Full Potential: Who's counting? was Aria Syntax in SVG

Doug,

as per the formal objection to WCAG2 I wish to make it clear that as  
far as I am aware ARIA, WCAG, SVG and HTML, in common with other  
W3CWGs, continue to fail to involve end users in their process. The  
results are web technologies that suit guilds of web designers and  
their corporations, but do little to enable the general person on the  
Clapham Omnibus who wishes to publish independently.

I have repeatedly asked the SVGWG to consider creating a microformat.  
One that could be more easily implemented allowing the creation of an  
authoring tool that produced accessible files. Inkscape after a decade  
of development still has no check on whether a primary title is  
included, though the spec. suggests every file should have one. There  
are amazingly few files with titles in the wild, early this  year, a  
grep check on openclipart, suggests there may be 0.08%  or about 6 out  
of 7000. The W3C validator performs no check on whether a title is  
present.

It remains the case that easy to use authoring software is hard to  
find. A request to the Oatsoft open source assistive technology  
software archive produced no results.
ARIA does nothing to address this imbalance, it is merely another  
layer of complexity, requiring implementation.

Whilst it may be true that the original html specifications led to a  
vicious cycle of bloating user agents, poor code and many ugly sites,  
the fact remains that end-users were engaged.

I have also repeatedly asked the W3C management team to consider the  
need to include end-users in the specification process.
It remains to be seen whether the SVGIG is an attempt to meet this  
request.

regards

the formal objection to WCAG2
http://lists.w3.org/Archives/Public/public-comments-wcag20/2006Jun/0118.html

"Putting the User at the Heart of the W3C Process"
a talk given at the CETIS Accessibility SIG Meeting 24th July 2007
http://wiki.cetis.ac.uk/Putting_the_User_at_the_Heart_of_the_W3C_Process

Full Potential: Who's counting?
10 October 2007
process-issues@w3.org members only?? attached

easy to use authoring software
http://lists.becta.org.uk/pipermail/oats-sig/2008-February/001279.html

Oatsoft open source assistive technology software archive
http://www.oatsoft.org/

Authors should always provide a 'title' child element to the   
outermost 'svg' element within a stand-alone SVG document.
http://www.w3.org/TR/SVG11/struct.html#DescriptionAndTitleElements

W3C Validator: SVG: title & accessibility

http://lists.w3.org/Archives/Public/www-validator/2008Apr/0000.html


Jonathan Chetwynd

j.chetwynd@btinternet.com
http://www.openicon.org/

+44 (0) 20 7978 1764


Full Potential: Who's counting?

Ian,

Who is tasked with measuring and reporting on how or indeed whether  
W3C is fulfilling it's stated objective?

Is this an external and independent body?

Where are their reports published?

regards

Jonathan Chetwynd
Accessibility Consultant on Media Literacy and the Internet

http://www.w3.org/1998/02/Potential.html
The first phase of the Web is human communication though shared  
knowledge.

The Consortium exists as a place for those companies for whom the Web  
is essential to meet and agree on the common underpinnings that will  
allow everyone to go forward.

http://www.w3.org/
The World Wide Web Consortium (W3C) develops interoperable  
technologies (specifications, guidelines, software, and tools) to lead  
the Web to its full potential.

http://www.w3.org/Consortium/org.html#public
W3C Members include vendors of technology products and services,  
content providers, corporate users, research laboratories, standards  
bodies, and governments, all of whom work to reach consensus on a  
direction for the Web.

http://www.w3.org/Consortium/Points/
  W3C's mission is to lead the Web to its full potential, which it  
does by developing technologies (specifications, guidelines, software,  
and tools) that will create a forum for information, commerce,  
inspiration, independent thought, and collective understanding.

Today this universe benefits society by enabling new forms of human  
communication and opportunities to share knowledge. One of W3C's  
primary goals is to make these benefits available to all people,  
whatever their hardware, software, network infrastructure, native  
language, culture, geographical location, or physical or mental ability.