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Gregory Rosmaita
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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.
IMPORTANT NOTE: Not all the checkpoints in the guidelines apply to all kinds of tools. Therefore, this conformance evaluation process has been split into sections:
[Priority 2]
Does the tool support the latest version of all the markup languages it can be used to produce? (2.1)
[Priority 1]
Does the tool allow you to edit all properties in an accessible fashion? (7.3)
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:
for Image Maps:
for Objects displaying Images:
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) |
[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)
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.?(note: different scoring - the tool must not do this) (3.4)
[Priority 2]
Did the tool support the PNG format for inserting raster images and the SVG format for inserting vector graphics? (2.1)
[Priority 3]
Does the tool let you search for, reuse or otherwise manage the EAs of images? (3.5)
[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)
[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)
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>
[Priority 1]
Does the tool preserve the values of the EAs during re-saving? (1.2)
[Priority 1]
Does the tool preserve the values of the EAs during reformatting? (1.2)
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>
[Priority 2]
Does the tool preserve the unrecognized markup? ( 4.3)
[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)
[Priority 1]
Does the tool automatically generate valid image markup (ex. is the required ALT attribute present for all HTML4 IMG elements)? (2.2)
Are meaningful Priority 1 EAs included for the generated images? (1.3)
[Priority 3]
Are meaningful Priority EAs included for the generated images? (1.3)
[Priority 1]
Are Priority 1 EAs included for the images in the template? (1.4)
[Priority 3]
Are Priority 3 EAs included for the images in the template? (1.4)
[Priority 1]
Do the images include pre-written Priority 1 EAs? (3.3)
[Priority 3]
Do the images include pre-written Priority 3 EAs? (3.3)
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>
[Priority 1]
Does the tool check for and notify you when Priority 1 EAs for images are absent? (4.1)
Does the tool assist you to add Priority 1 EAs for images when they are found to be absent? (4.2)
[Priority 3]
Does the tool check for and notify you when Priority 3 EAs for images are absent? (4.1)
Does the tool assist you to add Priority 3 EAs for images when they are found to be absent? (4.2)
[Priority 1]
Is there documentation for all the features of the tool concerned with adding EAs for images? (6.1)
[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)
[Priority 3]
Is there a dedicated section that documents all the features of the tool concerned with addding EAs for images? (6.3)
[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)
Are meaningful Priority 3 EAs included when multimedia content is part of markup generated by the tool (ex. wizard)? (1.3)
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)
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)
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)
If the multimedia content-related output of the tool does not conform to W3C specifications , does the tool notify the author? (2.3)
Does the tool include the ability to search and reuse or otherwise manage the EAs of multimedia content? (3.5)
Does the tool check for and notify the author when Priority 3 EAs for multimedia content is absent? (4.1)
Does the tool assist the author in adding Priority 3 EAs for multimedia content when they are found to be absent? (4.2)
Insert a form and each of the following 7 types of control:
select
element)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:
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.
The following 4 tests should be made for each of the 3 features tested above
If the code does not conform to W3C specifications, does the tool inform you? (2.3)
Note: Equivalent Alternatives (EA) for Image EditorsThe 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]:
Long Descriptive Text [Priority 1]:
|
Is it possible to add the Equivalent Alternatives (EAs) for multimedia using the tool (includes typing them manually)? (1.1)
Does the tool preserve the values of the EAs during re-saving, reformatting, etc.? (1.2)
Are meaningful Priority 1 EAs included when multimedia content is part of markup generated by the tool (ex. wizard)? (1.3)
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)
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)
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)
Does any multimedia content (ex. clipart, etc.) that is included with the distibution of the tool include pre-written Priority 1 EAs? (3.3)
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)
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)
Does the tool check for and notify the author when Priority 1 EAs for multimedia content is absent? (4.1)
Does the tool assist the author in adding Priority 1 EAs for multimedia content when they are found to be absent? (4.2)
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)
Are meaningful Priority 2 EAs included when multimedia content is part of markup generated by the tool (ex. wizard)? (1.3)
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)
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)
Does any multimedia content (ex. clipart, etc.) that are included with the distibution of the tool include pre-written Priority 2 EAs? (3.3)
Does the tool support the latest version of all the markup languages it can be used to produce? (2.1)
Does the tool check for and notify the author when Priority 2 EAs for multimedia content is absent? (4.1)
Does the tool assist the author in adding Priority 2 EAs for multimedia content when they are found to be absent? (4.2)
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)
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)
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 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)
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?(note: different scoring for this - the tool must not do this) (3.4)
[Priority 2]
If the tool is intended to produce raster images, does the tool support the Portable Network Graphics (PNG) format? (2.1)
If the tool is intended to produce vector graphics, does the tool support the Scalable Vector Graphics (SVG) format? (2.1)
[Priority 3]
Does the tool let you search for, reuse or otherwise manage the EAs of images? (3.5)
[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)
[Priority 1]
Are EAs (in text tracks or separate files) preserved during re-saving? (1.2)
[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)
[Priority 3]
If the tool produces a raster image in a format besides PNG, does the tool inform you? (2.3)
If the tool produces a vector graphic image in a format besides SVG, does the tool inform you? (2.3)
[Priority 1]
Do the images include pre-written Priority 1 EAs? (3.3)
[Priority 1]
Does the tool check for and notify you when Priority 1 EAs for an image are absent? (4.1)
Does the tool assist you to add Priority 1 EAs when they are found to be absent? (4.2)
Documentation:
[Priority 1]
Is there documentation for all the features of the tool concerned with addding EAs for images? (6.1)
[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)
[Priority 3]
Is there a dedicated section that documents all the features of the tool concerned with addding EAs? (6.3)
[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)
[Priority 1]
Does the tool allow you to edit all properties in an accessible fashion? (7.3)
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)
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)
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)
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)
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)
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)
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)
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)
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)
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)
Does the tool assist the author in adding Priority 1 EAs to separate descriptive files when they are found to be absent? (4.2)
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)
If the tool is intended to produce vector graphics, does the tool support the Scalable Vector Graphics (SVG) format? (2.1)
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)
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)
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)
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)
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)
Does the tool assist the author in adding Priority 2 EAs to separate descriptive files when they are found to be absent? (4.2)
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)
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)
If the tool produces a vector graphic image in a format besides SVG, does the tool inform the author? (2.3)
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)
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)
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)
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)
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)
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)
Does the tool assist the author in adding Priority 3 EAs to separate descriptive files when they are found to be absent? (4.2)
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