W3C

Techniques for Authoring Tool Accessibility

W3C Working Draft 21-June-1999

This version:
http://www.w3.org/WAI/AU/WAI-AUTOOLS-19990621/wai-autools-tech
Latest version:
http://www.w3.org/WAI/AU/WAI-AUTOOLS
Previous version:
http://www.w3.org/WAI/AU/WAI-AUTOOLS-19990617/wai-autools-tech
Editors:
Jutta Treviranus <jutta.treviranus@utoronto.ca>
Jan Richards <jan.richards@utoronto.ca>
Ian Jacobs <ij@w3.org>
Charles McCathieNevile <charles@w3.org>

Abstract

This document contains techniques and further examples, as an informative aid to developers seeking to implement the Authoring Tool Accessibility Guidelines. The guidelines and checkpoints for that document are included for convenience.

This document is part of a series of accessibility documents published by the W3C Web Accessibility Initiative.

Status of this document

This is a Working Draft of the Authoring Tool Accessibility Guidelines. It is a draft document and may be updated, replaced or rendered obsolete by other documents at any time. It is inappropriate to use W3C Working Drafts as reference material or to cite them as other than "work in progress". This is work in progress and does not imply endorsement by either W3C or members of the WAI Authoring Tool (AU) Working Group.

Guideline 2.1 is identified by the working group as a specific area for review in this draft, although comment is sought on the entire guidelines and techniques documents.

This draft is published for review by the WAI Interest Group. Following working group consideration of that review, this draft will be published as a public working draft. A log of changes between successive working drafts is available.

The goals of the WAI AU Working Group are discussed in the WAI AU charter.

Please send comments about this document to the public mailing list: w3c-wai-au@w3.org, archived at http://lists.w3.org/Archives/Public/w3c-wai-au

A list of the current AU Working Group members is available.

Table of Contents


1 Introduction

This document is intended as an informative adjunct to the Authoring Tool Accessibility Guidelines. Although it reproduces the guidelines themselves, it is not a normative document. It will be periodically updated.

The techniques introduced here are generally suggestions about how a checkpoint may be fulfilled. They are not the only way of fulfilling the checkpoint, nor are they a definitive set of requirements for fulfilling a checkpoint.

1.1 Scope of the Guidelines

The guidelines are intended to be used by developers of all tools used to produce content for the Web. These include:

1.2 Guidelines, Checkpoints, and Techniques

The guidelines documents have been organized to address readers seeking abstract principles of accessible authoring tool design and readers seeking concrete solutions. The guidelines documents define three terms for different levels of abstraction:

Guideline
A guideline is a general principle of accessible authoring tool design. A guideline addresses the question "What accessibility issues should I be aware of?"
Checkpoint
A checkpoint is a specific way of satisfying one or more guidelines. While checkpoints describe verifiable actions that may be carried out by the authoring tool developer, implementation details are described elsewhere. A checkpoint answers the question "What must/should/may I do to make an authoring tool (and the content it produces) accessible?"
Technique
A technique is an example of, or further information about implementation of a checkpoint. A technique answers the question "How might I implement that in an authoring tool?"

1.3 Checkpoint priorities

There are three goals:

  1. The authoring tool is accessible
  2. The authoring tool generates accessible content
  3. The authoring tool encourages the creation of accessible content

Checkpoints are assigned priority according to how important they are to meeting those goals:

[Priority 1]
Essential to meeting those goals
[Priority 2]
Important to meeting those goals
[Priority 3]
Beneficial to meeting those goals

2 Guidelines

Guideline 1. Ensure that the Authoring Tool is Accessible to Authors with Disabilities

The authoring tool is a software program with standard user interface elements and as such should follow relevant user interface accessibility guidelines.

The author may need a different presentation to edit the Web content than the one they wish ultimately to be displayed. This implies display preferences that do not manifest themselves in the ultimate markup or style declarations.

Authoring Web content requires editing a potentially large and complex document. In order to edit a document the author must be able to locate and select specific blocks of text, efficiently traverse the document, and quickly find and mark insertion points. Authors who use screen readers, refreshable braille displays, or screen magnifiers can make limited use (if at all) of visual artifacts that communicate the structure of the document and act as sign posts when traversing the document. There are strategies that make it easier to navigate and manipulate a marked up document. A compressed view of the document allows the author to both get a good sense of the overall structure and to navigate that structure more easily.

Checkpoints:

1.1 Use all applicable operating system and accessibility standards and conventions. [Priority 1]
  • Guidelines for specific platforms include
    1. "IBM Guidelines for Writing Accessible Applications Using 100% Pure Java" [JAVA-ACCESS] R. Schwerdtfeger, IBM Special Needs Systems.
    2. "An ICE Rendezvous Mechanism for X Window System Clients" [ICE-RAP], W. Walker. A description of how to use the ICE and RAP protocols for X Window clients.
    3. "Information for Developers About Microsoft Active Accessibility" [MS-ACCESS] Microsoft Corporation.
    4. "The Inter-Client communication conventions manual" [ICCCM]. A protocol for communication between clients in the X Window system.
    5. "Lotus Notes accessibility guidelines" [NOTES-ACCESS] IBM Special Needs Systems.
    6. "Java accessibility guidelines and checklist" [JAVA-CHECKLIST] IBM Special Needs Systems.
    7. "The Java Tutorial. Trail: Creating a GUI with JFC/Swing" [JAVA-TUT]. An online tutorial that describes how to use the Swing Java Foundation Class to build an accessible User Interface.
    8. "Macintosh Human Interface Guidelines" [APPLE-HI] Apple Computer Inc.
    9. "The Microsoft Windows Guidelines for Accessible Software Design" [MS-SOFTWARE]. Warning! This is a "self-extracting archive", an application that will probably only run on MS-Windows systems.
  • Guidelines for specific software types include
    1. "The Three-tions of Accessibility-Aware HTML Authoring Tools" [ACCESS-AWARE], J. Richards.
    2. "User Agent Accessibility Guidelines (Working Draft)" J. Gunderson, I. Jacobs eds. (This is a work in progress) [WAI-USERAGENT]
  • General guidelines for producing accessible software include:
    1. "Accessibility for applications designers" [MS-ENABLE] Microsoft Corporation.
    2. "Application Software Design Guidelines" [TRACE-REF] compiled by G. Vanderheiden. A thorough reference work.
    3. "Designing for Accessibility" [SUN-DESIGN] Eric Bergman and Earl Johnson. This paper discusses specific disabilities including those related to hearing, vision, and cognitive function.
    4. "EITACC Desktop Software standards" [EITAAC] Electronic Information Technology Access Advisory (EITACC) Committee.
    5. "Requirements for Accessible Software Design" [ED-DEPT] US Department of Education, version 1.1 March 6, 1997.
    6. "Software Accessibility" [IBM-ACCESS] IBM Special Needs Systems
    7. "Towards Accessible Human-Computer Interaction" [SUN-HCI] Eric Bergman, Earl Johnson, Sun Microsytems 1995. A substantial paper, with a valuable print bibliography.
    8. "What is Accessible Software" [WHAT-IS] James W. Thatcher, Ph.D., IBM, 1997. This paper gives a short example-based introduction to the difference between software that is accessible, and software that can be used by some assistive technologies.
  • User Interfaces are sometimes built as web content, and as such should follow the Web Content Accessibility Guidelines [WAI-WEBCONTENT] (See also 3 Support accessible authoring practices )
  • The following are common requirements for producing accessible software. This list does not necessarily cover all requirements for all platforms, and items may not be applicable to some software.:

    Following Standards

    • Draw text and objects using system conventions
    • Make mouse, keyboard, and API activation of events consistent
    • Provide a User Interface that is "familiar" (to system standards, or across platform)
    • Use system standard indirections wherever possible
    • Ensure all dialogs, subwindows, etc meet these requirements
    • Avoid blocking assistive technology functions (sticky/mouse keys, screenreader controls, etc) where possible

    Configurability

    • Allow users to create profiles
    • Allow control of timing, colors, sizes, input/output devices and media
    • Allow users to reshape the user interface - customize toolbars, keyboard commands, etc

    Input Device Independence

    • Provide Keyboard access to all functions
    • Document all keyboard bindings
    • Provide customizable keyboard shortcuts for common functions
    • Provide logical navigation order for the keyboard interface.
    • Avoid repetitive keying wherever possible
    • Provide mouse access to functions where possible

    Icons, Graphics, Sounds

    • Provide visual (text) equivalents for sound warnings
    • Allow sounds to be turned off
    • Provide text equivalents for images/icons
    • Use customizable (or removable) colors/patterns
    • Ensure high contrast is available (as default setting)
    • Provide text equivalents for all audio
    • Use icons that are resizeable or available in multiple sizes

    Layout

    • Do not rely on color alone for meaning. Use color for differentiation, in combination with accessible cues (text equivalents, natural language, etc)
    • Position related text labels and objects consistently, and in an obvious manner (labels before objects is recommended)
    • Group related controls
    • Ensure default window sizes fit in screen
    • Allow for window resizing (very small to very large)

    User Focus

    • Clearly identify the user focus (and expose it via API)
    • moving focus should not cause unexpected events
    • Allow user control of timing - delays, time-dependent response, etc
    • Allow for navigation between as well as within windows
1.2 Allow the author to change the editing view without changing the presentational markup defined for the document currently being edited. [Priority 1]
1.3 Allow the author to display an editable equivalent for each element, object, and property that is available for editing. [Priority 1]
1.4 Enable navigation and editing via the structure of the document. [Priority 1]
1.5 Enable editing of the structure of the document. [Priority 2]

Guideline 2. Generate standard markup

The first step towards producing accessible content is conformance with standards, which promotes interoperability.

Checkpoints:

2.1 Use applicable W3C Recommendations. [Priority 2]
2.2 Extensions to W3C Recommendations must not make content inaccessible. [Priority 1]

Guideline 3. Support accessible authoring practices

Methods for ensuring accessible markup vary with different markup languages. If markup is automatically generated, many authors will be unaware of the accessibility status of the final product unless they expend extra effort to make appropriate corrections by hand. Since many authors are unfamiliar with accessibility, these problems are likely to remain.

Many applications feature the ability to convert documents from other formats (e.g., Rich Text Format) into a markup format, such as HTML. Markup changes may also be made to facilitate efficient editing and manipulation. These processes are usually hidden from the user's view and may create inaccessible content or cause inaccessible content to be produced.

Checkpoints:

3.1 Implement all accessible authoring practices that have been defined for the markup language(s) supported by the tool. [Priority 1]
3.2 Produce content that conforms to the W3C's Web Content Accessibility Guidelines [WAI-WEBCONTENT]. [Priority 1 for level-A conformance, Priority 2 for double-A conformance, Priority 3 for triple-A conformance]
3.3 Ensure that templates to be inserted in the document conform to W3C Web Content Accessibility Guidelines [WAI-WEBCONTENT]. [Priority 1 for level-A conformance, Priority 2 for double-A conformance, Priority 3 for triple-A conformance]
3.4 Preserve all accessibility content during transformations and conversions. [Priority 1]

Guideline 4. Ensure that no accessibility content is missing

Textual equivalents, including "alt-text", long descriptions, video captions, and transcripts are absolutely necessary for the accessibility of all images, applets, video, and audio files. However, the task of producing these equivalents is probably the most time-consuming accessibility recommendation made to the author.

The authoring tool can provide various mechanisms to assist the author in generating textual equivalents while ensuring that the author can determine whether the textual equivalent accurately reflects the information conveyed by the multimedia object.

Including professionally written descriptions for all multimedia files (e.g., clip-art) packaged with the tool will:

This will lead to an increase in the average quality of descriptions used.

Checkpoints:

4.1 Prompt the author to provide alternative content (e.g., captions, descriptive video). (Priority 1 for alternative content that is [Web-Content-Priority-1], Priority 2 for alternative content that is [Web-Content-Priority-2], Priority 3 for alternative content that is [Web-Content-Priority-3])
4.2 Prompt the author for all missing structural information (e.g., language changes, table headers). (Priority 1 for structural information that is [Web-Content-Priority-1], Priority 2 for structural information that is [Web-Content-Priority-2], Priority 3 for structural information that is [Web-Content-Priority-3])
4.3 Allow the author to edit all alternative content and structural information. [Priority 1]
4.4 Provide pre-written alternative content for all multimedia files packaged with the authoring tool. [Priority 2]
4.5 Provide a mechanism to manage alternative content for multimedia objects, that retains and offers for editing pre-written or previously linked alternative content. [Priority 3]
4.6 Do not insert automatically generated (e.g., the filename) or place-holder (e.g., "image") equivalent text, except in cases where human-authored text has been written for an object whose function is known with certainty. [Priority 1]

Techniques for this guideline:

Guideline 5. Integrate accessibility solutions into the overall "look and feel"

When a new feature is added to an existing software tool without proper integration, the result is often an obvious discontinuity. Differing color schemes, fonts, interaction styles and even application stability can be factors affecting user acceptance of the new feature.

Checkpoints:

5.1 Ensure that the highest-priority accessible authoring practices are the most visible and easily initiated by the author. Highlight the most accessible solutions when presenting choices for the author. [Priority 2]
5.2 Make generation of accessible content a naturally integrated part of the authoring process. [Priority 1]

Guideline 6. Provide methods of checking and correcting inaccessible content

Many authoring tools allow authors to create documents with little or no knowledge about the underlying markup. To ensure accessibility, authoring tools must be designed so that they may automatically identify inaccessible content, and enable its correction even when the markup itself is hidden from the author.

In supporting the creation of accessible Web content, authoring tools must take into account the differing authoring styles of their users. Some users may prefer to be alerted to problems when they occur, whereas others may prefer to perform a check after the document is completed. This is analogous to programming environments that allow users to decide whether to check for correct code during editing or at compile time.

Note that validity is an accessibility requirement, particularly for assistive technologies.

Checkpoints:

6.1 Check for and alert the author to accessibility problems. (Priority 1 for accessibility problems that are [Web-Content-Priority-1], Priority 2 for accessibility problems that are [Web-Content-Priority-2], Priority 3 for accessibility problems that are [Web-Content-Priority-3])
6.2 Allow users to control both the nature and timing of accessibility alerts. [Priority 2]
6.3 Assist authors in correcting accessibility problems. (Priority 1 for accessibility problems that are [Web-Content-Priority-1], Priority 2 for accessibility problems that are [Web-Content-Priority-2], Priority 3 for accessibility problems that are [Web-Content-Priority-3])
6.4 When removing unrecognized markup, alert the author (according to a configurable schedule). [Priority 2]
6.5 Provide the author with a summary of the document accessibility status on a configurable schedule. [Priority 3]
6.6 Allow the author to perform tag transformations. [Priority 3]
For example, to transform visually formatted elements to structure elements, or tables to lists.

Techniques for this guideline:

Guideline 7. Promote accessibility in help and documentation

The issues surrounding Web accessibility are often unknown to Web authors. Help and documentation should explain accessibility problems and solutions, with examples.

Checkpoints:

7.1 Integrate accessible authoring practices in all applicable help topics. [Priority 1]
7.2 Explain the accessible authoring practices supported by the authoring tool. [Priority 1]
7.3 Do not use inaccessible markup in examples. [Priority 1]
7.4 Emphasize the universal benefit of accessible design. [Priority 3]

3 Appendix - Sample Implementations

The Sample Implementations are not Guidelines, they are Techniques. The section has been included to illustrate how the design principles embodied in the guidelines sections can be applied to concrete issues. The specific ideas discussed in this section are meant to be used only as clarification.

3.1 The A-prompt Tool

The A-prompt tool [APROMPT] is an example tool that allows for checking of many accessibility features in HTML pages, and incorporates an "alt text registry" to manage alternative content for known resources. The tool is built in such a way that the functions can be incorporated into an authoring tool.

3.2 Alt-Text for the HTML 4.0 IMG Element

[Editors' note: This section has not kept pace with the development of the guidelines. It will be updated in future drafts.]

"Alt-text" is generally considered the most important aid to HTML accessibility. For this reason, the issue of "alt-text" has been chosen as the subject for an extended technique based on a hypothetical implementation.

1 Ensure that the Authoring Tool is Accessible to Authors with Disabilities
Implementation: The author can edit the document using the alternative content of the image in its place, and can access all the properties of the image (height, width, etc)
2 Generate standard markup
Implementation: In any content produced, the IMG element is always properly formed as defined in the HTML4 specification. This means that the element contains both a "src" attribute and an "alt" attribute.
3 Support accessible authoring practices
Implementation: Due to the [Web-Content-Priority 1] recommendation status of "alt-text" in the Web Content Accessibility Guidelines, special attention will be devoted to prompting and guiding the user toward full "alt" coverage. The authoring tool has the capability of opening and converting word processor documents into HTML. If an image is encountered during this process, the user will be prompted for "alt-text". The authoring tool sometimes makes changes to the HTML it works with to allow more efficient manipulation. These changes never result in the removal or modification of "alt-text" entries.
4 Ensure that no accessibility content is missing
Implementation: The authoring tool is shipped with many ready-to-use clip art and other images. For each of these images a short "alt-text" string and a longer description have been pre-written and stored in an "alt-text" registry. When the user selects one of these images for insertion, the alternative text and long description are offered for editing and approval. Whenever the user includes another image, the tool keeps the reference to that image and the associated "alt-text" and long description in the "alt-text registry". When a text alternative offered by the tool is edited, the tool adds the new text to the registry, and offers both entries when the image is used again. There is an option to mark any entry as the default.
5 Integrate accessibility solutions into the overall "look and feel"
Implementation: At no point do "alt-text" requests appear on their own or in a non-standard manner. Instead "alt-text" notices and emphasis appear as integrated and necessary as the "src" attribute.
6 Provide methods of checking and correcting inaccessible content
Implementation: If the user opens content or pastes in markup containing an IMG element that lacks "alt-text", the author is prompted to add them. The tool can be configured to prompt as soon as an error is detected, or to provide a highlight mark where these errors occur and to prompt when the author is saving or publishing a document. The default prompt includes prompting for a long description of each image.
7 Promote accessibility in help and documentation
Implementation: Whenever missing "alt-text" is flagged (anywhere in the tool suite) the same quick explanation, extended help, and examples are offered. The help documentation for inserting images and image maps includes providing alternative text as part of the necessary steps, and describes how to determine appropriate alternative text in the same section. Examples of images and image-maps all have alternative text included, and images have long descriptions.

4 Terms and Definitions

[Editors' note: This section will be reviewed by the group, and is expected to be updated in future drafts]

Integrated Author Guidance and Prompting

Interface mechanisms such as dialogs, menus, toolbars, and palettes can be structured so that markup or elements that are accessible are given as the first and easiest choice.

Prompts and Alerts

Prompts can be used to encourage authors to provide information needed to make the content accessible (such as alternative textual representations). Prompts are simple requests for information before a markup structure has been finalized. For example, an "alt-text" entry field prominently displayed in an image insertion dialog would constitute a prompt. Prompts are relatively unintrusive and address a problem before it has been committed. However, once the user has ignored the prompt, its message is unavailable.

Alerts warn the author that there are problems that need to be addressed. The art of attracting users' attention is a tricky issue. The way in which users are alerted, prompted, or warned will influence their view of the tool as well as their opinion of accessible authoring.

User Configurable Schedule
A user configurable schedule allows the user to determine the type of prompts and alerts that are used, including when they are presented. For example, a user may wish to include multiple images without being prompted for alternative content, and then provide the alternative content in a batch process, or may wish to be reminded each time they add an image. If the prompting is done on a user configurable schedule they will be able to make that decision themselves. This technique allows a tool to suit the needs a wide range of authors.
Interruptive Alerts
Interruptive alerts are informative messages that interrupt the edit process for the user. For example, interruptive alerts are often presented when a user's action could cause a loss of data. Interruptive alerts allow problems to be brought to the user's attention immediately. However, users may resent the constant delays and forced actions. Many people prefer to finish expressing an idea before returning to edit its format.
Unintrusive Alerts
Unintrusive alerts are alerts such as icons, underlines, and gentle sounds that can be presented to the user without necessitating immediate action. for example, in some word processors misspelled text is highlighted without forcing the user to make immediate corrections. These alerts allow users to continue editing with the knowledge that problems will be easy to identify at a later time. However, users may become annoyed at the extra formatting or may choose to ignore the alerts altogether.
Prompts
Prompts are requests for user input, either information or a decision. Prompts require author response.
Alerts
Alerts notify the author of something, or mark something for the author's attention. They may or may not require author response.

Markup Editing Tools and Functions

Authoring Tool
As used in this document, an Authoring Tool is any software that is used to generate content for publishing on the Web. See also section 1.3 Scope of the guidelines.
Conversion Tool
A Conversion Tool is any application or application feature that allows content in some other format (proprietary or not) to be converted automatically into a particular markup language. This includes software whose primary function is to convert documents to a particular markup language as well as "save as HTML" (or other markup language) features in non-markup applications.
Generation Tool
A Generation Tool is a program or script that produces automatic markup "on the fly" by following a template or set of rules. The generation may be performed on either the server or client side.
Site Management Tool
A tool that provides an overview of an entire Web site indicating hierarchical structure. It will facilitate management through functions that may include automatic index creation, automatic link updating, and broken link checking.
Publishing Tool
A tool that allows content to be uploaded in an integrated fashion. Sometimes these tools makes changes such as local hyper-reference modifications. Although these tools sometimes stand alone, they may also be integrated into site management tools.
Image Editor
A graphics program that provides a variety of options for altering images of different formats.
Video Editor
A tool that facilitates the process of manipulating video images. Video editing includes cutting segments (trimming), re-sequencing clips, and adding transitions and other special effects.
Multi-media Authoring Tool
Software that facilitates integration of diverse media elements into an comprehensive presentation format. May incorporate video, audio, images, animations, simulations, and other interactive components.
Automated Markup Insertion Function
Automated markup insertion functions are the features of an authoring tool that allow the user to produce markup without directly typing it. This includes a wide range of tools from simple markup insertion aids (such as a bold button on a toolbar) to markup managers (such as table makers that include powerful tools such as "split cells" that can make multiple changes) to high level site building wizards that produce almost complete documents on the basis of a series of user preferences.
Transformation
A process whereby one object is changed, according to a discrete set of rules, into another, equivalent, object. This includes any application or application feature that allows content that is marked up in a particular markup language to be transformed into another markup language, such as software that allows the author to change the DTD defined for the original document to another DTD. It also describes the substitution of textual equivalents for graphical or visually defined elements and objects, and the conversion from one element type to another within a document.

Documents, Elements, and Attributes

Document
A document is a series of elements that are defined by a language (e.g., HTML 4.0 or an XML application).
Element
An element is any identifiable object within a document, for example a character, word, image, paragraph or spreadsheet cell. In HTML and XML an element refers to a pair of tags and their content, or an "empty" tag - one that has no closing tag or content.
Property
A property is a piece of information about an element, for example structural information (e.g., it is item number 7 in a list, or plain text) or presentation information (e.g., that it is marked as bold, its font size is 14). In XML and HTML properties of an element include the name of the element (e.g., IMG or DL), the values of its attributes, and information associated by means of a stylesheet. In a database, properties of a particular element may include values of the entry, and acceptable data types for that element.
Attributes
in XML and HTML, an element may have any number of attributes. In the following example, the attributes of the beverage element are flavour, which has the value "lots", and colour, which has the value "red": <beverage flavour="lots" colour="red">my favorite</beverage> Some attributes are integral to document accessibility (e.g., the "alt", "title", and "longdesc" attributes in HTML
Rendered Content
The rendered content is that which an element actually causes to be rendered by the user agent. This may differ from the element's structural content. For example, some elements cause external data to be rendered (e.g., the IMG element in HTML), and in some cases, browsers may render the value of an attribute (e.g., "alt", "title") in place of the element's content.

Accessibility Terms

Accessibility Awareness
The term accessibility awareness is used to describe an application that has been designed to maximize the ease of use of the interface and its products for people with differing needs, abilities and technologies. In the case of authoring tools, this means that (1) care has been taken to ensure that the content produced by user-authors is accessible and (2) that the user interface has been designed to be usable with a variety of display and control technologies.
Accessible, Accessibility
Within these guidelines, Accessible and Accessibility are used in the sense of being accessible to people regardless of disability.
Inaccessible Markup, Inaccessible Element, Inaccessible Attribute, Inaccessible Authoring Practice and Access Barrier
All these terms are used in the context of inaccessibility as defined by the Web Content Accessibility Guidelines [WAI-WEBCONTENT].
Accessibility Solution, Accessible Authoring Practice
These terms refer to Authoring practices that improve the accessibility of content generated by the tool..

Alternative Representation of Content

Alternative Textual Representations
Certain types of content may not be accessible to all users (e.g., images), so authoring tools must ensure that alternative textual representations ("Alt-text") of information is available to the user. Alternative text can come from element content (e.g., the OBJECT element) or attributes (e.g., "alt" or "title").
Description Link (D-link)
A description link, or D-Link, is an author-supplied link to additional information about a piece of content that might otherwise be difficult to access (image, applet, video, etc.).
Transcripts
A transcript is a line by line record of all dialog and action within a video or audio clip.
Video Captions
A video caption is a textual message that is stored in the text track of a video file. The video caption describes the action and dialog for the scene in which it is displayed.

Inserting and Editing

Inserting an element
Inserting an element involves placing that element's markup within the markup of the file. This applies to all insertions, including, but not limited to, direct coding in a text editing mode, choosing an automated insertion from a pull-down menu or tool bar button, "drag-and-drop" style insertions, or "paste" operations.
Editing an element
Editing an element involves making changes to one or more of an element's attributes or properties. This applies to all editing, including, but not limited to, direct coding in a text editing mode, making changes to a property dialog or direct User Interface manipulation.

Selection, Focus, and Events

Views
An authoring tool may offer several views of the same document. For instance, one view may show raw markup, a second may show a structured tree view, a third may show markup with rendered objects while a final view shows an example of how the document may appear if it were to be rendered by a particular browser.
Editing view
What is displayed by the authoring tool to the author during the editing process.
Rendered view
What is displayed by the authoring tool to the author as a means of simulating how a user of the document being edited will interact with the document currently being edited as a published document.
Selection
A selection is a set of elements identified for a particular operation. The user selection identifies a set of elements for certain types of user interaction (e.g., cut, copy, and paste operations). The user selection may be established by the user (e.g., by a pointing device or the keyboard) or via an accessibility Application Programmatic Interface (API). A view may have several selections, but only one user selection.
Current User Selection
When several views co-exist, each may have a user selection, but only one is active, called the current user selection. The selections may be rendered specially (e.g., visually highlighted).
Focus
The focus designates the active element (e.g., link, form control, element with associated scripts, etc.) in a view that will react when the user next interacts with the document.

5 Acknowledgments

Many thanks to the following people who have contributed through review and comment: Jim Allan, Denis Anson, Kynn Bartlett, Harvey Bingham, Judy Brewer, Carl Brown, Dick Brown, Kelly Ford, Wendy Chisholm, Rob Cumming, Daniel Dardailler, Mark Day, BK Delong, Jamie Fox, Sylvain Galineau, Al Gilman, Eric Hansen, Phill Jenkins, Len Kasday, Brian Kelly, William Loughborough, Karen McCall, Charles Oppermann, Dave Pawson, Dave Poehlman, Bruce Roberts, Chris Ridpath, Gregory Rosmaita, Jim Thatcher, Irène Vatton, Gregg Vanderheiden, Pawan Vora, Jason White, and Lauren Wood.

If you have contributed to the AU guidelines and your name does not appear please contact the editors to add your name to the list.

6 References

[ACCESS-AWARE]
"The Three-tions of Accessibility-Aware HTML Authoring Tools", J. Richards. Available at:
http://www.utoronto.ca/atrc/rd/hm/3tions.htm
[APPLE-HI]
"Macintosh Human Interface Guidelines", Apple Computer Inc. Available at:

http://developer.apple.com/techpubs/mac/HIGuidelines/HIGuidelines-2.html

[APROMPT]
A-prompt tool is a freely available example tool developed by the Adaptive Technology Resource Center at the University of Toronto, and the TRACE center at the University of Wisconsin. The source code for the tool is also available: http://aprompt.snow.utoronto.ca
[CSS1]
"CSS, level 1 Recommendation", B. Bos, H. Wium Lie, eds. The CSS1 Recommendation is available at:
http://www.w3.org/TR/REC-CSS1
[CSS2]
"CSS, level 2 Recommendation", B. Bos, H. Wium Lie, C. Lilley, and I. Jacobs, eds. The CSS2 Recommendation is available at:
http://www.w3.org/TR/REC-CSS2/
[CSS2-ACCESS]
"WAI Resources: CSS2 Accessibility Improvements", I. Jacobs and J. Brewer, eds. This document, that describes accessibility features in CSS2, is available at:
http://www.w3.org/WAI/References/CSS2-access
[ED-DEPT]
"Requirements for Accessible Software Design", US Department of Education, version 1.1 March 6, 1997. Available at:

http://ocfo.ed.gov/coninfo/clibrary/software.htm.

[EITAAC]
"EITACC Desktop Software standards", Electronic Information Technology Access Advisory (EITACC) Committee. Available at: trace.wisc.edu/docs/eitacc_desktop_software_standards/desktop_software_standards.htm
[HTML40]
"HTML 4.0 Recommendation", D. Raggett, A. Le Hors, and I. Jacobs, eds. The HTML 4.0 Recommendation is available at:
http://www.w3.org/TR/REC-html40/
[HTML4-ACCESS]
"WAI Resources: HTML 4.0 Accessibility Improvements", I. Jacobs, J. Brewer, and D. Dardailler, eds. This document, that describes accessibility features in HTML 4.0, is available at:
http://www.w3.org/WAI/References/HTML4-access
[IBM-ACCESS]
"Software Accessibility" IBM Special Needs Systems. Available at:

http://www.austin.ibm.com/sns/accesssoftware.html

[ICCCM]
"The Inter-Client communication conventions manual". A protocol for communication between clients in the X Window system. Available at:

http://ftp.x.org/pub/R6.3/xc/doc/specs/ICCCM/

[ICE-RAP]
"An ICE Rendezvous Mechanism for X Window System Clients", W. Walker. A description of how to use the ICE and RAP protocols for X Window clients. Available at:

http://trace.wisc.edu/docs/x_win_andice/x_andice.htm

[JAVA-ACCESS]
"IBM Guidelines for Writing Accessible Applications Using 100% Pure Java", R. Schwerdtfeger, IBM Special Needs Systems. Available at:

http://www.austin.ibm.com/sns/snsjavag.htm

[JAVA-CHECKLIST]
"Java Accessibility Guidelines and Checklist" IBM Special Needs Systems. Available at:

http://www.austin.ibm.com/sns/accessjava.html

[JAVA-TUT]
"The Java Tutorial. Trail: Creating a GUI with JFC/Swing". An online tutorial that describes how to use the Swing Java Foundation Class to build an accessible User Interface. Available at:

http://java.sun.com/docs/books/tutorial/uiswing/

[MS-ACCESS]
"Information for Developers About Microsoft Active Accessibility" Microsoft Corporation. Available at:

http://www.microsoft.com/enable/msaa/develop.htm

[MS-ENABLE]
"Accessibility for Applications Designers" Microsoft Corporation. Available at:

http://www.microsoft.com/enable/dev/apps.htm

[MS-SOFTWARE]
"The Microsoft Windows Guidelines for Accessible Software Design". Warning! This is a "self-extracting archive", an application that will probably only run on MS-Windows systems.

http://www.microsoft.com/enable/download/winapp23.exe

[NOTES-ACCESS]
"Lotus Notes Accessibility Guidelines" IBM Special Needs Systems. Available at:

http://www.austin.ibm.com/sns/accessnotes.html.

[SEARCHABLE]
"A Comparison of Schemas for Dublin Core-based Video Metadata Representation", J Hunter. Available at: http://www.dstc.edu.au/RDU/staff/jane-hunter/mpeg7/contribution.htm
[SUN-DESIGN]
"Designing for Accessibility" Eric Bergman and Earl Johnson. This paper discusses specific disabilities including those related to hearing, vision, and cognitive function. Available at:

http://www.sun.com/tech/access/software.guides.html

[SUN-HCI]
"Towards Accessible Human-Computer Interaction" Eric Bergman, Earl Johnson, Sun Microsytems 1995. A substantial paper, with a valuable print bibliography. Available at:

http://www.sun.com/tech/access/updt.HCI.advance.html.

[TRACE-REF]
"Application Software Design Guidelines" compiled by G. Vanderheiden. A thorough reference work. Available at:

http://trace.wisc.edu/docs/software_guidelines/software.htm

[W3C-RECS]
"W3C Technical Reports and Publications" The latest versions of W3C Recomendations are available at:
http://www.w3.org/TR
[WAI-AUTOOLS]
"Authoring Tool Accessibility Guidelines (Working Draft)", J. Treviranus, J. Richards, I. Jacobs, and C. McCathieNevile eds. The latest working draft of these guidelines is available at:
http://www.w3.org/WAI/AU/WAI-AUTOOLS
[WAI-USERAGENT]
"User Agent Accessibility Guidelines", J. Gunderson and I. Jacobs, eds. These guidelines for designing accessible user agents are available at:
http://www.w3.org/TR/WAI-USERAGENT
[WAI-WEBCONTENT]
"Web Content Accessibility Guidelines 1.0", W. Chisholm, G. Vanderheiden, and I. Jacobs, eds. These guidelines for designing accessible documents are available at:
http://www.w3.org/TR/WAI-WEBCONTENT
[WAI-WEBCONTENT-TECHS]
"Techniques for Web Content Accessibility Guidelines", W. Chisholm, G. Vanderheiden, and I. Jacobs, eds. These techniques for designing accessible documents are available at:
http://www.w3.org/TR/WAI-WEBCONTENT-TECHS/
[Web-Content-Priority]
Priorities defined by [WAI-WEBCONTENT].
[WHAT-IS]
"What is Accessible Software" James W. Thatcher, Ph.D., IBM, 1997. This paper gives a short example-based introduction to the difference between software that is accessible, and software that can be used by some assistive technologies. Available at

http://www.austin.ibm.com/sns/software.html.