W3C

Techniques for Evaluating Authoring Tool Accessibility

Working Draft 13 September 2000

This version:
http://www.w3.org/WAI/AU/WD-ATAG10-EVAL-20000913
Latest version:
http://www.w3.org/WAI/AU/ATAG10-EVAL
Editor:
Charles McCathieNevile - W3C

Copyright ©2000 W3C® (MIT, INRIA, Keio), All Rights Reserved. W3C liability, trademark, document use and software licensing rules apply.

Abstract

This is a first working draft for a document that provides information to anyone who wishes to test whether an authoring tool satisfies the checkpoints of "Authoring Tool Accessibility Guidelines 1.0" [ATAG10].

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

Status of this document

This section describes the status of this document at the time of its publication. Other documents may supersede this document. The latest status of this document series is maintained at the W3C.

This document is an initial draft for a new section of a W3C Note, published as an informative appendix to "Authoring Tool Accessibility Guidelines 1.0". The Working Group expects to update this document. Suggestions for additional techniques are welcome.

This document is published for review by the Authoring Tool Accessibility Guidelines Working Group (AUWG) and other interested parties, and has not been endorsed by the Working Group, the W3C or any of the W3C Membership.

For further information about Working Group decisions, please consult the minutes of AUWG Meetings.

This document has been produced by the Authoring Tool Accessibility Guidelines Working Group (AUWG) as part of the Web Accessibility Initiative (WAI). The goals of the Working Group are discussed in the AUWG charter.

Please send general comments about this document to the public mailing list: w3c-wai-au@w3.org (public archives).

A list of current W3C Recommendations and other technical documents including Working Drafts and Notes can be found at http://www.w3.org/TR.

Table of Contents

Is your tool:

If the answer to any of these questions is "yes", then the authoring tool accessibility guidelines apply to your software.  This document will help you determine whether your tool complies with the guidleines or not.

 

General Questions:

1: [Priority 2] Does the tool support the latest version of all the markup languages it can be used to produce? (2.1)

PART 1: Images (including Image Maps)

IMPORTANT NOTE: Not all the image-related checkpoints in the guidelines apply to all kinds of tools. Therefore, the image part of the conformance evaluation process has been split into two sections:

SECTION A (Tool is a Markup Editor)

IMPORTANT DEFINITION: Equivalent Alternatives (EA)

An equivalent alternative (EA) is content that fulfills essentially the same function or purpose upon presentation to the user as the potentially inaccessible primary content. EAs play an important role in accessible authoring practices since certain types of content may not be accessible to all users (e.g., video, images, audio, etc.). For more information, see the Web Content Accessibility Guidelines WCAG 1.0.

The Images Part of this document will refer to two priorities (1 and 3; there are 2's) of EAs according to the priority assigned to it by the WCAG 1.0 recommendation. If a priority is not specified then both priority levels are assumed. The following is a list of EAs followed by their priority and the relevant WCAG checkpoint that assigned the priority.

for Images:

  • img:alt, img:longdesc, input:alt (HTML) - [Priority 1] (wcag 1.1)
  • g:title, g:desc (SVG) - [Priority 1] (wcag 1.1)
  • img:alt, img:longdesc, img:text (SMIL) - [Priority 1] (wcag 1.1)

for Image Maps:

  • area:alt (HTML) - [Priority 1] (wcag 1.1)
  • server-side image map regions:redundant text links (HTML) - [Priority 1] (wcag 1.2)
  • client-side image map regions:redundant text links (HTML) - [Priority 3] (wcag 1.5)

for Objects displaying Images:

  • object: text equivalent in the element content (HTML) - [Priority 1] (wcag 1.2)

NOTE: It is assumed that the term EA will refer to those EAs appropriate to the type of markup or image produced. (ex. an HTML editor only needs to be checked for the EAs relevant to HTML)

Inserting an Image:

INSTRUCTIONS: Use the tool to insert an image into a document and then answer questions X to Y. If the tool is capable of inserting an image by drag and drop, test this method as well. Answer questions Q1 to Q4.

Q1: [Priority 1] Did the tool allow you to add the Equivalent Alternatives (EAs) for the image (including typing one by hand after insertion)? (1.1)

Q2: [Priority 1] Did the tool automatically generate EAs based on the file name, size or other information that is not necessarily related to the function of the image.? (3.4)

Q3: [Priority 2] Did the tool support the PNG format for inserting raster images and the SVG format for inserting vector graphics? (2.1)

Q4: [Priority 3] Does the tool let you search for, reuse or otherwise manage the EAs of images? (3.5)

Saving:

INSTRUCTIONS: Use the tool to save the document. Answer questions Q5 and Q6.

Q5: [Priority 1] Did the tool prompt (require, suggest or notify you of the absence of information and then provide a means for rectifying the situation) you to add Priority 1 EAs for all the images at some point during the creation of the document (ex. at insertion of each image, after the successful save, etc.)? (3.1)

Q6: [Priority 3] Did the tool prompt (require, suggest or notify you of the absence of information and then provide a means for rectifying the situation) for the addition of Priority 3   EAs for all the images at some point during the creation of the document (ex. at insertion of each image, after the successful save, etc.)? (3.1)

Re-saving and Reformatting:

INSTRUCTIONS: Create a new file with the following markup (appropriate to the tool). The EAs are shown in bold. Open the file using the authoring tool. Save the file and re-open it in a text editor. Answer question Q7.

HTML:

<html> <head> <title> </title> </head> <body>

<img src="map.gif" alt="Map of the world" longdesc="mapdesc.html">

<form method="POST" action="http://somesite.com/prog/someprog">
<p><input type="image" src="map.gif" name="mapbutton" alt="Buy map"></form>

<img src="map.gif" alt="Image map of the world" usemap="#map1">
<p>[<a href="na.html">North America</a>]
[<a href="sa.html">South America</a>]</p>
<map name="map1">
<area shape="rect" coords="0,0,30,30" href="na.html" alt="North America">
<area shape="rect" coords="34,34,100,100" href="sa.html" alt="South America"></map>

<a href="http://myserver.com/cgi-bin/imagemap/my-map">
<img src="map.gif" alt="World map (Text links follow)" ismap></a>
<p>[<a href="na.html">North America</a>]
[<a href="sa.html">South America</a>]</p>

<object data="magnify.gif" type="image/gif">Search</object>

</body> </html>

Q7: [Priority 1] Does the tool preserve the values of the EAs during re-saving? (1.2)

INSTRUCTIONS: Create a new file with the markup above (appropriate to the tool). Then "Round-trip" the file by saving it as another format and then saving it back to the original (note: for this to work, the other format chosen must include equivalent EAs, ex. HTML to XHTML and back).  Answer question Q8.

Q8: [Priority 1] Does the tool preserve the values of the EAs during reformatting? (1.2)

INSTRUCTIONS: Create a new file with the following markup (appropriate to the tool). Open the file using the authoring tool. Save the file and re-open it in a text editor. Answer questions Q9 and Q10.

HTML:

<html> <head> <title> </title> </head> <body>
<img src="test.gif" alt="test alt" longdesc="test.html" testattr="test for preserving unknown attributes">
</body> </html>

Q9: [Priority 2] Does the tool preserve the unrecognized markup? ( 4.3)

Q10: [Priority 3] Does the tool notify you that the output of the tool does not conform to W3C specifications (due to the new attribute)? (2.3)

Automatic Markup Generation:

INSTRUCTIONS: If the tool has the ability to add entire elements (ex. IMG),  a groups of elements (toolbar generator) or even build a page for you (ex. a wizard), then use it to generate a page that contains at least one image. Save the file and re-open it in a text editor. Answer questions Q11 to Q13.

Q11: [Priority 1] Does the tool automatically generate valid image markup (ex. is the required ALT attribute present for all HTML4 IMG elements)? (2.2)

Q12: [Priority 1] Are meaningful Priority 1 EAs included for the generated images? (1.3)

Q13: [Priority 3] Are meaningful Priority EAs included for the generated images? (1.3)

Bundled Web Content:

INSTRUCTIONS: If the tool includes templates, open one that has at least one image. Answer questions Q14 and Q15.

Q14: [Priority 1] Are Priority 1 EAs included for the images in the template? (1.4)

Q15: [Priority 3] Are Priority 3 EAs included for the images in the template? (1.4)

INSTRUCTIONS: If the tool includes bundled images (ex. clipart) , insert some into the document. Answer questions Q16 and Q17.

Q16: [Priority 1] Do the images include pre-written Priority 1 EAs? (3.3)

Q17: [Priority 3] Do the images include pre-written Priority 3 EAs? (3.3)

Checking for Accessibility:

INSTRUCTIONS: Create a new file with the following markup (appropriate to the tool) that has had its EAs removed. Open the file using the authoring tool. Answer questions Q18 to Q21.

HTML:

<html> <head> <title> </title> </head> <body>

<img src="map.gif">

<form method="POST" action="http://somesite.com/prog/someprog">
<p><input type="image" src="map.gif" name="mapbutton"></form>

<img src="map.gif" alt="Image map of the world" usemap="#map1">
<map name="map1">
<area shape="rect" coords="0,0,30,30" href="na.html">
<area shape="rect" coords="34,34,100,100" href="sa.html"></map>

<a href="http://myserver.com/cgi-bin/imagemap/my-map">
<img src="map.gif" ismap></a>

<object data="magnify.gif" type="image/gif"></object>

</body> </html>

Q18: [Priority 1] Does the tool check for and notify you when Priority 1 EAs for images are absent? (4.1)

Q19: [Priority 1] Does the tool assist you to add Priority 1 EAs for images when they are found to be absent? (4.2)

Q20: [Priority 3] Does the tool check for and notify you when Priority 3 EAs for images are absent? (4.1)

Q21: [Priority 3] Does the tool assist you to add Priority 3 EAs for images when they are found to be absent? (4.2)

Documentation:

INSTRUCTIONS: Open the tool's documentation. Answer questions Q22 to Q24.

Q22: [Priority 1] Is there documentation for all the features of the tool concerned with addding EAs for images? (6.1)

Q23: [Priority 2] Does the documentation regarding the EAs for images appear well integrated with the rest of the documentation (ex. do all images in the examples include EAs)? (6.2)

Q24: [Priority 3] Is there a dedicated section that documents all the features of the tool concerned with addding EAs for images? (6.3)

User Interface Presence:

INSTRUCTIONS: Insert another image into a document. Then select the image and edit its EAs. Answer question Q25.

Q25: [Priority 2] Does functionality for adding and editing the EAs for images appear well integrated with the overall look and feel of the tool (ex. included within standard image insertion and properties dialogs)? (5.1)

Accessible Interface:

INSTRUCTIONS: Select the same image. This time, try and edit all the properties (not just the EAs) of the image using only the keyboard. Answer question Q26.

Q26: [Priority 1] Does the tool allow you to edit all properties in an accessible fashion? (7.3)

For multimedia

Priority 1: Required for all levels of conformance (i.e. A, Double-A, Triple-A)

Step 3: Is it possible to add the Equivalent Alternatives (EAs) for multimedia using the tool (includes typing them manually)? (1.1)

Step 4: Does the tool preserve the values of the EAs during re-saving, reformatting, etc.? (1.2)

Step 5: Are meaningful Priority 1 EAs included when multimedia content is part of markup generated by the tool (ex. wizard)? (1.3)

Step 6: Are Priority 1 EAs included for multimedia content that appears as part of templates included with the distribution of the tool (ex. a photo album template)? (1.4)

Step 7: Does the tool automatically generate valid markup with regard to multimedia content (ex. is the required ALT attribute present for all HTML4 IMG elements)? (2.2)

Step 8: Does the tool prompt (require, suggest or notify the user of the absence of information and then provide a means for rectifying the situation) for the addition of Priority 1 EAs when an multimedia content is inserted? (3.1)

Step 9: Does any multimedia content (ex. clipart, etc.) that is included with the distibution of the tool include pre-written Priority 1 EAs? (3.3)

Step 10: Does the tool automatically generate EAs based on the file name, size or other information that is not necessarily related to the content or function of the multimedia content.? (3.4)

Step 11: Does the tool resuse previously authored EAs without author confirmation when the function is not known with certainty (ex. the tool automatically uses the same ALT value for two copies of the same multimedia content that is linked to different locations)? (3.4)

Step 12: Does the tool check for and notify the author when Priority 1 EAs for multimedia content is absent? (4.1)

Step 13: Does the tool assist the author in adding Priority 1 EAs for multimedia content when they are found to be absent? (4.2)

Step 14: Does the tool allow the author to edit all properties (attributes, styles, etc.) of multimedia content-related elements in an accessible fashion (i.e. using the keyboard)? (7.3)

Priority 2: Required for level Double-A and Triple-A conformance

Step 15: Are meaningful Priority 2 EAs included when multimedia content is part of markup generated by the tool (ex. wizard)? (1.3)

Step 16: Are Priority 2 EAs included for multimedia content that appear as part of templates included with the distribution of the tool (ex. a photo album template)? (1.4)

Step 17: Does the tool prompt (require, suggest or notify the user of the absence of information and then provide a means for rectifying the situation) for the addition of Priority 2 EAs when multimedia content is inserted? (3.1)

Step 18: Does any multimedia content (ex. clipart, etc.) that are included with the distibution of the tool include pre-written Priority 2 EAs? (3.3)

Step 19: Does the tool support the latest version of all the markup languages it can be used to produce? (2.1)

Step 21: Does the tool check for and notify the author when Priority 2 EAs for multimedia content is absent? (4.1)

Step 22: Does the tool assist the author in adding Priority 2 EAs for multimedia content when they are found to be absent? (4.2)

Step 23: Does the tool allow unrecognized markup to be preserved through the editing and re-saving process (ex. will the LONGDESC attribute of IMG be preserved if the tool does not support LONGDESC)? ( 4.3)

Step 24: Does functionality for adding and editing the EAs for multimedia content appear well integrated with the overall look and feel of the tool (ex. included within standard multimedia content insertion and properties dialogs)? (5.1)

Step 25: Does the documentation regarding the EAs for multimedia content appear well integrated with the rest of the documentation (used in examples throughout, not confined to a separate section)? (6.2)

Priority 3: Only required for level Triple-A conformance

Step 26: Are meaningful Priority 3 EAs included when multimedia content is part of markup generated by the tool (ex. wizard)? (1.3)

Step 27: Are Priority 3 EAs included for multimedia content that appear as part of templates included with the distribution of the tool (ex. a video album template)? (1.4)

Step 28: Does the tool prompt (require, suggest or notify the user of the absence of information and then provide a means for rectifying the situation) for the addition of Priority 3 EAs when an multimedia content is inserted? (3.1)

Step 29: Does any multimedia content (ex. media clipart, etc.) that are included with the distibution of the tool include pre-written Priority 3 EAs? (3.3)

Step 30: If the multimedia content-related output of the tool does not conform to W3C specifications , does the tool notify the author? (2.3)

Step 31: Does the tool include the ability to search and reuse or otherwise manage the EAs of multimedia content? (3.5)

Step 32: Does the tool check for and notify the author when Priority 3 EAs for multimedia content is absent? (4.1)

Step 33: Does the tool assist the author in adding Priority 3 EAs for multimedia content when they are found to be absent? (4.2)

Forms

Insert a form and each of the following 7 types of control:

  1. A text input
  2. A textarea input
  3. A set of radio buttons
  4. A set of checkboxes
  5. A drop down menu (html select element)
  6. A graphic button
  7. A submit button

Priority 1 tests

Is the control validly coded? in a valid way? (2.2)

Do template examples of forms work without scripts or applets? (1.4 and 3.3 WCAG 6.3)

For each control:

Priority 2 tests

If there are scripts, does the tool preserve them where it doesn't recognise them? (4.3)

Perform each of the following three tests once for each control, and then answer the next set of 4 questions about the features tested by each task.

  1. Does the form control work according to W3C specifications (2.1)
  2. Are you prompted to add labels to form controls? (3.2, WCAG 12.4)
  3. If there are scripts to handle the forms, do they have device-independent triggers? (1.3 WCAG 6.4, 9.2, 9.3)

The following 4 tests should be made for each of the 3 features tested above

  1. Are the features checked for? (4.1, WCAG as above)
  2. Is there help to fix them? (4.2, WCAG as above)
  3. Are they included in documentation (and examples)? (6.2)
  4. Are they present in prepackaged examples / templates? (1.4, 3.3 WCAG as above)

Priority 3 test

If the code does not conform to W3C specifications, does the tool inform you? (2.3)

Section B (Tool is an Image Editor)

Note: Equivalent Alternatives (EA) for Image Editors

The meaning of the term equivalent alternative (EA) is slightly different for image editors than for markup editors.  For markup editors, image EAs refer to those markup structures that convey alternative content about images in a document. These structures are specific to the markup language produced. For image editors, some of the EAs, those placed in the text tracks of images, are stored in set structures, however other EAs may be stored separately as plain text, RTF, or other format that may be retreived and used by markup editors when the image is inserted into a document.

Therefore, in this section the term Equivalent Alternative (EA) will refer more generally to short descriptive labels and long descriptive text. Both have priority 1, since that is their maximum priority once imported into HTML.

Short Descriptive Labels [Priority 1]:

  • May be stored in image formats with text tracks (i.e. PNG, SVG, WebCGM, JPEG, GIF)
  • Suitable for: img:alt (HTML, SMIL), img:longdesc (HTML), input:alt (HTML), g:title (SVG)

Long Descriptive Text [Priority 1]:

  • May be stored ???
  • Suitable for: img:longdesc (HTML, SMIL), g:desc (SVG)

Creating a New Image:

INSTRUCTIONS: Use the tool to create a new image file. Answer questions Q27 to Q31.

Q27: [Priority 1] Is it possible to use the tool to author short or long descriptive EAs for the image (stored either separately or in text tracks)? (1.1)

Q28: [Priority 1] Did the tool automatically generate EAs based on the file name, size or other information that is not necessarily related to the content or function of the image? (3.4)

Q29: [Priority 2] If the tool is intended to produce raster images, does the tool support the Portable Network Graphics (PNG) format? (2.1)

Q30: [Priority 2] If the tool is intended to produce vector graphics, does the tool support the Scalable Vector Graphics (SVG) format? (2.1)

Q31: [Priority 3] Does the tool let you search for, reuse or otherwise manage the EAs of images? (3.5)

Saving:

INSTRUCTIONS: Use the tool to make a change to the image. Then save the image. Answer question Q32.

Q32: [Priority 1] Does the tool prompt (require, suggest or notify you of the absence of information and then provide a means for rectifying the situation) you to add Priority 1 EAs at some point during the creation of the image (ex. after the successful save)? (3.1)

Re-saving and Reformatting:

INSTRUCTIONS: Open the test image "re-saving_test". Save a copy of the image file to "re-saving_test2". Open this file using the image EA viewer tool provided. Answer question Q33.

Q33: [Priority 1] Are EAs (in text tracks or separate files) preserved during re-saving? (1.2)

INSTRUCTIONS: Open the test image "re-saving_test". Save a copy of the image file to another format. Open this file using the image EA viewer tool provided. Answer question Q34.

Q34: [Priority 1] Are EAs (in text tracks or separate files) preserved during conversion to another format, where possible (i.e. EAs in text tracks placed in text track of new format or separate associated file if the new format does not include text tracks)? (1.2)

INSTRUCTIONS: Open a new image or save an image in order to check which imgae formats are available.

Q35: [Priority 3] If the tool produces a raster image in a format besides PNG, does the tool inform you? (2.3)

Q36: [Priority 3] If the tool produces a vector graphic image in a format besides SVG, does the tool inform you? (2.3)

Bundled Web Content:

INSTRUCTIONS: If the tool includes bundled images (ex. clipart), then insert some into the document. Answer questions Q37.

Q37: [Priority 1] Do the images include pre-written Priority 1 EAs? (3.3)

Checking for Accessibility:

INSTRUCTIONS: Open and save "image_noEA". Answer questions Q38 and Q39.

Q38: [Priority 1] Does the tool check for and notify you when Priority 1 EAs for an image are absent? (4.1)

Q39: [Priority 1] Does the tool assist you to add Priority 1 EAs when they are found to be absent? (4.2)

Documentation:

INSTRUCTIONS: Open the tool's documentation. Answer
questions Q40 to Q42.

Q40: [Priority 1] Is there documentation for all the features of the tool concerned with addding EAs for images? (6.1)

Q41: [Priority 2] Does the documentation regarding EAs appear well integrated with the rest of the documentation (ex. do all the image editing process examples include EAs)? (6.2)

Q42: [Priority 3] Is there a dedicated section that documents all the features of the tool concerned with addding EAs? (6.3)

User Interface Presence:

INSTRUCTIONS: If it is possible to edit the EAs of an image, do so now. Answer question Q43

Q43: [Priority 2] Does functionality for adding and editing the EAs appear well integrated with the overall look and feel of the tool (ex. included within standard properties dialogs)? (5.1)

Accessible Interface:

INSTRUCTIONS: This time, try and edit all the properties (not just the EAs) of the image using only the keyboard. Answer question Q44.

Q44: [Priority 1] Does the tool allow you to edit all properties in an
accessible fashion? (7.3)

Section C (Tool is an Multimedia Editor)

Priority 1: Required for all levels of conformance (i.e. A, Double-A, Triple-A)

Step 34: If the tool supports multimedia content formats with text tracks (i.e. SVG, QuickTime, Flash), is it possible to use the tool to add Equivalent Alternatives (EAs) to the text tracks? (1.1)

Step 35: Is it possible to use the tool to author Equivalent Alternatives (EAs) for the multimedia content that can be stored in separate files (ex. short (ALT) and long (LONGDESC) descriptive text files)? (1.1)

Step 36: If the tool supports multimedia content formats with text tracks, are the text track values preserved during re-saving, conversion to another format that includes text tracks, etc.? (1.2)

Step 37: If the tool supports separate descriptive files for multimedia content, are those files preserved during re-saving or conversion to another format, etc.? (1.2)

Step 38: Does the tool prompt (require, suggest or notify the user of the absence of information and then provide a means for rectifying the situation) for the addition of separate or text track Priority 1 EAs at some point during the creation of multimedia content (ex. after a successful save)? (3.1)

Step 39: Does the multimedia content (ex. video clipart, etc.) included in the tool's distibution packages include pre-written Priority 1 EAs stored in their text tracks or as separate descriptive files? (3.3)

Step 40: Does the tool automatically generate EAs based on the file name, size or other information that is not necessarily related to the content or function of the multimedia content? (3.4)

Step 41: If the tool supports multimedia content formats with text tracks, does the tool check for and notify the author when Priority 1 EAs are absent from this track? (4.1)

Step 42: Does the tool check for and notify the author when separate descriptive files storing the Priority 1 EAs for multimedia content are absent? (4.1)

Step 43: If the tool supports multimedia content formats with text tracks, does the tool assist the author in adding Priority 1 EAs when they are found to be absent? (4.2)

Step 44: Does the tool assist the author in adding Priority 1 EAs to separate descriptive files when they are found to be absent? (4.2)

Step 45: Does the tool allow the author to edit all properties (colour, size, transparency, etc.) of the multimedia content in an accessible fashion (i.e. using the keyboard)? (7.3)

Priority 2: Required for level Double-A and Triple-A conformance

Step 47: If the tool is intended to produce vector graphics, does the tool support the Scalable Vector Graphics (SVG) format? (2.1)

Step 48: Does the tool prompt (require, suggest or notify the user of the absence of information and then provide a means for rectifying the situation) for the addition of separate or text track Priority 2 EAs at some point during the creation of multimedia content (ex. after a successful save)? (3.1)

Step 49: Does the multimedia content (ex. media clipart, etc.) included in the tool's distibution packages include pre-written Priority 2 EAs stored in their text tracks or as separate descriptive files? (3.3)

Step 50: If the tool supports multimedia content formats with text tracks, does the tool check for and notify the author when Priority 2 EAs are absent from this track? (4.1)

Step 51: Does the tool check for and notify the author when separate descriptive files storing the Priority 2 EAs for the multimedia content are absent? (4.1)

Step 52: If the tool supports multimedia content formats with text tracks, does the tool assist the author in adding Priority 2 EAs when they are found to be absent? (4.2)

Step 53: Does the tool assist the author in adding Priority 2 EAs to separate descriptive files when they are found to be absent? (4.2)

Step 54: Does functionality for adding and editing the EAs stored in separate descriptive files or text tracks appear well integrated with the overall look and feel of the tool? (5.1)

Step 55: Does the documentation regarding the adding and editing the EAs stored in separate descriptive files or text track appear well integrated with the rest of the documentation (used in examples throughout, not confined to a separate section)? (6.2)

Priority 3: Only required for level Triple-A conformance

Step 57: If the tool produces a vector graphic image in a format besides SVG, does the tool inform the author? (2.3)

Step 58: Does the tool prompt (require, suggest or notify the user of the absence of information and then provide a means for rectifying the situation) for the addition of separate or text track Priority 3 EAs at some point during the creation of multimedia content (ex. after a successful save)? (3.1)

Step 59: Does the multimedia content (ex. video clipart, etc.) included in the tool's distibution packages include pre-written Priority 3 EAs stored in their text tracks or as separate descriptive files? (3.3)

Step 60: Does the tool include the ability to search and reuse or otherwise manage the EAs stored in separate descriptive files or text track? (3.5)

Step 61: If the tool supports multimedia content formats with text tracks, does the tool check for and notify the author when Priority 3 EAs are absent from this track? (4.1)

Step 62: Does the tool check for and notify the author when separate descriptive files storing the Priority 3 EAs for multimedia content are absent? (4.1)

Step 63: If the tool supports multimedia content formats with text tracks, does the tool assist the author in adding Priority 3 EAs when they are found to be absent? (4.2)

Step 64: Does the tool assist the author in adding Priority 3 EAs to separate descriptive files when they are found to be absent? (4.2)

3 Glossary of Terms and Definitions

Accessibility (Also: Accessible)
Within these guidelines, "accessible Web content" and "accessible authoring tool" mean that the content and tool can be used by people regardless of disability.
To understand the accessibility issues relevant to authoring tool design, consider that many authors may be creating content in contexts very different from your own:
Accessible design will benefit people in these different authoring scenarios and also many people who do not have a physical disability but who have similar needs. For example, someone may be working in a noisy environment and thus require an alternative representation of audio information. Similarly, someone may be working in an eyes-busy environment and thus require an audio equivalent to information they cannot view. Users of small mobile devices (with small screens, no keyboard, and no mouse) have similar functional needs as some users with disabilities.
Accessibility Awareness
An "accessibility-aware" application is one that has been designed to account for authors' 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.
Accessibility Information
"Accessibility information" is content, including information and markup, that is used to improve the accessibility of a document. Accessibility information includes, but is not limited to, equivalent alternative information.
Accessibility Problem (Also: Inaccessible Markup)
Inaccessible Web content or authoring tools cannot be used by some people with disabilities. The Web Content Accessibility Guidelines 1.0 [WCAG10] describes how to create accessible Web content.
Accessible Authoring Practice
"Accessible authoring practices" improve the accessibility of Web content. Both authors and tools engage in accessible authoring practices. For example, authors write clearly, structure their content, and provide navigation aids. Tools automatically generate valid markup and assist authors in providing and managing appropriate equivalent alternatives.
Alert
An "alert" draws the author's attention to an event or situation. It may require a response from the author. An alert warns the author that there are problems that need to be addressed. Attracting the author's attention artfully can be challenging, since author perceptions of alerts, prompts, and warnings can influence opinions of the tool and even of accessible authoring.
An Unintrusive Alert is an alert such as an icon, underlining, or gentle sound that can be presented to the author without necessitating immediate action. For example, in some word processors misspelled text is highlighted without forcing the author to make immediate corrections. These alerts allow authors to continue editing with the knowledge that problems will be easy to identify at a later time. However, authors may become annoyed at the extra formatting or may choose to ignore the alerts altogether.
An Interruptive Alert is an informative message that interrupts the editing process for the author. For example, interruptive alerts are often presented when an author's action could cause a loss of data. Interruptive alerts allow problems to be brought to the author's attention immediately. However, authors may resent the constant delays and forced actions. Many people prefer to finish expressing an idea before returning to edit its format.
Alternative Information (Also: Equivalent Alternative)
Content is "equivalent" to other content when both fulfill essentially the same function or purpose upon presentation to the user. Equivalent alternatives play an important role in accessible authoring practices since certain types of content may not be accessible to all users (e.g., video, images, audio, etc.). Authors are encouraged to provide text equivalents for non-text content since text may be rendered as synthesized speech for individuals who have visual or learning disabilities, as braille for individuals who are blind, or as graphical text for individuals who are deaf or do not have a disability. For more information about equivalent alternatives, please refer to the Web Content Accessibility Guidelines WCAG 1.0 [WCAG10].
Text equivalents for still images can be short ("Site Map Link") or long (e.g., "Figure 4 shows that the population of bacteria doubled approximately every twenty hours over the first one hundred hours, increasing from about 1000 per milliliter to about 32,000 per milliliter."). Text equivalents for audio clips are called "text transcripts". Captions are essential text equivalents for movie audio. Another essential text equivalent for a movie is a "collated text transcript." An essential non-text equivalent for movies is "auditory description" of the key graphical elements of a presentation.
Attribute
This document uses the term "attribute" as used in SGML and XML ([XML]): Element types may be defined as having any number of attributes. Some attributes are integral to the accessibility of content (e.g., the "alt", "title", and "longdesc" attributes in HTML).
In the following example, the attributes of the beverage element type are "flavour", which has the value "lots", and "colour", which has the value "red": 
<beverage flavour="lots" colour="red">my favourite</beverage>
Auditory Description
An "auditory description" provides information about actions, body language, graphics, and scene changes in a video. Auditory descriptions are commonly used by people who are blind or have low vision, although they may also be used as a low-bandwidth equivalent on the Web. An auditory description is either a pre-recorded human voice or a synthesized voice (recorded or automatically generated in real time). The auditory description must be synchronized with the auditory track of a video presentation, usually during natural pauses in the auditory track.
Authoring Tool
An "authoring tool" is any software that is used to produce content for publishing on the Web. Authoring tools include:
Automated Markup Insertion Function
"Automated markup insertion functions" are the features of an authoring tool that allow the author 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 author preferences.
Captions
"Captions" are essential text equivalents for movie audio. Captions consist of a text transcript of the auditory track of the movie (or other video presentation) that is synchronized with the video and auditory tracks. Captions are generally rendered graphically and benefit people who can see but are deaf, hard-of-hearing, or cannot hear the audio.
Conversion Tool
A "conversion tool" is any application or application feature (e.g., "Save as HTML") that transforms convent in one format to another format (such as a markup language).
Check for
As used in checkpoint 4.1, "check for" can refer to three types of checking:
  1. In some instances, an authoring tool will be able to check for accessibility problems automatically. For example, checking for validity (checkpoint 2.2) or testing whether an image is the only content of a link.
  2. In some cases, the tool will be able to "suspect" or "guess" that there is a problem, but will need confirmation from the author. For example, in making sure that a sensible reading order is preserved a tool can present a linearized version of a page to the author.
  3. In some cases, a tool must rely mostly on the author, and can only ask the author to check. For example, the tool may prompt the author to verify that equivalent alternatives for multimedia are appropriate. This is the minimal standard to be satisfied. Subtle, rather than extensive, prompting is more likely to be effective in encouraging the author to verify accessibility where it cannot be done automatically.
Current User Selection
When several views co-exist, each may have a selection, but only one is active, called the "current user selection." User selections may be rendered specially (e.g., graphically highlighted).
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.).
Document
A "document" is a series of elements that are defined by a markup language (e.g., HTML 4 or an XML application).
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.
Editing View
An "editing view" is a view provided by the authoring tool that allows editing.
Element
An "element" is any identifiable object within a document, for example, a character, word, image, paragraph or spreadsheet cell. In [HTML4] and [XML], an element refers to a pair of tags and their content, or an "empty" tag - one that requires no closing tag or content.
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.
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.
Image Editor
An image editor is a graphics program that provides a variety of options for altering images of different formats.
Inform
To "inform" is to make the author aware of an event or situation through alert, prompt, sound, flash, or other means.
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.
Markup Language
Authors encode information using a "markup language" such as HTML [HTML4], SVG [SVG], or MathML [MATHML].
Multimedia Authoring Tool
A "multimedia authoring tool" is software that facilitates integration of diverse media elements into an comprehensive presentation format. Multimedia includes video, audio, images, animations, simulations, and other interactive components.
Presentation Markup
"Presentation markup" is markup language that encodes information about the desired presentation or layout of the content. For example, Cascading Style Sheets ([CSS1], [CSS2]) can be used to control fonts, colors, aural rendering, and graphical positioning. Presentation markup should not be used in place of structural markup to convey structure. For example, authors should mark up lists in HTML with proper list markup and style them with CSS (e.g., to control spacing, bullets, numbering, etc.). Authors should not use other CSS or HTML incorrectly to lay out content graphically so that it resembles a list.
Prompt
A "prompt" is a request for author input, either information or a decision. A prompt requires author response. For example, a text equivalent entry field prominently displayed in an image insertion dialog would constitute a prompt. Prompts can be used to encourage authors to provide information needed to make content accessible (such as alternative text equivalents).
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 type of the element (e.g., IMG or DL), the values of its attributes, and information associated by means of a style sheet. In a database, properties of a particular element may include values of the entry, and acceptable data types for that entry.
Publishing Tool
A "publishing tool" is software 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.
Rendered Content
The "rendered content" of an element is that which the 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 [HTML4]), and in some cases, browsers may render the value of an attribute (e.g., "alt", "title") in place of the element's content.
Rendered View, Preview
A "rendered view" simulates for the author how a user will interact with the content being edited once published.
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.
Site Management Tool
A "site management tool" 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.
Structural Markup
"Structural markup" is markup language that encodes information about the structural role of elements of the content. For example, headings, sections, members of a list, and components of a complex diagram can be identified using structural markup. Structural markup should not be used incorrectly to control presentation or layout. For example, authors should not use the BLOCKQUOTE element in HTML [HTML4] to achieve an indentation visual layout effect. Structural markup should be used correctly to communicate the roles of the elements of the content and presentation markup should be used separately to control the presentation and layout.
Transcript
A "transcript" is a text representation of sounds in an audio clip or an auditory track of a multimedia presentation. A "collated text transcript" for a video combines (collates) caption text with text descriptions of video information (descriptions of the actions, body language, graphics, and scene changes of the visual track). Collated text transcripts are essential for individuals who are deaf-blind and rely on braille for access to movies and other content.
Transformation
A "transformation" is a process that changes a document or object into another, equivalent, object according to a discrete set of rules. This includes conversion tools, software that allows the author to change the DTD defined for the original document to another DTD, and the ability to change the markup of lists and convert them into tables.
User Agent
A "user agent" is software that retrieves and renders Web content. User agents include browsers, plug-ins for a particular media type, and some assistive technologies.
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 information, and then provide the alternative information 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.
Video Editor
A "video editor" is software for manipulating video images. Video editing includes cutting segments (trimming), re-sequencing clips, and adding transitions and other special effects.
View
Authoring tools may render the same content in a variety of ways; each rendering is called a "view." Some authoring tools will have several different types of view, and some allow views of several documents at once. For instance, one view may show raw markup, a second may show a structured tree, 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. A typical way to distinguish views in a graphic environment is to place each in a separate window.

4 Acknowledgments

Many thanks to the people who have contributed to this document.

5 References

For the latest version of any W3C specification please consult the list of W3C Technical Reports at http://www.w3.org/TR.

[ACCESS-AWARE]
"The Three-tions of Accessibility-Aware HTML Authoring Tools," J. Richards.
[AMAYA]
Amaya, developed at W3C, is both an authoring tool and browser with a WYSIWYG-style user interface. Amaya serves as a testbed for W3C specifications. Source code, binaries, and further information are available at http://www.w3.org/Amaya/. The techniques in this document are based on Amaya version 2.4.
[AMAYA-HELP-IMG]
"Images and Client-side Image Maps," Amaya's Help page for images and image maps.
[AMAYA-SAMPLE]
"Amaya - Authoring Tool Accessibility Guidelines 1.0 sample implementation" Describes how Amaya, W3C's WYSIWYG browser/authoring tool, satisfies the guidelines.
[APPLE-HI]
"Macintosh Human Interface Guidelines," Apple Computer Inc.
[APROMPT]
The A-prompt tool allows authors to check many accessibility features in HTML pages, and incorporates an "Alternative Information Management Mechanism" (AIMM)) to manage equivalent alternative information for known resources. The tool is built in such a way that the functions can be incorporated into an authoring tool. 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 at http://aprompt.snow.utoronto.ca.
[ATAG10]
"Authoring Tool Accessibility Guidelines 1.0," J. Treviranus, C. McCathieNevile, I. Jacobs, and J. Richards, eds. The latest version is available at http://www.w3.org/TR/ATAG10.
[AUTO-TOOL]
"Techniques For Evaluation And Implementation Of Web Content Accessibility Guidelines," C. Ridpath.
[CSS1]
"CSS, level 1 Recommendation," B. Bos and H. Wium Lie, eds., 17 December 1996, revised 11 January 1999. This CSS1 Recommendation is http://www.w3.org/TR/1999/REC-CSS1-19990111. The latest version of CSS1 is available at http://www.w3.org/TR/REC-CSS1. Note: CSS1 has been superseded by CSS2. Tools should implement the CSS2 cascade.
[CSS2]
"CSS, level 2 Recommendation," B. Bos, H. Wium Lie, C. Lilley, and I. Jacobs, eds., 12 May 1998. This CSS2 Recommendation is http://www.w3.org/TR/1998/REC-CSS2-19980512. The latest version of CSS2 is available at http://www.w3.org/TR/REC-CSS2.
[CSS2-ACCESS]
"Accessibility Features of CSS," I. Jacobs and J. Brewer, eds., 4 August 1999. This W3C Note is http://www.w3.org/1999/08/NOTE-CSS-access-19990804. The latest version of Accessibility Features of CSS is available at http://www.w3.org/TR/CSS-access.
[ED-DEPT]
"Requirements for Accessible Software Design," US Department of Education, version 1.1 March 6, 1997.
[EITAAC]
" EITACC Desktop Software standards," Electronic Information Technology Access Advisory (EITACC) Committee.
[HTML-XML-VALIDATOR]
The W3C HTML Validation Service validates HTML and XHTML markup.
[HTML4]
"HTML 4.01 Recommendation," D. Raggett, A. Le Hors, and I. Jacobs, eds., 24 December 1999. This HTML 4.01 Recommendation is http://www.w3.org/TR/1999/REC-html401-19991224. The latest version of HTML 4 is available at http://www.w3.org/TR/html4.
[HTML4-ACCESS]
"WAI Resources: HTML 4.0 Accessibility Improvements," I. Jacobs, J. Brewer, and D. Dardailler, eds. This document describes accessibility features in HTML 4.0.
[IBM-ACCESS]
"Software Accessibility," IBM Special Needs Systems.
[ICCCM]
"The Inter-Client communication conventions manual." A protocol for communication between clients in the X Window system.
[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.
[JAVA-ACCESS]
"IBM Guidelines for Writing Accessible Applications Using 100% Pure Java," R. Schwerdtfeger, IBM Special Needs Systems.
[JAVA-CHECKLIST]
"Java Accessibility Guidelines and Checklist," IBM Special Needs Systems.
[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.
[MATHML]
"Mathematical Markup Language," P. Ion and R. Miner, eds., 7 April 1998, revised 7 July 1999. This MathML 1.0 Recommendation is http://www.w3.org/TR/1998/REC-MathML-19990707. The latest version of MathML 1.0 is available at http://www.w3.org/TR/REC-MathML.
[MS-ENABLE]
"Accessibility for Applications Designers," Microsoft Corporation.
[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.
[MSAA]
"Information for Developers About Microsoft Active Accessibility," Microsoft Corporation.
[NOTES-ACCESS]
"Lotus Notes Accessibility Guidelines," IBM Special Needs Systems.
[RDF10]
"Resource Description Framework (RDF) Model and Syntax Specification," O. Lassila, R. Swick, eds. The 22 February 1999 Recommendation is http://www.w3.org/TR/1999/REC-rdf-syntax-19990222. The latest version of RDF 1.0 is available at http://www.w3.org/TR/REC-rdf-syntax.
[RUBY]
"Ruby Annotation," M. Sawicki, M. Suignard, M. Ishikawa, and M. Dürst, eds. The 17 December 1999 Working Draft is http://www.w3.org/TR/1999/WD-ruby-19991217. The latest version is available at http://www.w3.org/TR/ruby.
[SEARCHABLE]
"A Comparison of Schemas for Dublin Core-based Video Metadata Representation," J Hunter.
[SMIL-ACCESS]
"Accessibility Features of SMIL," M.-R. Koivunen and I. Jacobs, eds. This W3C Note is http://www.w3.org/TR/1999/NOTE-SMIL-access-19990921. The latest version of Accessibility Features of SMIL is available at available at http://www.w3.org/TR/SMIL-access.
[SUN-DESIGN]
"Designing for Accessibility," Eric Bergman and Earl Johnson. This paper discusses specific disabilities including those related to hearing, vision, and cognitive function.
[SUN-HCI]
"Towards Accessible Human-Computer Interaction," Eric Bergman, Earl Johnson, Sun Microsytems 1995. A substantial paper, with a valuable print bibliography.
[SVG]
"Scalable Vector Graphics (SVG) 1.0 Specification (Working Draft)," J. Ferraiolo, ed. The latest version of the SVG specification is available at http://www.w3.org/TR/SVG.
[SVG-ACCESS]
"Accessibility of Scalable Vector Graphics (Working Draft)," C. McCathieNevile, M.-R. Koivunen, eds. The latest version is available at http://www.w3.org/1999/09/SVG-access.
[TRACE-REF]
"Application Software Design Guidelines," compiled by G. Vanderheiden. A thorough reference work.
[UAAG10]
"User Agent Accessibility Guidelines," J. Gunderson and I. Jacobs, eds. The latest version of the User Agent Accessibility Guidelines is available at http://www.w3.org/WAI/UA/UAAG10.
[UAAG10-TECHS]
"Techniques for User Agent Accessibility Guidelines 1.0," J. Gunderson, and I. Jacobs, eds. The latest version of Techniques for User Agent Accessibility Guidelines 1.0 is available at http://www.w3.org/TR/UAAG10-TECHS/.
[WAI-ER]
The Web Accessibility Initiative Evaluation and Repair Tools Working Group tracks and develops tools that can help repair accessibility errors.
[WCAG10]
"Web Content Accessibility Guidelines 1.0," W. Chisholm, G. Vanderheiden, and I. Jacobs, eds., 5 May 1999. This Recommendation is http://www.w3.org/TR/1999/WAI-WEBCONTENT-19990505. The latest version of the Web Content Accessibility Guidelines 1.0" is available at http://www.w3.org/TR/WCAG10/.
[WCAG10-TECHS]
"Techniques for Web Content Accessibility Guidelines 1.0," W. Chisholm, G. Vanderheiden, and I. Jacobs, eds. The latest version of Techniques for Web Content Accessibility Guidelines 1.0 is available at http://www.w3.org/TR/WCAG10-TECHS/.
[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.
[XHTML10]
"XHTML(TM) 1.0: The Extensible HyperText Markup Language (Working Draft)," S. Pemberton et al. The latest version of XHTML 1.0 is available at http://www.w3.org/TR/xhtml1.
[XML]
"The Extensible Markup Language (XML) 1.0," T. Bray, J. Paoli, C. M. Sperberg-McQueen, eds., 10 February 1998. This XML 1.0 Recommendation is http://www.w3.org/TR/1998/REC-xml-19980210. The latest version of the XML specification is available at http://www.w3.org/TR/REC-xml.
[XMLGL]
"XML Accessibility Guidelines (Draft Note)," D. Dardailler, ed. Draft notes for producing accessible XML document types. The latest version of the XML Accessibility Guidelines is available at http://www.w3.org/WAI/PF/xmlgl.

Level Double-A conformance icon, W3C-WAI Web Content Accessibility Guidelines 1.0

[contents]