[Action issue 506] Proposal to address meaning of "global configuration"

Hello,

At the 25 May teleconference [1], I got an action to write a proposal
to address issues 506 [2].

The following checkpoints require a "global configuration": 2.3, 4.1,
4.2, 4.3, 4.9, and 10.2. 

The question raised by the reviewer was: when a user agent is a series
of modules, how does the user agent ensure that a single configuration
exists that satisfies the checkpoints in question? For instance,
if I add a plug-in and that plug-in doesn't know about my global
setting for reference text size, do I lose conformance?

I think that the answer is that a single global configuration is a
sufficient, but not necessary, technique to satisfy the six
checkpoints in question. I think, for example, that it is more
important for the user to be able to enlarge text than it is to do so
with a single configuration (in one place). It is preferable to only
have to configure this once. But if I add a plug-in to my user agent,
and that plug-in lets me configure the reference size of text, then
that, in my opinion, satisfies the intended requirement of 4.1.

In the 25 May draft [3], the glossary reads:

  "In this document, the term global configuration is used to
  emphasize when a configuration applies across Web resources."

This language does not limit the possiblity that the user might have
to configure several modules, as long as for each module, the
configuration has an effect across resources.

Therefore, I propose to address this issue by simply stating in the
document that a "global configuration" is one that:

 a) Applies across Web resources (at least of the same type).
 b) May be implemented by one or more settings in the user agent.
 c) Where possible, a global configuration should be implemented
    by one setting.

An optional piece of the proposal: change "global configuration"
to "cross-resource configuration" in the text.

 - Ian

[1] http://lists.w3.org/Archives/Public/w3c-wai-ua/2001AprJun/0217
[2] http://server.rehab.uiuc.edu/ua-issues/issues-linear-lc3.html#506
[3] 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 Wednesday, 30 May 2001 00:06:03 UTC