Implementing details for 3.12.2 (Outline view)

3.12.2 Outline View: An "outline" view of rendered content is provided, 
composed of labels for important structural elements (e.g., heading 
text, table titles, form titles, and other labels that are part of the 
content). (Level AA)

Note: What constitutes a label is defined by each markup language 
specification. For example, in HTML, a heading (H1-H6) is a label for 
the section that follows it, a CAPTION is a label for a table, and the 
title attribute is a label for its element.

Intent of Success Criterion 3.12.2:

Outline views can help all users get a simplified view or overview of a 
document. They are particularly useful for users with memory or 
cognitive disabilities, as well as users with serial access to content 
or who navigate sequentially. The outline view is a type of summary view 
and should reduce orientation time. A navigable outline view will add 
further benefits for these users.

Example techniques

A Web browser provides an optional panel displaying a hierarchical list 
of the headers and tables in the current document.
The user is able to expand or shrink portions of the outline view for 
faster access to important parts of content.
A Web browser provides a command to use CSS display and visibility 
properties to hide all content other than important structural elements 
such as titles, headings, and table headings.
A Web browser provides a structured view of form controls (e.g., those 
grouped by LEGEND or OPTGROUP in HTML) along with their labels.

Amaya table of contents view

This image shows the table of contents view provided by Amaya [AMAYA]. 
This view is coordinated with the main view so that users may navigate 
in one viewport and the focus follows in the other. An entry in the 
table of contents with a target icon means that the heading in the 
document has an associated anchor.

Related…
This Success Criterion (3.12.2) deals with making document structure 
perceivable to the user. It is complimentary to Guideline 4.7 which 
deals with making document structure navigable.


(From Jim and Greg)

Received on Thursday, 25 February 2010 23:44:40 UTC