Techniques for WCAG 2.0

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T1: Using standard text formatting conventions for paragraphs

Applicability

Plain text documents. Not applicable to technologies that contain markup.

This technique relates to:

Description

The objective of this technique is to recognize a paragraph in a plain text document. A paragraph is a coherent block of text, such as a group of related sentences that develop a single topic or a coherent part of a larger topic.

The beginning of a paragraph is indicated by

The end of a paragraph is indicated by

A blank line contains zero or more non-printing characters, such as space or tab, followed by a new line.

Examples

Example 1

Two paragraphs. Each starts and ends with a blank line.

Example Code:


						
This is the first sentence in this
paragraph. Paragraphs may be long
or short.
   
    In this paragraph the first line is
indented. Indented and non-indented
sentences are allowed. White space within
the paragraph lines is ignored in
defining paragraphs. Only completely blank
lines are significant.

Resources

No resources available for this technique.

(none currently listed)

Tests

Procedure

For each paragraph:

  1. Check that the paragraph is preceded by exactly one blank line, or that the paragraph is the first content in the Web page

  2. Check that the paragraph is followed by at least one blank line, or that the paragraph is the last content in the Web page.

  3. Check that no paragraph contains any blank lines

Expected Results

If this is a sufficient technique for a success criterion, failing this test procedure does not necessarily mean that the success criterion has not been satisfied in some other way, only that this technique has not been successfully implemented and can not be used to claim conformance.

Techniques are Informative

Techniques are informative—that means they are not required. The basis for determining conformance to WCAG 2.0 is the success criteria from the WCAG 2.0 standard—not the techniques. For important information about techniques, please see the Understanding Techniques for WCAG Success Criteria section of Understanding WCAG 2.0.