Eric Hansen suggestion for Conformance Section

Conformance

Two Key Terms

Conformance. In UAAG2, a user agent is considered conformant if meets all the applicable requirements specified by this UAAG2 document.
User Agent. In general, a user agent is any software that retrieves, renders, and fosters user interaction with Web content. However, another, subtly different meaning of user agent is: the software for which conformance to UAAG2 is being sought; as described below, the user of this document has considerable flexibility in defining the exact nature of the user agent for which conformance is sought.

Applicability of Requirements

The exact set of requirements that are applicable to a given user agent depends on various factors, for example, on the level and type conformance being sought and on the specific nature of the user agent.

Levels of Conformance
        There are three levels of conformance: A, AA, and AAA - with the more A's indicating greater accessibility. In general, the requirements associated with AAA level conformance includes and exceeds the requirements (e.g., success criteria) associated with the AA and A levels. Similarly, the requirements associated with the AA level includes and exceeds the requirements (e.g., success criteria) associated with the A level.
Two Major Types of Conformance

There are two major types of conformance for UAAG2, one for each of the two major kinds of user agent.

        1. Core conformance. This is for user agents with broad capabilities for each of retrieving, rendering, and fostering user interaction with Web content. A classic example of such a user agent is a web browser (e.g., IE, FireFox, Chrome).

2. Auxiliary conformance. This is for user agents that have a narrow set of capabilities, for example, a browser extension or plug-in that adds additional menu commands but does not itself render any content.
[EGH: I hope that there does not need to be an "Other" type, but that is a possibility.]

Mandatory Requirements
        A mandatory requirement is a requirement that must be applicable for a given user agent, that is, it can ncver be "not applicable." Some of the conformance requirements are mandatory for all user agents, i.e.,
        [Enumerate them, including SC and other requirements]
        Some additional requirements may be mandatory depending on the type of conformance being sought. For core conformance, the following additional requirements are mandatory.
        [Enumerate them, including SC and other requirements]
        For auxiliary conformance, the following additional requirements are mandatory.
        [Enumerate them, including SC and other requirements]
Inclusions and Exclusions

In addition to providing the name and version number of the user agent, one can also further specify the nature of the user agent by inclusions and exclusions. Specification of inclusions and exclusions is a major method for defining the user agent for which conformance is being sought. It therefore is a major determinant of which non-mandatory requirements are applicable. .

        [Examples of inclusions]
        [Examples of exclusions]
Acceptable Rationales for Non-Applicability of Non-Mandatory Requirements
        In general, non-mandatory requirements may be non-applicable if  [to be specified]
Conformance Claims

A conformance claim is a specific type of public assertion about conformance
A conformance claim in UAAG2 must provide the following information.
1 Name of user agent
2. The version of the user agent
3. Level of conformance sought
4. Type of conformance sought
5. Inclusions and exclusions
6. Context (e.g., operating system)[??] This refers to the technology setting (e.g., platform [software and/or hardware]) in which the user agent is asserted to conform. This is may be one done by specifying the operating system on which the user agent operates to provide accessibility. [EGH: If this context has a direct impact on which non-mandatory requirements are applicable, then there should be additional treatment earlier than this section.]
7. Non-mandatory requirements that are not applicable and why they are not applicable
[Needs to be fleshed out]
[etc.]
Additionally , this information must be published on the Web [specify the manner].


Eric G. Hansen
Research Scientist
Center for Validity Research, MS 10R
Educational Testing Service
Princeton, NJ 08541
609-734-5615
For more resources see:
ETS Accessibility Research <http://www.ets.org/research/topics/assessing_people_with_disabilities>
Accessibility Information & Resources<https://sharepoint.etslan.org/rd/ctrvalres/AIR/default.aspx> (ETS internal only)