- From: Gregory J. Rosmaita <unagi69@concentric.net>
- Date: Thu, 19 Oct 2000 02:07:42 -0400
- To: User Agent Guidelines Emailing List <w3c-wai-ua@w3.org>
OBJECTION: The priority level of Checkpoint 5.7 (support for the DOM2 Style Module for UAs that support CSS) should be raised from Priority 3 to at least Priority 2, if not to Priority 1. RATIONALE: 1. Inline style information attached to elements is exposed through the style attribute of the DOM2 Style Module. This is extremely important, as inline style attributes are particularly difficult (if not impossible) for most users to either anticipate and/or change/tailor/transform into something useable by that user by use of a client-side stylesheet. As the Proposed Recommendation draft of the DOM2 Style Module states, quote It represents the contents of the STYLE attribute for HTML elements (or elements in other schemas or DTDs which use the STYLE attribute in the same way). The expectation is that an instance of the ElementCSSInlineStyle interface can be obtained by using binding-specific casting methods on an instance of the Element interface when the element supports inline CSS style informations. unquote I believe that this alone is a most compelling reason for raising the priority level of UAAG Checkpoint 5.7 (support for the DOM2 Style Module). Moreover, the quote cited above is drawn from Section 2.2.3. (Element with CSS inline style), a sub-section of Section 2.2, which is entitled, quote CSS Fundamental Interfaces unquote of which, the Proposed Recommendation states: quote The interfaces within this section are considered fundamental CSS interfaces, and must be supported by all conforming implementations of the CSS DOM module. These interfaces represent CSS style sheets specifically. unquote 2. Currently the CSS module is the only way that pseudo-elemental information can be carried through the DOM, and thereby exposed to the user either through the user agent's UI, or via the user's assistive technology. 3. While information about nested lists is carried through the DOM, such essential orientational information is often unavailable to a user with a disability, due to the use of UA-generated symbols to indicate the nesting level of a list item. The use of pseudo-elemental text (using the ":before" and ":after" syntax outlined in Section 12.1 of the CSS2 Recommendation) to indicate the nesting level of a list item (as well as distinguishing one list item from another) prevents perceptual black holes that can drastically affect a disabled user's interaction with a document 4. Use of stylesheets to generate pseudo-elemental information (such as "Begin Spanish text" and "End Spanish text") is not only of incalculable assistance to users with physical disabilities, but may also facilitate comprehension of a document's content and structure for a user with a cognitive disability 5. Promotion of the development of more interoperable, as well as more accessible and more usable, user agents through the promotion of more widespread and robust support for aural and tactile environments (more robust support for "@media" rules other than those which have currently been implemented, and which are--implicitly or explicitly--visually- oriented) References: 1. Document Object Model (DOM) Level 2 Style Specification, 27 September 2000 (Proposed Recommendation) Draft <http://www.w3.org/TR/2000/PR-DOM-Level-2-Style-20000927> 2. Cascading Style Sheets, Level 2 Technical Recommendation <http://www.w3.org/TR/REC-CSS2/> 3. The :before and :after pseudo-elements: <http://www.w3.org/TR/CSS2/generate.html#before-after-content> ------------------------------------------------ The optimist thinks that this is the best of all possible worlds; the pessimist knows it is. ------------------------------------------------ Gregory J. Rosmaita <unagi69@concentric.net> Webmaster & Minister of Propaganda The Visually Impaired Computer Users' Group of the New York City Metropolitan Area (VICUG NYC) <http://www.hicom.net/~oedipus/vicug/> ------------------------------------------------
Received on Thursday, 19 October 2000 02:06:54 UTC