Guide to Guideline 3.1 Level 3 Success Criterion 2

3.1 L3 SC2

Key terms and important concepts

Text content

[WCAG definition of text goes here]

Mechanism

a process or technique for achieving a result

Available

Ready for use or service; usable

NOTE: The baseline impact analysis for guidelines and SC recommended that the phrase "is available]" be used in this and a number of other SC as a way to describe a "functional outcome." I am concerned that the phrase is vague and subject to intentional misinterpretation—e.g., a mechanism is available but we didn’t implement it." To aboid this, we may want to consider changing "mechanism is available" to somethinglike "mechanism has been implemented" or "is available to the user."

Intended definition

the exact definition that users must know in order to understand the content

Intent of this success criterion

The intent of this success criterion is to ensure that definitions are available for:

Editorial Note: Editorial note: In future Working Drafts, this section will contain links to relevant sections of General Techniques for WCAG 2.0. The information below is presented to indicate the types of material that are available.

Technology-Independent techniques for Guideline 3.1 L3 SC2

Using inline definitions

Provide any intended definitions in the text of the delivery units.

Using a Glossary page

Provide a separate page that lists words used in unusual or restricted ways, and provide the appropriate definitions.

Using a dictionary cascade

Attach a list of dictionaries, glossaries, and other resources to the delivery unit (or collection of delivery units) so that users can find definitions for all words in the text. The glossary should include any words that must be defined in a particular way in order for the user to understand the content. Organize the list or "cascade" of dictionaries and other resources so that the definition search will find the intended definitions instead of displaying definitions from other sources in the "cascade." (The "cascade" lists the dictionaries and other reference materials in the order most likely to bring up the right definition. This controls the order to follow when searching for definitions.) Include a dictionary of idioms and a dictionary of jargon in the cascade.

Technology-Specific Techniques for Guideline 3.1 L3 SC2

Advisory techniques: going beyond Guideline 3.1 L3 SC1

Benefits: How Guideline 3.1 L3 SC2 helps people with disabilities

This success criterion helps people whose disabilities make reading difficult or impossible. These include:

This success criterion helps people with disabilities that affect their ability to use context to aid understanding. This includes people with certain learning disabilities and cognitive impairments. In addition, people with low vision often lose context when screen magnifiers zoom in on a small area of the screen. This success criterion also helps people who have difficulty recognizing words (decoding) by limiting the number of dictionary entries they must read in order to find the definition that fits the context.

Examples of Guideline 3.1 L3 SC2

Example 1: Text that includes a definition for a word used in an unusual way.

Organize the list or "cascade" of dictionaries and other resources so that the definition search will find the intended definitions instead of displaying definitions from other sources in the "cascade." (The "cascade" lists the dictionaries and other reference materials in the order most likely to bring up the right definition. This controls the order to follow when searching for definitions.)

Example 2: Including definitions in the dictionary cascade.

WCAG 2.0 uses the word "text" in a specific way. If the Glossary for WCAG 2.0 appears first in the dictionary cascade, users who want a definition of "text" will get the definition as it appears in the Glossary. Users who request definitions for words that are not defined in the Glossary will get definitions that appear in whatever dictionary appears in the cascade.

Related resources

[Note: The inclusion of a product or vendor name in the list below does not constitute an endorsement by the Web Content Accessibility Guidelines Working Group or the Web Accessibility Initiative of the World Wide Web Consortium. This list is provided simply for convenience, and to give users an idea of what resources may be available.]