Re: [Issue 512] Seeking lower bound on text size requirement

Ian,

Here is an interesting comment on digital TV text size
(http://www.ostdev.net/pages/applications/itv.html?JServSessionIdservlets=am6dglwo91):

Here they talk about text no larger than 18 points.  ... might want to say
something about this in the techniques.

Rich




Rich Schwerdtfeger
Senior Technical Staff Member
IBM Accessibility Center
Research Division
EMail/web: schwer@us.ibm.com

"Two roads diverged in a wood, and I -
I took the one less traveled by, and that has made all the difference.",
Frost



                                                                                                                    
                    Ian Jacobs                                                                                      
                    <ij@w3.org>           To:     clilley@w3.org, duerst@w3.org                                     
                    Sent by:              cc:     w3c-wai-ua@w3.org                                                 
                    w3c-wai-ua-requ       Subject:     [Issue 512] Seeking lower bound on text size requirement     
                    est@w3.org                                                                                      
                                                                                                                    
                                                                                                                    
                    05/18/2001                                                                                      
                    10:21 AM                                                                                        
                                                                                                                    
                                                                                                                    



Chris, Martin,

The UAWG would like your input on a question of visual text
rendering and internationalization. Checkpoint 4.1 of the 9 April
2001 draft [1] starts:

  "4.1 Allow global configuration and control over the reference
       size of rendered text ..."

This is a Priority 1 checkpoint. One reviewer pointed out that it
is not really a P1 requirement to allow the user to choose very
small text sizes. Indeed, the intention of this checkpoint is
primarily to allow users with low vision to increase text
size. [I would note here that small text is useful to some users
(e.g., so that users with screen readers can scroll less), but
that's not a P1 requirement.]

At our teleconference yesterday we asked ourselves whether we
could come up with some lower bound on the requirement. Thus,
user agents would not be required to provide access to very
small text size as part of meeting this checkpoint (or,
for example, they might allow configuration, but not
actually be required to render very small text).

Our questions are thus:

 - How might we express a lower bound in text size?
   What units would we use? What parameter to measure
   size (x-height? aspect ratio?)?

 - What internationalization issues enter into this
   discussion? Does a lower bound requirement
   make sense across different scripts?

Thank you for your help on this topic,

 - Ian

Note to the Working Group: For checkpoints 4.1 and 4.2, we should
change "rendered text" to "visually rendered text" to be more
precise.

[1] http://www.w3.org/TR/2001/WD-UAAG10-20010409/
[2] http://server.rehab.uiuc.edu/ua-issues/issues-linear-lc3.html#512

--
Ian Jacobs (ij@w3.org)   http://www.w3.org/People/Jacobs
Tel:                     +1 831 457-2842
Cell:                    +1 917 450-8783

Received on Friday, 18 May 2001 16:43:13 UTC