- From: Jon Gunderson <jongund@uiuc.edu>
- Date: Wed, 22 May 2002 12:20:52 -0500
- To: "Richard Schwerdtfeger" <schwer@us.ibm.com>
- Cc: w3c-wai-ua@w3.org
Hi Rich, Let's talk about this change on Thursday. Jon At 03:08 PM 5/21/2002 -0500, you wrote: >Issue 529 refers to a proposal for a revised checkpoint 6.1/6.2 Checkoint. > >Checkpoint 6.2 proposes that any API can be used so long as it satisfies >the content required by checkpoint 6.1 and that it be documented. > >I would like to propose that checkpoint 6.2 be modified as follows: > >2. Otherwise, where W3C normative bindings do not exist that the W3C DOM >API must be used and that the User Agent's document binding for it must be >publicly documented so that it may be used by an assistive technology. > > >My reasons for making this more stringent are as follows: > >- At IBM we consider the Web as a platform. It has its own accessibility >infrastructure and sets of guidelines and is a framework on which to >deliver applications/content independent of the target device. In the >process of making Web accessible, the WAI working groups, and in particular >the PF group, evaluate and produce accessibility guidelines to make the Web >and all content delivered on it accessible. To ensure access to the Web we >define changes to programmatic W3C API that must be platform neutral. The >DOM is the W3C API that is being targeted to provide access to structured >content. Without having control over its specification we could not have >addressed the recent "events" API changes that we made to the DOM for the >purposes of accessibility. > >- Recent accessiblity information targeted through XML, SVG, XFORMS, etc. >accessibility done by the PF group can be addressed with the DOM WG to >ensure that it can be accessed by an AT through a designated W3C API. The >WAI has the ability to control the specification of the DOM API because it >is a W3C specification. The W3C does not have the ability to control the >information provided by a proprietary API. > >- Implementing the DOM does not preclude additional Accessibility API (such >as MSAA) from being used but it does guarantee the core API set needed by >the WAI working groups be provided for. > >- The W3C is one of the few places where all the platform vendors (Sun, >IBM, Microsoft, etc.) get together and agree on standards. A standard API >agreed on by the W3C then comes more easiliy adopted and supported in the >future. > >- Having a standard W3C accessibility API for Web content makes it easier >to develop cross-platform AT solutions even in the absence of normative >bindings. > >- Having a standard W3C accessibility API for Web content makes it easier >to develop multi-user agent, single-platform AT solutions (Adobe, IE, >Netscape, Opera, Amaya on Windows) even in the absence of normative >bindings. > >- We have plenty of implentation experience with using a platform-specific >DOM binding in IE with IBM's Home Page Reader and Freedom Scientific's >JAWS. > >I understand fully that in the case of C++ we are at the mercy of the >operating system implementation. By itself, C++ does not address >cross-process marshalling. It does not address in-process multi-threaded >access. This is why platform bindings need different C++ bindings to >support these features such as through the use of COM, XPCOM, or Corba. >This does not preclude a platform documented C++ binding for the DOM. With >a standard W3C API (that starts with the core DOM) we can build upon it to >require DOM events notification, the CSS DOM API, a DOM Views API, etc. in >the future. > >Many of the people on the call only have had to deal with Windows. At IBM >we have to deal with Solaris, Linux, Windows, AIX, the Web, Java, etc. >Having a single W3C DOM API that, in the case of C++, may require different >platform documented bindings is essential. > >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 Jon Gunderson, Ph.D., ATP Coordinator of Assistive Communication and Information Technology Division of Rehabilitation - Education Services MC-574 College of Applied Life Studies University of Illinois at Urbana/Champaign 1207 S. Oak Street, Champaign, IL 61820 Voice: (217) 244-5870 Fax: (217) 333-0248 E-mail: jongund@uiuc.edu WWW: http://www.staff.uiuc.edu/~jongund WWW: http://www.w3.org/wai/ua
Received on Wednesday, 22 May 2002 13:20:11 UTC