W3C

From Web Content Accessibility Guidelines 1.0
to Mobile Web Best Practices 1.0

W3C Working Draft, 14 January 2008

Table of Contents

Introduction

Incomplete draft: This document is a draft and is not complete. Particularly, the section WCAG 2.0 and MWBP Together is only an outline; WCAG 1.0 to MWBP is only partly filled out. It is subject to major changes and is therefore not intended for implementation. It is provided for review and feedback only. Please send feedback to both wai-eo-editors@w3.org and public-bpwg@w3.org.

This page is part of a suite of related documents. Please refer to the “How to Use These Documents” section for more information.

This document describes how different WCAG checkpoints help Mobile Web users and how compliance with these checkpoints can help comply with the Mobile Web Best Practices 1.0 (MWBP). For content that already complies with WCAG at different levels, it outlines what may need to be done to comply with all of the MWBP (“Extending from WCAG 1.0 to MWBP 1.0”).

Extending from WCAG 1.0 to MWBP 1.0

This section provides guidance on the “upgrade path” from WCAG 1.0 compliance to MWBP 1.0. What follows is a summary of the detailed information for each success criterion that follows it. For each of the WCAG 1.0 priorities (1, 2 and 3) already achieved, the BPs are classified in three broad categories representing the effort required, labelled for simplicity with keywords (nothing, something, everything):

To summarize, if your content already complies with WCAG 1.0, to achieve compliance with MWBP 1.0, you need to do the following:

Priority 1 Checkpoints Compliance Achieved

Nothing: content already complies with these BPs:

Something: more effort of some kind or a check, to comply with these BPs:

Everything: start from scratch to comply with these BPs:

[Not evaluated yet]. When reviewing the document the following list should be ignored. During document editing, it contains CPs, SCs or BPs not yet evaluated. It is progressively reduced as items are studied and moved to the “something”, “nothing” and “everything” lists. It will not appear in the finished document.

Priority 1 and 2 Checkpoints Compliance Achieved

Nothing: content already complies with these BPs:

Something: more effort of some kind or a check, to comply with these BPs:

Everything: start from scratch to comply with these BPs:

[Not evaluated yet]. When reviewing the document the following list should be ignored. During document editing, it contains CPs, SCs or BPs not yet evaluated. It is progressively reduced as items are studied and moved to the “something”, “nothing” and “everything” lists. It will not appear in the finished document.

Priority 1, 2 and 3 Checkpoints Compliance Achieved

Nothing: content already complies with these BPs:

Something: more effort of some kind or a check, to comply with these BPs:

Everything: start from scratch to comply with these BPs:

[Not evaluated yet]. When reviewing the document the following list should be ignored. During document editing, it contains CPs, SCs or BPs not yet evaluated. It is progressively reduced as items are studied and moved to the “something”, “nothing” and “everything” lists. It will not appear in the finished document.

Individual WCAG 1.0 Success Criteria Compared

How does it especially help mobile users?

Refer to How does it especially help mobile users? in WCAG 2.0 document [@@ copy here before publication].

Does it give me MWBP 1.0 compliance?

Refer to Does it give me MWBP 1.0 compliance? in WCAG 2.0 document [@@ copy here and adapt before publication]

WCAG 1.0 Checkpoints

The list below is of checkpoints described in detail in this section. Following it is a list of checkpoints believed to have no added accessibility benefit and no relation to any MWBP.

Comment: In creating the following list, all checkpoints are initially assumed to have no overlap. As each is compared it may be moved to the preceding list. In reviewing the list, please check whether or not checkpoints have been analyzed. Those still not evaluated are marked with two at symbols (“@@”). If not, there is probably not an error, but simply work has not progressed that far.

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1.1 “Provide a text equivalent for every non-text element...”

How does it especially help mobile users? Refer to the section on WCAG 2.0 success criterion 1.1.1 “Non-text Content”.

Does it give me MWBP 1.0 compliance?: @@.

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How does it especially help mobile users? If the mobile device has images turned off or does not support server-side image maps, redundant text links may help the user.

Does it give me MWBP 1.0 compliance?: No.

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1.3 Until user agents can automatically read aloud the text equivalent of a visual track, provide an auditory description of the important information of the visual track of a multimedia presentation

How does it especially help mobile users? Refer to the section on WCAG 2.0 success criterion 1.2.2 Audio Description or Full Text Alternative.

Does it give me MWBP 1.0 compliance?: No.

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1.4 For any time-based multimedia presentation (e.g., a movie or animation), synchronize equivalent alternatives (e.g., captions or auditory descriptions of the visual track) with the presentation

How does it especially help mobile users? Refer to the section on WCAG 2.0 success criterion 1.2.1 Captions (Prerecorded). See @@ for audio description.

Does it give me MWBP 1.0 compliance?: No

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How does it especially help mobile users? Even on devices that support them, images used as maps may not be easily visible on a small screen. Most mobile devices lack a pointing device like a mouse or rolling ball, making it difficult for users to use server-side image maps. If image maps are used, providing redundant text links may improve the experience for mobile users.

Does it give me MWBP 1.0 compliance?: No.

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2.1 Ensure that all information conveyed with color is also available without color, for example from context or markup

How does it especially help mobile users? Refer to WCAG 2.0 success criterion Refer to the section on WCAG 2.0 success criterion1.4.1 Use of Color.

Does it give me MWBP 1.0 compliance?: Yes, this checkpoint ensures compliance with USE_OF_COLOR without any further effort. It also helps to achieve compliance with BP STRUCTURE by ensuring that structural elements are used rather than colour.

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2.2 Ensure that foreground and background color combinations provide sufficient contrast when viewed by someone having color deficits or when viewed on a black and white screen

How does it especially help mobile users? Refer to the section on WCAG 2.0 success criterion 1.4.3 Contrast (Minimum).

Does it give me MWBP 1.0 compliance?: This checkpoint ensures compliance with [COLOR_CONTRAST] with no further effort.

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3.1 When an appropriate markup language exists, use markup rather than images to convey information.

How does it especially help mobile users? @@

Does it give me MWBP 1.0 compliance?: @@

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3.2 Create documents that validate to published formal grammars.

How does it especially help mobile users? @@

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3.3 Use style sheets to control layout and presentation.

How does it especially help mobile users? @@

Does it give me MWBP 1.0 compliance?: @@

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3.4 Use relative rather than absolute units in markup language attribute values and style sheet property values.

How does it especially help mobile users? @@

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3.5 Use header elements to convey document structure and use them according to specification.

How does it especially help mobile users? @@

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3.6 Mark up lists and list items properly.

How does it especially help mobile users? @@

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4.1 Clearly identify changes in the natural language of a document's text and any text equivalents (e.g., captions).

How does it especially help mobile users? @@

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4.2 Specify the expansion of each abbreviation or acronym in a document where it first occurs.

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4.3 Identify the primary natural language of a document.

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5.1 For data tables, identify row and column headers.

How does it especially help mobile users? @@

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5.2 For data tables that have two or more logical levels of row or column headers, use markup to associate data cells and header cells.

How does it especially help mobile users? @@

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5.3 Do not use tables for layout unless the table makes sense when linearized. Otherwise, if the table does not make sense, provide an alternative equivalent (which may be a linearized version).

How does it especially help mobile users? @@

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5.4 If a table is used for layout, do not use any structural markup for the purpose of visual formatting.

How does it especially help mobile users? @@

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5.5 Provide summaries for tables.

How does it especially help mobile users? @@

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5.6 Provide abbreviations for header labels.

How does it especially help mobile users? @@

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6.1 Organize documents so they may be read without style sheets. For example, when an HTML document is rendered without associated style sheets, it must still be possible to read the document.

How does it especially help mobile users? @@

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6.2 “Ensure that equivalents for dynamic content are updated when the dynamic content changes”

Comment: Perhaps some clarification needed here of this often baffling checkpoint.

Comment: Also cover [NON-TEXT_ALTERNATIVES] here.

How does it especially help mobile users? Providing equivalents for objects and scripts and ensuring the equivalents are updated helps users who can not perceive this content due to device limitations as described in BP [OBJECTS_OR_SCRIPT].

Does it give me MWBP 1.0 compliance?: No. Although BP [OBJECTS_OR_SCRIPT] is partly concerned with equivalents, providing an equivalent is not sufficient to ensure compliance (the BP requires that objects and script not even be delivered to devices that do not support them and should be avoided where possible). However, objects and scripts are types of dynamic content and providing equivalents for them and ensuring the equivalents are updated goes some way to enabling (is a precondition for) compliance with the BP.

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6.3 Ensure that pages are usable when scripts, applets, or other programmatic objects are turned off or not supported. If this is not possible, provide equivalent information on an alternative accessible page.

How does it especially help mobile users? @@

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6.4 For scripts and applets, ensure that event handlers are input device-independent.

How does it especially help mobile users? @@

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6.5 Ensure that dynamic content is accessible or provide an alternative presentation or page.

How does it especially help mobile users? @@

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7.1 Until user agents allow users to control flickering, avoid causing the screen to flicker.

How does it especially help mobile users? @@

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7.2 Until user agents allow users to control blinking, avoid causing content to blink (i.e., change presentation at a regular rate, such as turning on and off).

How does it especially help mobile users? @@. Refer to Content blinks, moves, scrolls or auto-updates in “Summary of Experience of Content Features by Users” section.

Does it give me MWBP 1.0 compliance?: @@

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7.3 Until user agents allow users to freeze moving content, avoid movement in pages.

How does it especially help mobile users? @@. Refer to Content blinks, moves, scrolls or auto-updates in “Summary of Experience of Content Features by Users” section.

Does it give me MWBP 1.0 compliance?: @@

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7.4 Until user agents provide the ability to stop the refresh, do not create periodically auto-refreshing pages.

How does it especially help mobile users? @@

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7.5 Until user agents provide the ability to stop auto-redirect, do not use markup to redirect pages automatically. Instead, configure the server to perform redirects.

How does it especially help mobile users? @@

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8.1 Make programmatic elements such as scripts and applets directly accessible or compatible with assistive technologies [Priority 1 if functionality is important and not presented elsewhere, otherwise Priority 2.]

How does it especially help mobile users? @@

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9.1 Provide client-side image maps instead of server-side image maps except where the regions cannot be defined with an available geometric shape.

How does it especially help mobile users? @@

Does it give me MWBP 1.0 compliance?: @@

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9.2 Ensure that any element that has its own interface can be operated in a device-independent manner.

How does it especially help mobile users? @@

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9.3 For scripts, specify logical event handlers rather than device-dependent event handlers.

How does it especially help mobile users? @@

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9.4 Create a logical tab order through links, form controls, and objects.

How does it especially help mobile users? Refer to “Focus (tab) order does not match logical document content sequence” in Summary of Experience of Content Features by Users section. @@

Does it give me MWBP 1.0 compliance?: @@

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9.5 Provide keyboard shortcuts to important links (including those in client-side image maps), form controls, and groups of form controls.

How does it especially help mobile users? @@

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10.1 Until user agents allow users to turn off spawned windows, do not cause pop-ups or other windows to appear and do not change the current window without informing the user.

How does it especially help mobile users? @@

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10.2 Until user agents support explicit associations between labels and form controls, for all form controls with implicitly associated labels, ensure that the label is properly positioned.

How does it especially help mobile users? @@

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10.3 Until user agents (including assistive technologies) render side-by-side text correctly, provide a linear text alternative (on the current page or some other) for all tables that lay out text in parallel, word-wrapped columns.

How does it especially help mobile users? @@

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10.4 Until user agents handle empty controls correctly, include default, place-holding characters in edit boxes and text areas.

How does it especially help mobile users? @@

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How does it especially help mobile users? @@

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11.1 Use W3C technologies when they are available and appropriate for a task and use the latest versions when supported.

How does it especially help mobile users? @@

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11.2 Avoid deprecated features of W3C technologies.

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11.3 Provide information so that users may receive documents according to their preferences (e.g., language, content type, etc.)

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11.4 If, after best efforts, you cannot create an accessible page, provide a link to an alternative page that uses W3C technologies, is accessible, has equivalent information (or functionality), and is updated as often as the inaccessible (original) page.

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12.1 Title each frame to facilitate frame identification and navigation.

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12.2 Describe the purpose of frames and how frames relate to each other if it is not obvious by frame titles alone.

How does it especially help mobile users? @@

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12.3 Divide large blocks of information into more manageable groups where natural and appropriate.

How does it especially help mobile users? @@

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12.4 Associate labels explicitly with their controls.

How does it especially help mobile users? @@

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How does it especially help mobile users? Refer to “Link text not descriptive” in Summary of Experience of Content Features by Users section. @@

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13.2 “Provide metadata to add semantic information to pages and sites”

How does it especially help mobile users? Refer to the section on WCAG 2.0 success criterion 2.4.2 Page Titled.

Does it give me MWBP 1.0 compliance?: Including the page title ensures compliance with [PAGE_TITLE] “Provide a short but descriptive page title” with no further effort.

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13.3 Provide information about the general layout of a site (e.g., a site map or table of contents).

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13.4 Use navigation mechanisms in a consistent manner.

How does it especially help mobile users? @@

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13.5 Provide navigation bars to highlight and give access to the navigation mechanism.

How does it especially help mobile users? @@

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How does it especially help mobile users? @@

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13.7 If search functions are provided, enable different types of searches for different skill levels and preferences.

How does it especially help mobile users? @@

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13.8 Place distinguishing information at the beginning of headings, paragraphs, lists, etc.

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13.9 Provide information about document collections (i.e., documents comprising multiple pages.).

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13.10 Provide a means to skip over multi-line ASCII art.

How does it especially help mobile users? @@

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14.1 Use the clearest and simplest language appropriate for a site's content.

How does it especially help mobile users? @@

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14.2 Supplement text with graphic or auditory presentations where they will facilitate comprehension of the page.

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14.3 Create a style of presentation that is consistent across pages.

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