W3C

WCAG Techniques Weekly Telecon

4 May 2005

See also: IRC log

Attendees

Present
Becky_Gibson, John_Slatin, Michael_Cooper, Yvette_Hoitink, Alex_Li, Christophe_Strobbe, Luca Mascaro, Wendy, Lisa, Ben, Tim_Boland
Regrets
David MacDonald
Chair
Michael
Scribe
Becky_Gibson, wendy, Ben

Contents


Techniques and Test cases issue summary for Guideline 2.4

mc: will review the 2.4 issues post

<wendy> http://lists.w3.org/Archives/Public/w3c-wai-gl/2005AprJun/att-0344/2005-05-02_issuesummary_techniques_2_4.html

mc: reviewed techs mapped to 2.4 and found issues and reviewed test cases
... then reviewed SC and looked for other techs to map or propose new one
... site map is mapped to L2 SC1 - believe it should be L1 SC2
... group agrees
... test case refers to precense of site map but doesn't show what it looks like - not sure if that is an issue

wc: curious - were you thinking about baseline as you reviewed?

mc: not as much as probably should have
... should add todo to clearup in next week

js: ? about how to identify sitemap in a test; site map is not one of the prefined rel values is it?

mc: no - not one of predefined values currently

js: is it for xhtml 2.0

yh: might be currently - will check

cr: can update the test cases with realistic site map
... should I just put in a site map example?

js: is there an actual "site map" attribute - would make it easier to test for

mc: need to work out details later in interest of time

<wendy> rel linktypes: http://www.w3.org/TR/html4/types.html#type-links

ls: are we defining a good enough site map? - many are too simple so need to define what it is and what we want from it
... am writing role for Xhtml 2 and it includes site map

<wendy> note to michael and chris (don't need to discuss on call): wording of test is concern (it says 'must provide site map' and needs to inherit mapping to SC)

<Tim> Do we have an unambiguous definition of "site map" ?

<leasa> and also what is good enough in a site map?

wc: applicable to several test cases - use of word "must" and correct mapping to SC to test and tech match

<leasa> what is too much info?

yh: site map is not one of the rel attributes in HTML currently

<wendy> ACTION: wendy send comments to chris about xml and updating mapping from test cases to SC [recorded in http://www.w3.org/2005/05/04-wai-wcag-minutes.html#action01]

mc: move on to collection info
... propose remap from reading order to L2 multiple meanings or L1 relationships

yh: think it applies to L2 multiple means

mc: some confusion on diff of 1.3 and 2.4 - there is a diff and need to widen the gap then can bemore clear abt where tech maps

yh: rationale of tech is to provide alternative nav. so multiple ways to find info is most applicable -L2 SC2

mc: is this only necessary when doc contains formal structure?

yh: esp. useful if doc does NOT contain formal structure
... always useful to provide separate link elements even if not in the actual content

mc: but more in optional category

yh: but is an alternative method

mc: tech probably gets marked as optional but itis useful

group: agrees

mc: suggest addn test files and tests should use real links
... linear reading order of tables
... like but SC is currently under alot of disc. right now

yh: currently 3 options for SC - delete becuz already covered; gets promoted to L1;
... so keep tech mapped to current SC and tech will move with it

mc: vote for SC kept at L1
... suggest remove comment about CSS tech

yh: are there css techs to address logical reading order?
... since can use CSS to arrange things visually in different order than doc order

mc: will mark as open issue
... there are evaluation suggests that should be moved out of tech itself

js: this info is distinct from testing?

mc: yes, refers to using eval. tools and points to ER group

js: does this go in resources section of tech or be removed?

mc: ok in resources
... intro on layout tables talks abt what they are and we don't like them
... but don't review that in this particular tech - could be lost if don't have access to or read layout table intro
... should add to this tech

bc: add a link / reference to intro info rather than repeating in tech

al: agree

mc: will do that
... what about linearizaton of data tables?
... tech is not clear about that

js: in 2005 can assume that data tables are handled properly by AT if marked up correctly
... need to make clear that we are making this assumption - but this might be handled at baseline

mc: issue 248 - automated differentiation of data tables
... don't support those because they are hacks and can't count on authors using them

<leasa> I do not think the role is a hack

mc: but many people are behing this so need to address

yh: isn't this if it uses th it is data and if not is layout?

mc: but can't assume that - not a perfect world
... issue (248) remains open

js: long discussion on IG list about this

mc: guess have to own proposing something
... another issue says need to make a stand on use of tables for layout

<jslatin> we could say *that* clearly: don't want to encourage, but can't say no

mc: other issue says we have to assume tables for layout will be around for awhile so need to "allow" use
... agree with Jslatin comment above
... test cases should start with assumption that we are allowing layout tables
... updated test cases to show table that linerizes and one that doesn't rather than showing data table vs layout table
... link groups

<jslatin> dhtml roadmap is doing stuff with <link rel="navigatoin" href="#navbar" title="Global navigation"> (for example)

<jslatin> jon gunderson has an example working in HTML 401 with his Acccessibility Extension

ls: roles being created in xhtml 2 so we have the ability now to add terms that we need into the role attribute
... so can say that role of this table is a layout
... this isn't only for layout tables - we should think about roles as we go through the techs
... and consider if roles can help us

mc: good point to discuss on list

yh: seems like logical sets are rates as more imp than repeated material

<leasa> this is part of the road map..

yh: navigaton repeated on every page is repeated material but not a logical group

mc: so still further discussion needed

<jslatin> "repeated: becomes an issue *because* it's repeated

Techniques and Test cases issue summary for Guideline 1.3

http://lists.w3.org/Archives/Public/w3c-wai-gl/2005AprJun/att-0345/00-part

address element: resolved - get rid of it.

Section headings

ls: working on metadata techniques related to this. would like feedback.

js: the techs that ls writing are not general techniques, they are very specific to a particular to a specific type of semantic markup. however, even if they were finished and get the review you want, would not address the need identified in these ed notes. not a critique, a distinction between rdf techniques and the way general techs written so far seem to be working. they work together.
... perhaps some of the things in the guide will also address some of these issues.

ls: have a set of techs to add, e.g. use link element to add semantic info - not using rdf.
... happy to add to rdf techs if that doc will go somewhere.

js: we have a document called "general techs for wcag 2.0"

hello?

hmm. my connection just cut out for the end of that discussion.

<scribe> ACTION: john and lisa take discussion about guide/general techniques/metadata techs to the list [recorded in http://www.w3.org/2005/05/04-wai-wcag-minutes.html#action02]

bg: 2 issues 925 (only 1 h1/page and 1st element) - seems that most ppl disagree with that. propose we close 925, don't require only one, write up the info from that discussion into tech. good practice to use 1 and to start with but not required.
... 1070 is about ordering (h2 follows h1) - we discussed that. think we addressed that when we updated the test. think we can close.
... no consensus on the list, but all the msgs read seemed to agree.

mc: ok to close and not require.
... if we're not restricting under 925 do we even care about ordering?

bg: html spec suggests they should be

js: the order can matter. a SR that announces header level...can be startling to get h4 then h2. not that should be disallowed.

ls: reasons for why it does matter.
... h1 doesn't have to be the first, but has to be in the right order.

mc: doesn't have to be first, but ordering is an issue.

<jslatin> i think there's a <sectin> element in xhtml2

bg: attempt to address issue w/proposal otherwise open new issue

Emphasis

js: my proposal for 3.1, there is a tech re: emphasis
... it could map there iinstead of 1.3

bg: do we want to include subtleties in technique or in test case?
... or just assume that strong/em are best and ppl using b/i are doing so knowledgeably.

mc: don't think ppl are considering semantics.
... like idea of being semantics, not sure much diff in UA support or author's intent.

js: wrt 3.1, thought about SC to identify main ideas in a paragraph. that seems that emph would have semantic function.
... work in AAC community might find that a helpful way to ...

from matt's blog: http://www.bestkungfu.com/archive/date/2004/05/understanding-semantics/

and http://www.bestkungfu.com/archive/date/2004/05/strongly-emphasizing-semantics/

requirement: future techs don't need test files (??)

(related to Short Quotations (future))

In-line structural elements to identify citations, code fragments, deleted text, etc.

bg: several ednotes. propose that we remove it. should be covered by guide or rework tech and create test files.

wac: covered by previous blog entries. think covered by emphasis rewrite.

bc: muddies the waters around strong/em

wac: could keep separate or could create a tech for semantic markup.

bg: rewrite this tech and provide more about how to use them and why

Ordered lists

tb: proposed content for tests 149 and 150 but not to lists

mc: don't think we need this tech anymore.

bc: it belongs in css techs, think it is problematic use of css. css is introducing content.
... think it is an example of what not to do instead of what to do.
... UA testing, Jaws and window eyes do a good job identifying nesting. hpr doesn't summarize how many nested lists.
... say we remove it, it's UA responsibility

resolve: remove technique 6.1

bg: take these proposals and take to list?

mc: yes, the plan is today is issue raising next week is proposal. ideally we should have gotten through all of summary. next week proposals.

got through 6/19 of techniques

mc: since david not here, table 4.2 issues.
... need to discuss baseline.

Discuss how we're going to set up our baselines and refer to them

<Tim> Do we have a definition of what we mean by "baseline"?

<jslatin> tim, definition of baseline is up for discussion on the WG call, last week and again today

mc: in reqs, say that each tech should identify baseline.

http://lists.w3.org/Archives/Public/w3c-wai-gl/2005AprJun/0095.html

mc: put defns in reqs for sufficient, optional, required
... propose that we continue that exercise and mark each tech w/above.
... wcag wg should recommend which baseline.
... tentative recommendation that we use base baseline

http://lists.w3.org/Archives/Public/w3c-wai-gl/2005AprJun/0364.html

[1] Proposed Definition of baseline: The minimum set of technologies that can be assumed to be supported by user agents in order to access all information and functionality of the Web content.

[2] Proposed Definition of technology: "Technology" means a data format, programming or markup language, protocol or API.

wac: need to be careful about redefining technology since ATAG just decided to use our defn of technology.

mc: defn not descriptive enough.
... feel that is a proper defn, but only we will understand what it means.

js: needs plain language or example?

mc: needs expansion.

wac: perhaps that info is in "conformance requirements modifications?"

mc: do we know enough about baseline to continue discussion?

no disagreement

mc: propose minimal tech (html, not much else), modern day graphical + AT (html, css, script. perhaps also java, flash, and pdf accessibility), future (all features of all techs are supported according to specs in UAs)
... future - to set a goal
... want some direction to the UA promised land
... put most of energy into the 1st 2

tb: diff techs for diff baselines? subsets?

mc: insight for us was that higher baselines allow you to follow fewer techniques

js: are there specific techs that jumped out in that analysis?

mc: main thing was when we marked techniques as "not recommended" ex. format ordered lists (which we just discussed) was one that was not recommended in future baseline)
... had questions about table structure techniques, another one was tabindex and accesskey, alternatives for <object> etc. being problematic

js: interesting that you put it that way, I wouldn't have seen those as problems for the structure you're thinking about

wc: part of what I did was to try to apply these techniques to see if I agreed mappings for each technique - had a variety of questions

ex. meta refresh is a way people create webcams, but not mapped to 1.1

wasn't sure how that relates - I think there are changes that we can make that will work, but how does that relate?

another question was link element, a lot of this fits in future

third question is how specific are we about which DTD or Schema are we talking about (validating to DTD that allows <embed>?)

js: if we think in terms of how the proposed def. of baseline talks about technologies vs. user agents, then some of this becomes even more important

then we can be looking at collecting techniques for XHTML 2.0 as it moves toward finalization

wc: I agree that it's a useful excercise to consider baseline as we review these

mc: are people more or less behind those 3 baselines?

js: I like it

tb: do those baselines represent a sufficient capturing of current and future best practices? I'm concerned about baseline implications regarding conformance.

<wendy> latest 4.2 proposal: http://lists.w3.org/Archives/Public/w3c-wai-gl/2005AprJun/0364.html

js: there are implications, good summaries on list from Loretta recently

mc: wonder if we should categorize each technique (sufficient, optional, not recommended) based on each baseline

wc: base/graphical/future vs. sufficient/optional/not recommended (diff?)

<wendy> each baseline has sufficient, optional, and not recommended techniques (9 combos)

wc: interesting in looking at results that there were some contradictions

mc: we did discuss somewhat, but didn't update
... action could be to put info from mapping excercise in techniques and then discuss/resolve contradictions?

<wendy> http://lists.w3.org/Archives/Public/w3c-wai-gl/2005AprJun/0010.html

wc: if we can all be voting (ex. test case polls using WBS), that can help us collect data so that we only talk about disagreements on calls
... still some issues with WBS form that we're trying to resolve
... could be anything (ex. proposed action items, etc.)

mc: process is somewhat overwhelming (though a lot of fun), but important to provide concrete proposals

js: knowing in advance that it takes a long time, one thing we should ask people to do is assume that they will spread it out over a few days

bg: not that it can't be done, but tough to turn around in 2-3 days

js: trying to map out assignments so people will have more time to work on things

wc: I had 1.1, interesting to do both guideline and techniques summaries, person doing techniques summaries should be coordinating with guideline summary people as we go. recc. extreme programming model where you have two brains working on something

js: proposal there that we shoudl talk about - try to do for techniques summaries and proposals what we've done for guidelines summaries and assign them out for the next couple months so people know what their assignments are in advance

mc: agree we should do that, but we should also send weekly reminders to make sure people are working on them

js: we're experimenting with new system for planning and milestone/assignement tracking
... maybe what we can do in interim is if you have favorite issues, you can put in a bid for that so you don't get assigned random stuff

mc: action to incorporate baseline info into techniques, set up a voting system and to get assignments made on summaries

<Michael> ACTION: mc to incorporate baseline info into techniques, set up a voting system and to get assignments made on summaries [recorded in http://www.w3.org/2005/05/04-wai-wcag-minutes.html#action03]

wc: think it might be too soon to put in baseline info now, but include in summaries and incorporate once we have agreement

mc: agenda #4 was to assign issue summaries

Assign issue summaries for guidelines 2.3, 2.5, 3.1

<scribe> ACTION: john - issue summaries for 3.1 techs [recorded in http://www.w3.org/2005/05/04-wai-wcag-minutes.html#action04]

ah, I must be muted

bc: 2.3 - not much can be done at this point because tool needs development and intl. standards are not yet avail. - could have "don'

t use" techs, but beyond that measure is needed

js: 1.4 - gv is working with Aries Arditti on this

<scribe> ACTION: bc techs issue summary on 1.4 [recorded in http://www.w3.org/2005/05/04-wai-wcag-minutes.html#action05]

<scribe> ACTION: bg techs issue summary on 2.1 [recorded in http://www.w3.org/2005/05/04-wai-wcag-minutes.html#action06]

<scribe> ACTION: nobody techs issues on 2.2 (time limits) [recorded in http://www.w3.org/2005/05/04-wai-wcag-minutes.html#action07]

<scribe> ACTION: wc to talk to andi about techs issues on 2.5 [recorded in http://www.w3.org/2005/05/04-wai-wcag-minutes.html#action08]

<jslatin> morning, joe

wc: 3.2 guidelines summary is unassigned
... need to make decisions about what to do at F2F

mc: let's put that on the agenda for next week

3.2 techs summary unassigned

<scribe> ACTION: bc techs summary on 4.1 [recorded in http://www.w3.org/2005/05/04-wai-wcag-minutes.html#action09]

mc: script techs and requirements for next week
... are we asking anyone to have done issues for next week or are we continuing on the ones we've got

wc: I'm bumping 1.1 to week of 16 May
... we should talk about proposals for 1.3 and 2.4 and issues review for 4.2

Summary of Action Items

[NEW] ACTION: bc techs issue summary on 1.4 [recorded in http://www.w3.org/2005/05/04-wai-wcag-minutes.html#action05]
[NEW] ACTION: bc techs summary on 4.1 [recorded in http://www.w3.org/2005/05/04-wai-wcag-minutes.html#action09]
[NEW] ACTION: bg techs issue summary on 2.1 [recorded in http://www.w3.org/2005/05/04-wai-wcag-minutes.html#action06]
[NEW] ACTION: john - issue summaries for 3.1 techs [recorded in http://www.w3.org/2005/05/04-wai-wcag-minutes.html#action04]
[NEW] ACTION: john and lisa take discussion about guide/general techniques/metadata techs to the list [recorded in http://www.w3.org/2005/05/04-wai-wcag-minutes.html#action02]
[NEW] ACTION: mc to incorporate baseline info into techniques, set up a voting system and to get assignments made on summaries [recorded in http://www.w3.org/2005/05/04-wai-wcag-minutes.html#action03]
[NEW] ACTION: nobody techs issues on 2.2 (time limits) [recorded in http://www.w3.org/2005/05/04-wai-wcag-minutes.html#action07]
[NEW] ACTION: wc to talk to andi about techs issues on 2.5 [recorded in http://www.w3.org/2005/05/04-wai-wcag-minutes.html#action08]
[NEW] ACTION: wendy send comments to chris about xml and updating mapping from test cases to SC [recorded in http://www.w3.org/2005/05/04-wai-wcag-minutes.html#action01]
 
[End of minutes]

Minutes formatted by David Booth's scribe.perl version 1.122 (CVS log)
$Date: 2005/05/04 20:10:58 $