[Action issue 474] Proposal for checkpoints where configuration is not required.

Hello,

To address issue 474 [1], I sent a proposal [2] that was discussed
somewhat at the 10 May teleconference [3] with no resolution. The
question is: Is configuration required when the user agent
always/never does something anyway?

Summary: I believe the Working Group should consider that,
for the following checkpoints, configuration is not always
required as long as the user agent satisfies the required
functionality: 3.3, 5.1, 5.3, 5.5, and 5.6.

For the other checkpoints, I think that configuration is probably
necessary all the time. Details follow.

I reviewed the checkpoints of the 25 May draft [4] to find out:

 a) Which checkpoints include configuration requirements.
 b) Of these checkpoints, which require a "binary" configuration
    (as opposed to a multi-valued configuration such as selecting
     from among available colors).
 c) Of these, in which case is the checkpoint really intended
    to address user needs in both states. In other words, each
    configuration checkpoint has two parts: the functionality
    being configured, and configuration itself. I think that
    in most cases, both configurability and the functionality
    itself are more or less equally important. In some cases, 
    however, configurability is not nearly as important as
    the functionality itself.

Here are the results of my read:

a) Checkpoints that require configuration:

   G2: 2.3, 2.4, 2.5, 2.7, 2.8, 2.9, 2.10
   G3: 3.1, 3.2, 3.3, 3.4, 3.5, 3.6, 3.7
   G4: 4.1, 4.2, 4.3, 4.6, 4.9, 4.12, 4.14, 4.15, 4.16
   G5: 5.1, 5.2, 5.3, 5.5, 5.6, 5.7
   G9: 9.5, 9.10
  G10: 10.2, 10.4
  G11: 11.4, 11.7

b) Of these, the following involve a binary requirement:

   G2: 2.3, 2.4, 2.5, 2.7, 2.9, 2.10
   G3: 3.1, 3.2, 3.3, 3.4, 3.5, 3.6, 3.7
   G5: 5.1, 5.2, 5.3, 5.5, 5.6, 5.7
   G9: 9.5

c) Of these, I think that in the following cases, 
   configuration is about as important as the functionality
   itself (at the same Priority, though not necessarily for
   the same users):

   2.3 Render conditional content. 
       Rationale: If conditional content rendered at same time,
       this might be confusing.

   2.4 Allow time-independent interaction.
       Rationale: If presentation always stops, this might be
       confusing or cause usability problems.

   2.5 Make captions, transcripts available.
       Rationale: Same as for 2.3. 

   2.7 Repair missing content.
       Rationale: I don't think any repair functionality
       should be on all the time.

   2.10 Alert unsupported language.
        Rationale: I don't think any repair functionality
        should be on all the time.

   Checkpoints: 3.1, 3.2, 3.3, 3.4, 3.5, 3.6, 3.7 

     - In almost all cases, I think it's probably as important 
       to most users that this content be processed according to
       spec as it is to some users that they have manual
       control. For instance, I imagine that it's a big burden
       to some users to have to click on every placeholder to
       get an image to be rendered

     - The one exception I could see is checkpoint 3.3: I am not
       convinced that blinking text is a P1 requirement. I'm not
       so sure about animated text.

  5.2 Keep viewport on top.
      Rationale: I think it would be frustrating to most users
      if they could not bring viewports easily to the foreground.

  9.5 Move focus without activation. 
      Rationale: I think this may make pages unusable to many
      users, so the user needs to be able to have focus changes
      trigger focus handlers automatically.

d) This leaves the following checkpoints. I think that it may
   be ok if the user agent doesn't allow configuration in these
   cases, as long as the functionality is enabled:

  3.3 Toggle animated/blinking text. 
      Comment: I think it's ok if the user agent never blinks;
               not sure about animated text.

  5.1 No automatic content focus change.
  5.3 Manual viewport open only. 
      Comment: I think that it may be ok if the user never changes
      focus automatically, or never opens viewports except on
      explicit user request. However, one could argue that for some 
      users (e.g., with a physical disability), that the manual
      opening is a burden.

  
  5.5 Confirm form submission. 
  5.6 Confirm fee links.
      Comment: I think that it's probably ok if the user agent
      always prompts, although it might be annoying (but that's
      a low priority).

 - Ian

[1] http://server.rehab.uiuc.edu/ua-issues/issues-linear-lc3.html#474
[2] http://lists.w3.org/Archives/Public/w3c-wai-ua/2001AprJun/0073
[3] http://lists.w3.org/Archives/Public/w3c-wai-ua/2001AprJun/0127 
[4] http://www.w3.org/WAI/UA/WD-UAAG10-20010525/

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

Received on Tuesday, 29 May 2001 18:35:05 UTC