[XAG change request] Add section about relationship to other guidelines

Hi, I would like to propose that we add the following section to the
introductory material. All except the final two paragraphs are copied
verbatim from Ian's proposed text at http://www.w3.org/2002/04/25-xag

Chaals

Relationship to other WAI Guidelines

"XML Accessibility Guidelines 1.0" is part of a series of accessibility
guidelines published by the Web Accessibility Initiative (WAI). The documents
in this series reflect an accessibility model in which Web content authors,
format designers, and software developers have roles in ensuring that users
with disabilities have access to the Web. In this model:


+ Format specifications (e.g., HTML, XHTML, SVG, SMIL, MathML, etc.) include
features that support accessibility, such as elements and attributes for
alternative text, navigation tools, semantics that respect user control over
presentation, etc. The current document (XAG 1.0) explains how to design XML
formats that include features to benefit accessibility. The principles of
this document apply for the most part to non-XML formats as well.

+ Authors make use of these features when creating Web pages and Web
applications. The "Web Content Accessibility Guidelines 1.0" [WCAG10]
explains how to create more accessible content through features offered by
formats, and also through consistent design, clear writing, use of
multimedia, and more.

+ Authoring tools help authors create more accessible content through support
of formats with accessibility features, and through interactive and automatic
assistance (e.g., prompts for accessibility features, validity checking,
reuse of accessible content, etc.). The "Authoring Tool Accessibility
Guidelines 1.0" [ATAG10] explains the responsibilities of authoring tool
developers. ATAG 1.0 addresses the accessibility of authored content but also
the accessibility of the tool's user interface.

+ User agents promote accessibility by implementing formats with
accessibility features, and by providing an accessible user interface,
allowing communication with assistive technologies, documenting accessibility
features, following operating environment conventions, etc. The "User Agent
Accessibility Guidelines 1.0 [UAAG10] explains to user agent developers how
to create more accessible browsers, multimedia players, and other user
agents.

The requirements of making the Web accessible to actual users do not always
match this model perfectly. In all the guidelines there are cases where there
is a need for overlapping requirements to ensure that people can in fact use
the Web. These are sometimes due to particular problems in widely implemented
and used technology, and sometimes are provided as a "safety net".

There are also cases where guidelines rely on each other in what seems to be
a circular dependency. For example, these guidelines require that
documentation conforms to WCAG, and WCAG suggests that content (i.e. the
documentation) is written in a format that can conform to XAG. Rather than
attempt to reproduce every requirement of WCAG as requirements in the XAG
document for documentation, we feel that it is easier to make these
references. In any case, we feel that to implement XAG it is important to
have enough familiarity with the other guidelines to recognise a mutual
dependency and be able to apply the requirements successfully.

Received on Monday, 17 June 2002 11:32:57 UTC