EOWG Home Page
Scribe: Chuck Letourneau
Posted by: Judy Brewer
Last updated: September 16, 1999
1. Agenda review:
* Judy Brewer to ask Ian about resources to do a revised note on XHTML
accessibility. Marja indicated she might also have some time to work on this.
2. Updates and outreach:
* Julia Howell will send a message to EO with the URL of the UK gov't policy
white paper.
* Judy Brewer will send a note about her upcoming presentations to the list
for inclusion in the Events Calendar.
* Jim Allan will add mention of the "Accessibility Rally" to the Events Calendar.
3. Review updated core reference note
* Chuck Letourneau will send two (strictly editorial) comments to the EO
list.
*Jim Allan will work on the wording of deaf-blind section and the review
terminology for visual impairment (e.g. field loss).
* Judy Brewer to modify first bullet under color blindness. It should read,
"color used for structure or emphasis".
* Alan Cantor and Judy Brewer to write/rewrite the Visual section to their
own proposed format and post to the EO list. EO members will compare, discuss
and indicate which they like best.
* Karl Hebenstreit to post the resource on color matching to the WCAG WG
(w3c-wai-gl@w3.org).
* Judy Brewer to (possibly) cobble up a resource page with Jim, Alan and
Marja (and anyone else) to review it and comment.
* Judy Brewer to change the title of the note to: "How people with disabilities
use the Web", and leave off the stuff after the colon.
* Alan Cantor to provide a few lines describing "alternate access
techniques".
* William Loughborough to make suggestions for a revised "Abstract".
JB: Judy Brewer
HB: Harvey Bingham
DD: Daniel Dardailler
CL: Chuck Letourneau
JT: Jeffrey Turner
MRK: Marja-Riitta Koivunen
CMN: Charles McCathieNevile
JA: Jim Allan
WL: William Loughborough
AC: Alan Cantor
JH: Julie Howell RNIB
KH: Karl Hebenstreit
JB: would like to add discussion of WCAG Curriculum to agenda item 4.
Also, the new quicktips cards are available.
WL: if xhtml is going to proposed recommendation, we should have a presence.
JB: that is a good idea to update the HTML accessibility note if we get the resources.
CMN: xhtml and HTML 4.01 are very similar.
WL: is there an equivalent of EO in W3C? They should.
JB: No, but there is a press-team that helps with faq sheets and press releases, but mostly the technical people do it themselves.
JB: ACTION ITEM will ask Ian Jacobs about resources to do a revised note.
MRK: Marja might also have time to work on this.
* Re: policy page updates: Judy will get busy.
* Re: Flyer ordering information - On the ordering information Judy will ask people if they want US Letter or A4. She will fix the existing sentence. Will clear up the size and shape description.
* Re: FUD FAQ - Judy will downgrade this from the top level of priority on the deliverables page.
WL: are we at Closing the Gap?
JT: we tried to submit a paper from User Agent and were refused.
JB: for WWW9 (Helen Petrie) is submitting a paper, and we helped her by telling her why other papers were refused last year.
HB: Sep 21-23 - E-book conference (Daisy consortium will be well represented) NIST at Gaithersburg, Maryland.
JB: just out of interest, is this becoming more open to outside interests?
HB: we hope so.
JH: in the UK quite a lot of activity in the government. Very interested in social inclusion, so are writing guidelines on Website guidelines and are working with Julie to ensure they comply with WCAG. She is doing a presentation for a conference for UK Gov webmasters, and presentations at PAT15 Policy Action Team. She will send a message to EO with the URL of policy white paper.
JB: are the UK guidelines coming up with parallel language or reference the WCAG.
JH: she hasn't seen reference to WCAG yet, but she hope to get it to point to or explicitly reference WCAG.
JB: next Wednesday will keynote at a conference for CS departments for universities in Mexico. Two weeks later, will be in HongKong keynoting a conference. Will send info to list for calendar (Jim).
CMN: will speak by telephone at a meeting of university webmasters and webcontent providers in Melbourne Australia.
AC: under non disclosure agreement, but has been hired by a US computer manufacturer to do evaluate accessibility of their website and products as
a spinoff from the EITAAC, as well as spinoff to awareness presentations to their product designers.
JA: finally will have "accessible internet rally" next weekend with 40 non profits and design houses. Phil Jenkins mentioned this. Will add it to the
event's calendar.
- new document at <http://www.w3.org/WAI/EO/Drafts/profiles-19990910> Please note that the document is updated through the end of Section one, which discusses types of disabilities. This section is restructured & rewritten per earlier recommendations. Descriptions of tools, and usage scenarios, are not yet updated or added
- notes from our last discussion on it at <http://www.w3.org/WAI/EO/1999/0409-EOWG-min.html>
- old document at <http://www.w3.org/WAI/EO/WAI-access-profiles-19990409>
Discussion: - better now? - problems still? - recommended next steps?
CL: Only editorial comments: will send to list.
AC: under physical disabilities, a section on mobility and one on dexterity, but maybe dexterity should be a subcategory of mobility, rather than a separate section.
JB: thinks this is a good idea. Really wants this kind of comment.
WL: I don't think "Peripheral Vision" is a form of low vision.
HB or JA mentioned the more correct term: Central Field Loss
JB: doesn't think we get into listing too many specific conditions, diseases and syndromes, she would be happier, since it is sort of endless.
KH: might want to emphasize that these conditions are often combined. Some discussion about where this point is already made and where it should be highlighted.
JA: deaf-blind should be separated and emphasized. You have to include all of the barriers from Visual and Hearing and additional ones because of the combination of the two. Will work on the wording of deaf-blind and the visual impairment (field loss) and send to the list.
WL: first bullet under colorblindness should read, "color used for structure or emphasis".
AC: seems that each disability category is divided into three parts: a definition of the conditions, the general kinds of barriers to computer use, and then bullet points on specific barriers to using the web. If this is the general structure, under dexterity for example, some of the points under general barriers could be moved under specific web points.
JB: had thought the second section was for general accommodations in use of the web, so wasn't really trying to do "barrier", but acknowledges it wasn't consistent.
HB: thinks it should be a clear three-part split, as Alan described originally.
JB: would like to break it along the lines of definition, accommodations that someone with that condition would use on the web, and barriers to accessibility.
JB: Alan, could you do your version of visual and I will do a revision and the group can compare and see which they like best.
JB: asked if this would serve as a useful tool for PF, to give as background to somebody with a strictly technical background?
CMN: Yes, this will be a very useful tool.
HB: this is exactly the kind of document I have needed. Can I use it?
KH: Has found a couple of resources on color uses and posted to IG.
JB: please also post to GL for inclusion in the WCAG techniques document.
JB: what level of references should we include in this document?
WL: don't overload it.
JT: maybe one for each major section.
JB: remembers consensus from previous discussion: no linking off W3C site, since keyword searches will work, and after translation the language sources will be incompatible.
JT: What about giving a list of suggested searches?
JB: would anyone like to take a stab at what a resources page for the note might look at?
WL: thinks a resource page like this would be important for the whole effort rather than just for this note.
MRK: interested, but not at the moment.
AC: also interested, but not at the moment
JA: also interested, but not at the moment
JB: might get it started, but will ask the above to review.
JT: this page with a screen-reader: when he pages down from screen to screen he gets three lines repeated.
JA: that is an Internet Explorer problem
JT: but first time he has encountered the problem
JB: then it might be something about the particular style sheet that she may have damaged.
JB: what about the title?
WL: thinks the stuff after the colon should be a subheading rather than part of the main title.
KH: as short as possible would be nice.
JB: asked Daniel to analyze the title from a strictly technical perspective.
WL: "use of the web by people with disabilities'
CL: "How people with disabilities use the Web"
JB: and leave off the stuff after the colon.
Consensus on the last item.
JB: any problems with the overall categories?
No comments, so accepted.
AC: "The number and severity of disabilities tend to increase as people age", should be added to the section on aging.
AC: under mobility: bullet - forms or image maps or links that cannot be tabbed through in a logical order. Also, under Tools… (JB: this section has not been rewritten at all). But people don't need just tools, but alternate access techniques.
JB: could Alan send a few sentences on alternate access techniques?
WL: abstract is not great. Get rid of it and do a new one.
JB: if you have any suggestions, please don't feel shy.
- strategies for promotion of CSS accessibility Note <http://www.w3.org/TR/CSS-access> Deferred till next meeting
- strategies for promotion of SMIL accessibility Note <http://www.w3.org/WAI/EO/Note-SMIL-access> Deferred till next meeting
- strategies for promotion of RNIB film in the US -- Deferred till next meeting
- strategies for completion, packaging and promotion of the WCAG curriculum -- Deferred till next meeting