- From: Hansen, Eric <ehansen@ets.org>
- Date: Thu, 12 Oct 2000 11:44:38 -0400
- To: "UA List (E-mail)" <w3c-wai-ua@w3.org>
I am trying to sort the world of APIs as presented in the document. I find it somewhat confusing to sort out the references the "APIs", "standard APIs", "standard input APIs", and W3C DOM (which is a kind of standard API, both input and output, I suppose). Is there any time that we refer to APIs in the document that we DON'T mean "standard APIs"? If we _always_ mean "standard APIs" then we should either always say that or factor out the word "standard" and then link to a fuller explanation in the glossary. We have part of a definition of "standard APIs" in checkpoint 5.4: "5.4 Provide programmatic read and write access to user agent user interface controls using standard APIs (e.g., platform-independent APIs such as the W3C DOM, standard APIs for the operating system, and conventions for programming languages, plug-ins, virtual machine environments, etc.) [Priority 1] Note: For example, provide access to information about the user agent's current input configuration so that assistive technologies can trigger functionalities through keyboard events, mouse events, etc." Thus "standard APIs" include: "platform-independent APIs such as the W3C DOM, standard APIs for the operating system, and conventions for programming languages, plug-ins, virtual machine environments, etc." We should probably consolidate the existing definitions for "API" and "Standard device APIs" (see below): "Application Programming Interface (API)" "An application programming interface (API) defines how communication may take place between applications." "Standard device APIs" "Operating systems are designed to be used by default with devices such as pointing devices, keyboards, voice input, etc. The operating system (or windowing system) provides "standard APIs" for these devices. On desktop computers today, the standard input APIs are for the mouse and keyboard. For touch screen devices or mobile devices, standard input APIs may include stylus, buttons, voice, etc. The graphical display and sound card are considered standard ouput devices for a graphical desktop computer environment, and each has a standard API." I presume that this is basically an editorial issue, but I highlight this because if there is the inconsistency that I think might exist, then fixing it would slightly change the wording of many checkpoints. =========================== Eric G. Hansen, Ph.D. Development Scientist Educational Testing Service ETS 12-R Princeton, NJ 08541 609-734-5615 (Voice) E-mail: ehansen@ets.org (W) 609-734-5615 (Voice) FAX 609-734-1090
Received on Thursday, 12 October 2000 11:44:44 UTC