-linked (as well as longdesc-linked) 
>long descriptions when the script is adjusted to accomodate longdescs
>
>gregory
>
>-------------------------------------------------------------------
>ACCOUNTABILITY, n.  The mother of caution.
>                         -- Ambrose Bierce, _The Devil's Dictionary_
>-------------------------------------------------------------------
>Gregory J. Rosmaita      <unagi69@concentric.net>
>Camera Obscura           <http://www.hicom.net/~oedipus/index.html>
>VICUG NYC                <http://www.hicom.net/~oedipus/vicug/>
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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 Thursday, 16 March 2000 09:48:32 UTC