Proposal for definition of levels

Here is my first pass at writing a definition of levels proposal.  This 
material would go in the introduction. It would not be normative 
material, and should be easy to read.

Proposed:

UAAG conformance levels (A, AA, AAA) provide a path for user agent 
developers to improve their product over time and to prioritize new 
features to develop.  UAAG conformance levels attempt to balance the 
needs of people with disabilities with the difficulty the user agent 
developer could experience in meeting that need. There are many 
different types of disabilities and different types of user agents, so 
the UAAG level assigned to a success criterion may not precisely match 
the definition of the level in all circumstances.

Level A success criteria represent needs where different groups of 
people with disabilities are blocked from receiving information or 
accomplishing a task AND that the solutions to those needs are 
relatively minor for developers to solve or the solutions are common in 
the marketplace.  In some cases, extensions or addons to popular 
browsers provide solutions.

Level AA represents needs where people with disabilities have difficulty 
accessing information or accomplishing a task (including tasks causing 
excessive fatigue), and where the solutions may be more difficult to 
implement or requires developing a new subsystem for the product.

Level AAA represents needs where the solution improves accessibility for 
some information or task, but the solution is challenging to solve, 
requiring a major effort or development of intelligent algorithms.

Received on Thursday, 25 April 2013 15:54:41 UTC