Techniques For Accessibility Evaluation And Repair
Tools
W3C Working Draft, 22 August, 2000
- This version:
- http://www.w3.org/WAI/ER/WD-AERT/20000821
- Latest version:
- http://www.w3.org/WAI/ER/WD-AERT/
- Latest public version:
- http://www.w3.org/TR/AERT
- Editors:
- Chris Ridpath, Adaptive Technology Resource
Centre, University of Toronto
-- Canada
Wendy Chisholm, W3C
Copyright
©2000 W3C® (MIT, INRIA,
Keio), All Rights Reserved. W3C liability,
trademark,
document
use and software
licensing rules apply.
This document describes techniques that Web accessibility validation tools
may use to evaluate the conformance of HTML documents to the Web Content Accessibility
Guidelines 1.0 (WCAG 1.0). This document also describes techniques that
Web authoring tools may use to help authors modify HTML documents to conform
to WCAG 1.0. We anticipate that tool developers may develop accessibility
validation and/or repair modules to be incorporated into commercial authoring
tools, validation tools, and perhaps user agents.
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 is a W3C Working Draft produced by the Evaluation and Repair Tools Working
Group. The working group encourages
- feedback on existing techniques discussed in this document,
- suggestions for new techniques,
- implementation and testing of the techniques discussed in this
document.
The working group expects to collect and test new and existing techniques
in the next few months. The document will be updated to reflect the group's
findings.
Information about existing Evaluation, Repair, and Transformation Tools for
Web Content Accessibility is available from the working group's home page.
This is a draft document and may be updated, replaced, or obsoleted 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". A list of
current W3C Recommendations and other technical documents can be found at http://www.w3.org/TR/.
Please send comments on this document to w3c-wai-er-ig@w3.org. The archives for this
list are publicly available.
- Clean up all of the @@'s (open issues, questions and comments).
- Check for consistent language usage.
- Link to WCAG, AU and UA Techniques and EO Curriculum where
appropriate.
- For all "until user agents" clauses we will create techniques for
user-side tool. (Refer to minutes from 24
July 2000)
- Currently, links to WCAG Techniques are to the working group draft. Once
this goes to public working draft, update the links.
- Link to tools that have implemented specific techniques or to ATAG
Techniques (this replaces all of the "Suggested message" and "example
language" sections for each technique).
- Inherit reference info between checkpoints from WCAG (e.g., at the end
of Checkpoint 10.1, "refer also to Checkpoint 12.4").
- Determine if we want to use "document" or "page." Then check for
consistent usage.
- Ensure that "Web" is capitalized consistently.
- Update and finish creating test files. Upload the images associated with
the test files.
- Resolve open issues both listed in this document as well as in the list of open
issues.
The Web Accessibility Initiative (WAI) has produced a foundation document,
The W3C Web Content
Accessibility Guidelines (WCAG 1.0), that describes what must be done to
make a Web page accessible to all. Tools are needed to help authors determine
if a web site is accessible to everyone and to help repair it if it is
not.
This is an informative document that builds on the WCAG 1.0 foundation by
outlining techniques that evaluation and repair tools may use to uncover
accessibility problems and possibly repair them. These techniques may be used
by those who create web authoring tools or by anyone interested in creating
accessible Web documents. Tools are not expected to conform to the processes
in this document. This is not a definitive list of what an evaluation and
repair tool must perform. It is expected that tools may be developed that
focus on one technique while others will try to implement all of the
techniques depending on the goals of the tool.
It is important that people with disabilities are included in the "anyone
interested in creating accessible Web content." Creating accessible Web
content is as important as accessing Web content. Therefore, evaluation and
repair tools themselves need to be accessible to people with disabilities.
However, this document does not describe how to make the user interface
accessible. Please refer to the User
Agent Accessibility Guidelines for information on making the user
interface accessible.
Many people creating content for the Web will not be familiar with the
various markup languages that are used. Many others will not know about Web
accessibility. Tools should be intuitive and easy to use and available at a
minimal cost. Tools should not generate excessive warnings or false positive
accessibility errors. However, this document does not address how to interact
with the author. Please refer to the Authoring Tool Accessibility Guidelines
for information on dialog and interface techniques for creating authoring
tools.
This document is based on The W3C Web Content Accessibility
Guidelines. It lists each guideline and checkpoint in in that document.
Under each checkpoint it lists one or more techniques for evaluating and, in
some cases, repair. Each technique comprises the following subsections:
- Open issues for this technique
- This section lists open issues and questions about a particular
technique.
- Evaluation
- The algorithmic and heuristic tests that will be applied. consisting
of
- Elements - the elements to which this test
applies, e.g.
IMG
etc. If it only applies to an element
of a particular type, this is noted (e.g. INPUT
TYPE="image"
>
- Requirements - the conditions which will be
tested for by means of algorithms and heuristics.
Note: in a few cases, the warning is always presented.
- Repair
- Actions that may be required to repair the accessibility problem.
- Test files
- Used to test evaluation tools to see if they find the accessibility
problem. These are under construction!!
- Discussion files
- Discussion and comments on the technique.
Note. This document specifies only the function of
evaluation and repair tools. Nothing in this document should be taken to imply
a particular user interface.
Guideline 1. Provide equivalent
alternatives to auditory and visual content.
- Checkpoint 1.1 - Provide a text
equivalent for every non-text element
- Checkpoint 1.2 - Provide redundant
text links for each active region of a server-side image map
- Checkpoint 1.3 - Until user agents
can automatically read aloud the text equivalent of a visual track,
provide an auditory description of the important information of the visual
track of a multimedia presentation
- Checkpoint 1.4 - For any time-based
multimedia presentation (e.g., a movie or animation), synchronize
equivalent alternatives (e.g., captions or auditory descriptions of the
visual track) with the presentation
- Checkpoint 1.5 - Until user agents render
text equivalents for client-side image map links, provide redundant text
links for each active region of a client-side image map
Technique 1.1.1 [priority 1] Check
IMG
elements for valid "alt
" attribute
Open issues for this technique
Evaluation
- Element:
IMG
- Requirement: Valid "
alt
" attribute.
- "
alt
" attribute must exist
- Not allowed - NULL "
alt
" value
(alt=""
)
- Allowed - "
alt
" value of 1 or more spaces ("alt="
"
") but only if image is not within an "A
element
"
- Suspicious - "
alt
" attribute value could be file size
(ends with "bytes")
- Suspicious - "
alt
" attribute value ends with image file suffix.
- Suspicious - "
alt
" attribute value is placeholder text.
- Suspicious - "
alt
" attribute value is longer than 150
characters. Suggest that a description file be created.
Repair
- Prompt the author for a text equivalent for the image.
- If the document contains another instance of the image and that image
contains an "
alt
" attribute, suggest that "alt
"
attribute value.
- If the image is assumed to be a bullet,
suggested text should be "bullet".
- If the image is assumed to be a horizontal
rule, suggested text should be "horizontal rule".
- Other suggestions by
Daniel Dardailler
- Suggestions by
Michael Vorburger
- After the author has entered an
"alt"
attribute for the
image, check the site for other instances of the image. If the site
contains other images that are the same and they do not have a text
equivalent, suggest that all same images without an "alt
"
attribute use the new "alt
" attribute value.
Test Files and Discussion Files
Technique 1.1.2 [priority 1] Verify
that valid IMG
element descriptions ("longdesc"
attribute or d-link) are provided where necessary.
Open issues for this technique
- Daniel D. on May 19, 1999 suggested that we could check for the
complexity of the image by looking for a "
caption
"
attribute.
- Element:
IMG
- Requirements:
- Valid "
longdesc
" attribute or a d-link required if
describing the image will add information not given in the text of the
page. The amount of information in the image and the context in which
it is used will determine how detailed the description should be.
Note: d-link now deprecated.
- Cases where a description is not required:
- Valid "
longdesc
" attribute is any valid URI
- Ask the author if the image presents information that is not included in
the page or in the text equivalent for the image. Allow the author to
create or associate a description.
- with the "
longdesc
" attribute on an IMG
element
- via a D-link
- If another document on the same site uses the same image and has a
"
longdesc
", suggest that "longdesc
" file.
Technique 1.1.3 [priority 1] Check
INPUT
elements of type="image"
for valid
"alt
" attribute
- Element:
INPUT type="image"
- Requirement: Valid "
alt
" attribute.
- "
alt
" attribute must exist
- Not valid - NULL "
alt
" value (alt=""
)
- Not valid - "
alt
" value of 1 or more spaces
(alt=" "
)
- Suspicious - "
alt
" attribute value could be file size
(ends with "bytes")
- Suspicious - "
alt
" attribute value ends with image file suffix or is of an image mime
type.
- Suspicious - "
alt
" attribute value is placeholder text.
- Prompt the author for text equivalent.
- If another document on the same site has an INPUT element with the same
TYPE value, suggest that type value.
Technique 1.1.4 [priority 1] Check
APPLET
elements for valid HTML equivalent
- Element:
APPLET
- Requirements:
- Valid "
alt
" attribute
- Not allowed - NULL "
alt
" attribute value
(alt=""
)
- Not allowed - "
alt
" attribute value of 1 or more
spaces (alt=" "
)
- Suspicious - "
alt
" attribute value could be file
size (ends with "bytes")
- Suspicious - "
alt
" attribute value ends with image file suffix or image mime type.
- Suspicious - "
alt
" attribute value is placeholder alt-text text.
- Suspicious - "
alt
" attribute ends with applet executable suffix.
- Allowed - no "
alt
" attribute if text is provided
within the content of the APPLET
element.
OR
- accessible HTML within
APPLET
element
- Prompt the author for text equivalent.
- If the same applet is used on the same site and has an
"
alt
" attribute, suggest that "alt
" attribute
value.
Technique 1.1.5 [priority 1] Check
OBJECT
elements of
type="
image_MIME_types
"
for
valid text equivalents and descriptions (where necessary)
Open issues for this technique
- This only covers text equivalents. Where is non-text covered if not
here?
- Element:
OBJECT
- Requirement: Between
OBJECT
start element and
OBJECT
end element must be a valid alternative representation
element.
- Prompt the author for new alternative representation.
- If the site contains a document that contains the same object and that
object contains a valid alternative representation, suggest that
alternative representation.
Test file - OBJECT text equivalent.
Technique 1.1.6 [priority 1] Verify that
text equivalents are provided for linked audio files where
necessary
- Elements:
A href=sound
file
- Requirement: Audio file must be described within the document or
document must contain a link to a text equivalent file. @@Search for
link text containing the word "transcript?"
- Prompt the author for a text transcript of the audio file or a link to a
transcript.
Test file - text for sound files.
Technique 1.1.7 [priority 1]
Verify that text equivalents are provided for embedded audio files
where necessary
Evaluation
- Elements:
OBJECT
type=Audio_or_Video_MIME_type
- Requirement: Audio file must be described within the document or
document must contain a link to a text equivalent file.
- Prompt the author for a text transcript or to link to a text transcript
of audio/video file and embed it between start and end tag.
Technique 1.1.8 [priority 1] Check
FRAME
elements for valid "longdesc
" attribute
- Element:
FRAME
- Requirement: Valid "
longdesc
" attribute (refer to
checkpoint 12.1 for information about titling frames).
- Must not be NULL
- Must be a valid URI
- The file pointed to by the URI must be accessible HTML
- If a
FRAMESET
has three or more frames and at least one of
the frames does not have a "longdesc
" attribute, ask the
author to determine if the relationship between frames is obvious (from
the titles of each frame) or if the relationship(s) need to be
described.
- If the relationships between frames are not obvious then ask that they
provide a description of the relationships. Allow the author to create a
"
longdesc
" file or associate an existing
"longdesc
" file. It is suggested that each FRAME
in the reference the same "longdesc
" as the description of
the relationships should be available from each FRAME
.
Technique 1.1.9 [priority 1] Check
AREA
elements for valid "alt
" attribute
- Element:
AREA
- Requirement: Elements must have a valid "
alt
" attribute.
- Not allowed - NULL "
alt
" value
(alt=""
)
- Suspicious - "
alt
" attribute value is placeholder text.
- @@is this complete?
- Prompt the author for "
alt
" text for the AREA
element.
- Fetch the
TITLE
of the link target.
Technique 1.1.10 [priority 1] Check
SCRIPT
elements for valid equivalents where necessary
- Element:
SCRIPT
- Requirements:
NOSCRIPT
section must follow the SCRIPT
end element AND
NOSCRIPT
section must contain Accessible HTML
NOSCRIPT
section must not contain placeholder text
- Insert
NOSCRIPT
section
- Allow the author to insert text or link to text equivalent file that
describes the
SCRIPT
@@handled by technique 13.1.1 - verify that targets are clearly identified?
What else do we need to check for?
Technique 1.1.12 [priority 1] Verify that valid
text equivalents are provided for PRE
and XMP
elements used to create ASCII art.
Open issues for this technique:
- A-Prompt has been using an algorithm to detect ASCII art (There must be
5 or more lines of text and there must be 5 or more same characters in a
sequence). This works quite well but detects things such as code samples
(don't require text equiv.) and guitar tabulature (do require text equiv.)
Should we suggest this algorithm in the evaluation?
- What about ASCII art that is interspersed in text, such as in
P
elements?
- Bill Shackleton suggested that a tool use a library of well-known ascii
art to detect some ascii art such as emoticons. Yahoo
maintains a list of ascii art one list is specifically about smileys.
- Elements:
PRE
and XMP
- Requirement: ASCII art has an associated text equivalent.
- Ask the author for a description of the ASCII art or allow them to add a
link to a text equivalent file.
Technique 1.2.1 [priority 1] Verify
that a server-side image map has associated text links.
Open issues for this technique
- WCAG issue: text links are a priority 3 if the same image also has a
client side map (images can have both a client-side and a
server-side).
- Element:
IMG ISMAP
- Requirement: text link for each active area of the image map
- Prompt the author for associated text links OR
- help the author convert the server-side image map to a client-side image
map and provide text-equivalents for each link in the client-side image
map.
- If possible, fetch the
TITLE
of the link target.
- If possible, check the text links against the links contained on the
server-side image map by asking the author to upload the server side
definition file if it's a standard format.
Technique 1.3.1 [priority 1]
Verify that multimedia have audio descriptions.
Open issue
@@Waiting for clarification from WCAG WG.
- Elements:
any_tag
any_attribute=multimedia_uri
,
OBJECT
type=
any_multimedia_type
- Requirement: Multimedia presentations should have an associated audio
description.
- Display the multimedia file and allow the author to create an audio
description of the important information.
- Allow the author to add a link to an existing audio description
file.
Checkpoint 1.4 - For any time-based
multimedia presentation (e.g., a movie or animation), synchronize equivalent
alternatives (e.g., captions or auditory descriptions of the visual track)
with the presentation
Technique 1.4.1 [priority 1]
Verify that multimedia have synchronized equivalents.
- Elements:
any_tag any_attribute=multimedia_uri
,
OBJECT
type=
any_multimedia_type
- Requirement: Multimedia presentations should have synchronized
equivalents.
- Give the author the option to edit option with editor of their choice
(e.g. the default editor on their system)
Open issues for this technique
- This technique is a specific example of 1.4.1. Should it stand on its
own or be incorporated into 1.4.1?
- This technique is also SMIL specific while the majority of techniques
are HTML specific. Should we include a SMIL specific technique?
- SMIL Elements:
- Requirement: SMIL files should have the
system-captions
flag for at least one text stream and one auditory stream.
Checkpoint 1.5 - Until user agents render text
equivalents for client-side image map links, provide redundant text links for
each active region of a client-side image map
Technique 1.5.1 [priority 3] Verify
that text links are provided for client-side image maps.
- Element:
IMG usemap
- Requirement: Document must contain text links for each active area of
the image map.
- Associated text links may be found by searching the document for anchors
with
href
attribute values that correspond to the
AREA
elements in the given usemap
.
- Allow the author to create associated text links for each active area in
the image map.
Guideline 2. Don't rely on color alone.
- Checkpoint 2.1 - Ensure that all information
conveyed with color is also available without color, for example from
context or markup
- Checkpoint 2.2 - Ensure that foreground
and background color combinations provide sufficient contrast when viewed
by someone having color deficits or when viewed on a black and white
screen
Checkpoint 2.1 - Ensure that all information
conveyed with color is also available without color, for example from context
or markup
Technique 2.1.1 [priority 1] Verify that
information conveyed with color is available without color
- Elements:
IMG |
APPLET |
OBJECT |
SCRIPT |
INPUT |
as well as the HTML
elements and attributes listed in the next technique (2.2.1).
- Display an author notification if any of the color-possible elements are
in the document.
- Display the page without color formatting so the author can see what the
page looks like without color.
Checkpoint 2.2 - Ensure that foreground and
background color combinations provide sufficient contrast when viewed by
someone having color deficits or when viewed on a black and white screen
Technique 2.2.1 [priority 3] Test the
color attributes of the following elements for visibility:
- Elements:
BODY bgcolor | text | alink | link | vlink | background
=
anything
OR
TABLE bordercolor | bgcolor
=
anything
OR
TD | TH bgcolor
=
anything
OR
HR color =
anything
OR
any_element
style="
any_color_specification
"
STYLE "any_color_specification"... STYLE
- Where any_color_specification is defined as any CSS
specification which contains:
color | background-color | background-image |
background
- Requirement: Determine color visibility.@@needs work?
Ideally, images and multimedia object should also be tested for color
visibility but algorithms are beyond the scope of this specification.
Color visibility can be determined according to the following
algorithm:
(This is a suggested algorithm that is still open to
change.)
Two colors provide good color visibility if the brightness difference and
the color difference between the two colors are greater than a set range.
Color brightness is determined by the following formula:
((Red value X 299) + (Green value X 587) + (Blue value X 114)) / 1000
Note: This algorithm is taken from a formula for converting RGB values to YIQ
values. This brightness value gives a perceived brightness for a color.
Color difference is determined by the following formula:
(maximum (Red value 1, Red value 2) - minimum (Red value 1, Red value 2)) +
(maximum (Green value 1, Green value 2) - minimum (Green value 1, Green value
2)) + (maximum (Blue value 1, Blue value 2) - minimum (Blue value 1, Blue
value 2))
The rage for color brightness difference is 125. The range for color
difference is 500.
- Allow the author to change the poor color combinations.
- Store any good color combinations entered by the author and use them as
default prompts in the future.
Guideline 3. Use markup and style
sheets and do so properly
- Checkpoint 3.1 - When an appropriate markup
language exists, use markup rather than images to convey information
- Checkpoint 3.2 - Create documents that validate
to published formal grammars
- Checkpoint 3.3 - Use style sheets to
control layout and presentation
- Checkpoint 3.4 - Use relative rather than
absolute units in markup language attribute values and style sheet
property values
- Checkpoint 3.5 - Use header elements to
convey document structure and use them according to specification
- Checkpoint 3.6 - Mark up lists and list
items properly
- Checkpoint 3.7 - Mark up quotations. Do not use
quotation markup for formatting effects such as indentation
Checkpoint 3.1 - When an appropriate markup
language exists, use markup rather than images to convey information
Technique 3.1.1 [priority 2] Verify that
elements do not need to be converted to an appropriate markup language.
- Elements:
PRE | IMG | OBJECT | APPLET
- Display an author notification if any of these possible conversion
elements are in the document.
- Help authors convert decorative ASCII art in
PRE
elements
to SVG or an image format.
- Help authors convert ASCII art representing tables of data in PRE
elements to TABLE elements.
- Help authors convert images (
IMG
or OBJECT
)
used to format text to XHTML/XML with style sheets.
- Help authors convert images (
IMG
or OBJECT
)
used to format mathematical equations to MathML.
Checkpoint 3.2 - Create documents that validate to
published formal grammars
Technique 3.2.1 [priority 2] Check document
for public text identifier
- Reference BizTalk and OASIS catalogs?
- Element: none (i.e. applies to all documents)
- Requirements:
- HTML/XHTML documents must contain a
!DOCTYPE ...
declaration before the root element.
- A valid XML document must contain a
!DOCTYPE ...
declaration before the root element, although a well-formed XML
document does not have to have a !DOCTYPE ...
declaration.
- Documents of type HTMLmust conform to the HTML
specification and the list of public text
identifiers
- Documents of type XHTML must conform to the XHTML 1.0 specification.
- Documents of type XML must be well-formed
and should validate to a public DTD.
- If the document type is in the HTML element: move to the
!DOCTYPE
declaration.
- If no valid document type at all: Prompt the author for a public text
identifier, preferably by offering a menu of choices and explanations
Checkpoint 3.3 - Use style sheets to control
layout and presentation
Technique 3.3.1 [priority 2] Check document for
use of style sheets.
- Elements: none (i.e. applies to all documents)
- Requirements: Document should contain at least one of the
following:
STYLE
or LINK rel="stylesheet"
elements within the HEAD
element | "style
"
attributes on any element | FONT
| BASEFONT
|
"text," "vlink," "link," and "alink"
attributes on
BODY
.
- If layout tables are identified (see technique 5.1.1), trigger this
check as well. We will inform the author that style sheets can be used
instead of layout tables in 5.1.1.
- If CSS is used, validate it (refer to the W3C CSS Validator).
- If style sheets are not used, verify that the author has chosen not to
modify the presentation in any way.
- If
FONT
or BASEFONT
elements or "text,"
"vlink," "link," and "alink"
attributes on BODY
,
suggest or help the author convert the presentation properties to style
sheets.
- If the author chooses to convert deprecated markup to style sheets or
add style sheets, trigger technique 6.1 to verify that the document is
readable when style sheets are not applied.
Checkpoint 3.4 - Use relative rather than
absolute units in markup language attribute values and style sheet property
values
Technique 3.4.1 [priority 2] Check
document for relative units of measure.
- Elements:
- "
style
" attribute on any element OR
STYLE
- Requirements For any HTML or CSS element defined to take a
%LENGTH, %PIXELS, %MULTILENGTH
, or
%MULTILENGTHS
, a validated value should either end with "%"
or begin with "+" or "-" or use the "em" or "ex" units.
- Exception: "
width
" and "height
" attributes of
IMG, OBJECT, and APPLET
elements.
- Allow the author to change the units of measure as follows:
- Allow the author to specify which of the absolute sizes is the
default
- Automatically compute all others in terms of the default, with
choice of %, +/-, or em/ex
Checkpoint 3.5 - Use header elements to
convey document structure and use them according to specification
Technique 3.5.1 [priority 2] Check document
for header nesting
- Elements:
Header
elements (H1-H6)
- Requirements: Header elements should nest according to the following
rules
- Header levels must not increase by more than 1 level. Example: H2
following H1 is good. H3 following H1 is bad.
- Header elements can decrease by any level. Example: H2 following H5
is OK.
- Allow the author to modify the header numbering within the
document.
Technique 3.5.2 [priority 2] Check document
for missing header markup
- Element:
P
- Requirement: Paragraphs should be verified that they are not headings.
Potential headings can be identified by:
- Text elements occur within a paragraph AND
- The paragraph is less than 10 words AND
- The paragraph contains only text items or formatting elements
AND
- All text in the paragraph is formatted as bold and/or italics and/or
underline.
- Allow the author to convert the text to a header.
Technique 3.5.3 [priority 2] Verify
that header elements are not used for formatting.
- Elements:
Header
elements (H1- H6)
- Requirement: If a header element's text content is longer than 20 words,
query the author.
- Allow the author to convert any header text to another type. Possible
types are:
- Paragraph
- Blockquote
Checkpoint 3.6 - Mark up lists and list items
properly
- Elements:
- Requirements
- Each
UL/OL
tag must be followed by at least one
LI
, while each DL
must be followed by at
least one DT/DD
pair. (This avoids the use of lists to
create formatting e.g. via UL UL UL...
)
- Suspicious: a single
LI
, which may be used merely for
formatting
- Allow the author to format the text within the
LI, DT, or DD
element to another element via a choice of
Checkpoint 3.7 - Mark up quotations. Do not use
quotation markup for formatting effects such as indentation
Technique 3.7.1 [priority 2] Verify instances
where quote markup should be used.
Q
is not supported in today's browsers, thus converting
quote marks to Q
will basically delete the quote marks for
all authors. what do we suggest in the meantime?
- Element:
P
[list of others?] elements
- Requirement: quote should be marked up with
Q
or
BLOCKQUOTE
. Potential quotes can be identified by:
- Any text that is enclosed by quote marks (" " or ' ').
- Indented text - text that begins with a tab character or style
sheets have been used to create a wider left margin and possibly a
wider right margin.
- Lots of emphasized text (greater than x words??@@)
- Allow the author to convert blocks of text to
Q
or
BLOCKQUOTE
.
Technique 3.7.2 [priority 2] Verify that
Q
and BLOCKQUOTE
are used properly
- Elements:
Q
and BLOCKQUOTE
- Requirement:
- Inline quotes (marked with
Q
) have at least one word in
front of, or behind, the quote text.
- The whole page or large sections of a page are not marked with
BLOCKQUOTE
. If this is the case, it is a possible
indication that the author is using BLOCKQUOTE
for
formatting rather than to mark a quotation.
- Allow the author to convert blocks of text to
Q
or
BLOCKQUOTE
or from Q
to BLOCKQUOTE
or vice versa.
Technique 3.7.3 [priority 2] Verify that
BLOCKQUOTE
is not used for formatting
- Element:
BLOCKQUOTE
unless text content has quote marks (""
or '').
- Requirement:
- Not allowed: nested
BLOCKQUOTE
s.
- Allow the author to transform the text in the
BLOCKQUOTE
element into a P
(paragraph) element.
- Checkpoint 4.1 - Clearly identify changes in the
natural language of a document's text and any text equivalents (e.g.,
captions)
- Checkpoint 4.2 - Specify the expansion of
each abbreviation or acronym in a document where it first occurs
- Checkpoint 4.3 - Identify the primary
natural language of a document
Checkpoint 4.1 - Clearly identify changes in the
natural language of a document's text and any text equivalents (e.g.,
captions)
- Element: none (i.e. applies to all documents that contain text)
- Requirement: The document must contain at least 3 words of text.
- Display the above author notification and provide the following
suggestions:
- For blocks of text that are not in the primary language and are
already enclosed by markup elements such as
P
aragraph,
DIV
or EM
, set the "lang
"
attribute of the markup element.
- For words or phrases that are not in the primary language, enclose
them with a
SPAN
element and set the SPAN
element's "lang
" attribute.
- Ensure that all captions and other text equivalents are
checked.
Checkpoint 4.2 - Specify the expansion of each
abbreviation or acronym in a document where it first occurs
Technique 4.2.1 [priority 3] Verify that
abbreviations and acronyms need expanding.
- Elements: none (i.e. applies to all documents that contain text)
- Requirements:
- Document contains a potential abbreviation or acronym.
- Potential acronym:
- A collection of 2 or more capitalized characters.
- Potential abbreviation:
- A collection of 2 or more characters where the first one is
capitalized, the rest are lower case, and the last character is
a period.
- Do no worry about words followed by a potential abbreviation or
acronym in parentheses.
- Ask the author if the acronym or abbreviation was defined elsewhere on
the page and if so do nothing, otherwise ask the author to enter a
definition for the abbreviation of acronym and attach it to the first
instance.
Checkpoint 4.3 - Identify the primary natural
language of a document
Technique 4.3.1 [priority 3] Verify the primary
language of the document
- Prompt the author for the primary language of the document.
- Ensure that the language entered is one of the ISO
639 language codes.
- A (somewhat costly) technique for guessing the primary language, is to
check for the use of common words in a language. For example, if you find
"a, the, you, for, is, of, and" then it's English. If you find "le, du,
la, a, se, pour, aux, des, ne" then it's French, etc.
- Checkpoint 5.1 - For data tables, identify
row and column headers
- Checkpoint 5.2 - For data tables that
have two or more logical levels of row or column headers, use markup to
associate data cells and header cells
- Checkpoint 5.3 - Do not use tables
for layout unless the table makes sense when linearized
- Checkpoint 5.4 - If a table is used for
layout, do not use any structural markup for the purpose of visual
formatting
- Checkpoint 5.5 - Provide summaries for
tables
- Checkpoint 5.6 - Provide abbreviations
for header labels
Checkpoint 5.1 - For data tables, identify row
and column headers
Technique 5.1.1 Determine the purpose of the
table
The purpose of the table must be determined before performing an
accessibility evaluation. To help the author make this assessment, the
following language may be used:
- Data tables present relational data such as a bus schedule, a comparison
of regional sales figures, or a listing of employee contact information.
Cells in data tables are related to each other and usually must be
perceived as a group.
- Layout tables visually format images, text, and other information on the
page such as a navigation bar, or a newspaper page with stories, links,
and images. Each cell in a layout table is normally independent and can be
viewed on its own.
Technique 5.1.2 [priority 1] Check data
table for row and column headers
- Element:
TABLE
.
- Requirement: the table must have at least one complete row of headers or
one complete column of headers.
- This technique applies only to tables used for data, not to tables used
for layout purposes.
- Allow the author to modify the table to include row headers and/or
column headers.
- Allow the author to convert the top row and/or the left column to
headers.
- The author should create at least one complete row or one complete
column of headers.
Checkpoint 5.2 - For data tables that have
two or more logical levels of row or column headers, use markup to associate
data cells and header cells
Technique 5.2.1 - [Priority 1] Check data
tables for multiple levels of row and column headers
- Element:
TH span=(2 or more)
and either
- two or more
TR
elements containing at least one
TH
- two or more
TH
elements within any TR
- Requirements:
- use of
SCOPE | AXIS | HEADER
- two or more rows containing
TH
OR
- two or more columns contain
TH
- If the table does contain 2 or more logical levels of row or column
headers, use the HTML 4
table algorithm to show the author how the headers are currently
associated with the cells. If the author determines that the current
mark-up is not sufficient, allow the author to markup the table
TD
or TH
elements with scope
,
axis
, or headers
attributes.
Checkpoint 5.3 - Do not use tables
for layout unless the table makes sense when linearized
Technique 5.3.1 [priority 2] Verify that
layout tables make sense when linearized
- Element:
TABLE
- Requirement: Layout tables should make sense when linearized. This
technique applies only to tables used for layout purposes, not to data
tables.
- Linearize the table and ask the author to verify that the result is
understandable.
- Allow the author to reposition cells or reorder the table.
Checkpoint 5.4 - If a table is used for layout,
do not use any structural markup for the purpose of visual formatting
Technique 5.4.1 [priority 2] Check layout
tables for structural markup
- Element:
TABLE
- Requirements: Contains at least one
TH
element. This
technique applies only to tables used for layout purposes, not to data
tables.
- Allow author to change appearance of
TH
cells by
- style sheet properties
EM
and/or STRONG
Checkpoint 5.5 - Provide summaries for
tables
Technique 5.5.1 [priority 3] Check
TABLE
elements for valid "summary
" attribute
- Element:
TABLE
- Requirement: Must have valid "
summary
" attribute.
- If the table has nested headings, cells that span multiple columns or
rows, or other relationships that may not be obvious from analyzing the
structure of the table but that may be apparent in a visual rendering of
the table, a valid "
summary
" attribute may be provided.
- Allow the author to enter a summary of the table.
Technique 5.5.2 [priority 2] Check TABLE
elements for valid
CAPTION
element.
Evaluation
- Element:
TABLE
- Requirement: @@
Repair
- Allow the author to enter a CAPTION
Checkpoint 5.6 - Provide abbreviations for
header labels
Technique 5.6.1 [priority 3] Check table
for header abbreviations
- How determine if an abbreviation is pronounceable? ASCII characters
only?
- Element:
TH
- Requirement: Valid "
abbr
" attribute if the header name is
greater than 15 characters.
- Not allowed - NULL "
abbr
" value ("")
- Not allowed - "
abbr
" value of spaces (" ")
- Suspicious - placeholder "
abbr
"
values
- "
abbr
" values should be shorter than 15 characters, but
still pronounceable.
- Allow the author to enter abbreviations for table header elements.
Guideline 6. Ensure that pages featuring
new technologies transform gracefully
- Checkpoint 6.1 - Organize
documents so they may be read without style sheets
- Checkpoint 6.2 - Ensure that
equivalents for dynamic content are updated when the dynamic content
changes
- Checkpoint 6.3 - Ensure that pages are usable
when scripts, applets, or other programmatic objects are turned off or not
supported
- Checkpoint 6.4 - For scripts and
applets, ensure that event handlers are input device-independent
- Checkpoint 6.5 - Ensure that dynamic
content is accessible or provide an alternative presentation or page
Checkpoint 6.1 - Organize documents
so they may be read without style sheets
Technique 6.1.1 [priority 1] Verify that
an HTML/XHTML document is readable when style sheets are not applied.
- Elements:
LINK rel="stylesheet"
STYLE
- At least one "
style
" attribute used on any
element.
- Requirements: The author must verify if an HTML/XHTML page is readable
without style sheets. Generate and/or display a version of the page
without styles to help the author decide.
Repair
- Display an author notification if any use of style sheets is
detected.
Checkpoint 6.2 - Ensure that equivalents
for dynamic content are updated when the dynamic content changes
Technique 6.2.1 [priority 1] Check the
source of FRAME
and IFRAME
elements for valid markup
files.
- Elements:
FRAME
or IFRAME
- Requirements:
- Valid "
src
" attribute values must have a suffix of
".htm," ".html," ".shtm," ".shtml," ".cfm," ".cfml," ".asp," ".cgi,"
".pl", ".smil" or target document must have a known public identifier
at the top of file.
- Create an HTML "wrapper" around known object types, e.g. if the target
is an image, place the image in an HTML file.
- @@Adjust Javascript to point inside the wrapper?
Technique 6.2.2 [priority 1] Verify
that equivalents of dynamic content are updated and available as often as the
dynamic content.
Open issues for this technique
- This is similar to issues related to Guideline 7. do we need to tie them
together in some way?
- Elements:
SCRIPT,
APPLET, OBJECT
type=@@?
, any_element event_attribute where
event_attribute is "onmouseover" etc.
- Requirements: any actions that change the display must change the
equivalent @@Is this computable in a practical time (cf. NP complete) .
Computer science help needed here. Of course, as in other parts of
document, the fact that the equivalent changes is no guarantee that
equivalent is correct than it is guaranteed that
"alt"
text
for an image is correct.
Checkpoint 6.3 - Ensure that pages are usable when
scripts, applets, or other programmatic objects are turned off or not
supported
Technique 6.3.1 [priority 1]
Verify that the page is usable when programmatic objects are disabled.
- Elements:
SCRIPT, OBJECT type=@@?, EMBED, APPLET
- Requirements:
- existence of "
alt
" and/or "title"
and/OR
- accessible alternative content in the body of
OBJECT,
NOSCRIPT, NOEMBED, or APPLET
.
- Provide means to create an accessible alternative representation or
provide a link to one.
Checkpoint 6.4 - For scripts and
applets, ensure that event handlers are input device-independent
Technique 6.4.1 [priority 2]
Check for device independent event handlers.
- Elements:
SCRIPT, OBJECT type=@@?, EMBED, APPLET
- Requirements: Objects must not contain device dependent event handlers.
@@Does this mean checking Java, Flash, etc? Can we only do this for
scripting? Or prompt the author to check?
- Display object source code and suggest device independent replacement
code.
Checkpoint 6.5 - Ensure that dynamic content
is accessible or provide an alternative presentation or page
Technique 6.5.1 [priority 2] Check that
a NOFRAMES
element exists within each FRAMESET
.
- Element:
FRAMESET
- Requirements:
- A valid
NOFRAMES
section should exist within each
FRAMESET
section. A valid NOFRAMES
section:
- Must contain at least one word of text or accessible HTML
code.
- The contents of the
NOFRAMES
element must provide
the necessary links to navigate the site. One way to check is to
compare the number of links and their destinations in the
NOFRAMES
with the number of links and their
destinations in all of the FRAMES
combined.
- Not allowed: Telling the author that they should upgrade to a
browser that supports frames. Suspicious words within the text of
a
NOFRAMES
element: "upgrade," "full advantage,"
supports frames," "missing" etc.
- Allow the author to construct a valid
NOFRAMES
section.
@@ is this covered by 6.3.1 (Verify that the page is usable when
programmatic objects are disabled)?
Guideline 7. Ensure user control of time-sensitive
content changes
- Checkpoint 7.1 - Until user agents allow
users to control flickering, avoid causing the screen to flicker.
- Checkpoint 7.2 - Until user agents allow users
to control blinking, avoid causing content to blink
- Checkpoint 7.3 - Until user agents
allow users to freeze moving content, avoid movement in pages
- Checkpoint 7.4 - Until user agents
provide the ability to stop the refresh, do not create periodically
auto-refreshing pages
- Checkpoint 7.5 - Until user agents
provide the ability to stop auto-redirect, do not use markup to redirect
pages automatically
Checkpoint 7.1 - Until user agents allow users
to control flickering, avoid causing the screen to flicker
Technique 7.1.1 [priority 1] Verify that the page
does not cause flicker.
- It is desirable that a tool be able to measure flicker. This could be
done by software that renders, takes screenshots and compares. [Len
Kasday, 23 January 2000]
- Elements:
SCRIPT
OBJECT type =
(@@what are the type attribute values
for Java, etc.?)
EMBED
APPLET
IMG
element with "src
" name ending with
'.gif'.
Repair
- Display the object and allow the user to verify that it does not cause
display flicker. If object does cause flicker, allow user to modify
object.
Checkpoint 7.2 - Until user agents allow users to
control blinking, avoid causing content to blink
Technique 7.2.1 [priority 1] Check for
BLINK
elements
- Element:
BLINK
- Requirement: The
BLINK
element is not valid HTML/XHTML. The
author must use another method to highlight text.
- Allow the author to remove
BLINK
elements from the
document.
- Allow the author to replace
BLINK
elements with any of the
following elements:
STRONG
EM
SPAN
- allow the author to enter attributes for the
element, such as the CSS "text-decoration: blink;".
H1
H2
H3
H4
H5
H6
Checkpoint 7.3 - Until user agents allow
users to freeze moving content, avoid movement in pages
Technique 7.3.1 [priority 2] Check for
MARQUEE
elements
- Element:
MARQUEE
.
- Requirement: The
MARQUEE
element is not valid HTML/XHTML.
The author must use another method to highlight text.
- Allow the author to remove
MARQUEE
elements from the
document.
- Allow the author to replace
MARQUEE
elements with any of
the following elements:
STRONG
EM
SPAN
- allow the author to enter attributes for the
element.
H1
H2
H3
H4
H5
H6
- Allow the author to replace
MARQUEE
elements with a script
that creates scrolling text.
Technique 7.3.2 [priority 2] Verify
that programmatic objects do not create moving content
- Elements:
SCRIPT
- distinguished by (see
discussion)??
OBJECT type =
(@@what are the type attribute values
for Java, etc.?)
EMBED
APPLET
- Allow the author to remove the
SCRIPT
from the document or
create a mechanism to stop the movement.
- @@ what about
OBJECT, EMBED, and APPLET
?
Checkpoint 7.4 - Until user agents
provide the ability to stop the refresh, do not create periodically
auto-refreshing pages
Technique 7.4.A [priority 2] Remove
auto-refresh attributes from META
elements
- Elements:
META http-equiv="refresh"
content=
integer_greater_than_zero
- Note:If the "
content
" attribute is a URI this is an
auto-redirect page. Refer to technique 7.5.1
- Allow author option to either:
- Remove the auto-refresh from the document OR
- Create a page with link to new page.
Checkpoint 7.5 - Until user agents provide
the ability to stop auto-redirect, do not use markup to redirect pages
automatically
Technique 7.5.1 [priority 2] Check
auto-redirect attributes on META
elements
- Element:
META http-equiv="refresh"
content="
any-URI
"
.
- Allow the author to remove the auto-redirect from the document and add a
link to the new document.
- Suggest that the author use HTTP headers -- via web server configuration
and/or server-side scripting.
Guideline 8. Ensure direct accessibility of
embedded user interfaces
Checkpoint 8.1 - Make programmatic
elements such as scripts and applets directly accessible or compatible with
assistive technologies
Technique 8.1.1 [priority
1 if functionality is important and not presented elsewhere, otherwise
Priority 2] Verify that programmatic objects are directly accessible.
- Tools should include means to test the embedded technologies, e.g. java,
at least by running them, preferably by including any test software
supplied for the technology. [Len
Kasday - 23 January 2000]
- Elements:
OBJECT, APPLET
, EMBED or
SCRIPT
.
- Display an author notification if any of the programmatic elements are
in the document.
Guideline 9. Design for
device-independence
- Checkpoint 9.1 - Provide client-side
image maps instead of server-side image maps except where the regions
cannot be defined with an available geometric shape.
- Checkpoint 9.2 - Ensure that any
element that has its own interface can be operated in a device-independent
manner.
- Checkpoint 9.3 - For scripts,
specify logical event handlers rather than device-dependent event
handlers.
- Checkpoint 9.4 - Create a logical tab
order through links, form controls, and objects.
- Checkpoint 9.5 - Provide keyboard
shortcuts to important links, form controls, and groups of form
controls
Checkpoint 9.1 - Provide client-side image
maps instead of server-side image maps except where the regions cannot be
defined with an available geometric shape
Technique 9.1.1 [priority 1] Check for
use of server-side image maps
Evaluation
Repair
- Allow the author to convert the server-side image map to a client-side
image map.
Checkpoint 9.2 - Ensure that any element
that has its own interface can be operated in a device-independent manner
Open issues for this technique
- This technique is strongly tied to Guideline 8 and checkpoint 1.1 (image
maps). Is there redundancy that we can get rid of?
Evaluation
- Elements:
OBJECT type =
(@@what are the type attribute values
for Java, etc.?)
EMBED
APPLET
Repair
- Display an author notification if any of the programmatic objects are in
the document.
Checkpoint 9.3 - For scripts,
specify logical event handlers rather than device-dependent event
handlers
Technique 9.3.1 [priority 2] Check
scripts for logical event handlers
- Elements: All elements that can contain event handlers
- Requirement: Elements must have a device independent event handler if
they have any of the following device dependent event handlers:
onMouseDown()
onMouseUp()
onClick()
onMouseOver()
onMouseOut()
onMouseMove()
Allow the author to add event handlers according to the following list:
- "
onMouseDown
" add or replace with
"onKeyDown
"
- "
onMouseUp
" add or replace with "onKeyUp
"
- "
onClick
" add or replace with
"onKeyPress
"
- "
onMouseOver
" add or replace with
"onFocus
"
- "
onMouseOut
" add or replace with "onBlur
"
- "
onMouseMove
" remove or replace with ??@@
Checkpoint 9.4 - Create a logical tab order
through links, form controls, and objects
Open issues for this technique
- If the tab order jumps around too much it could be confusing to someone
using magnification or a cognitive disability. Can we check for this?
- Elements:
A
AREA
BUTTON
INPUT
OBJECT
SELECT
TEXTAREA
- Requirements:
- May contain a valid "
tabindex
" attribute.
- Must be an integer greater than or equal to zero.
- Only useful is several links on the page. @@Do we need to set a
limit?
- Display the controls and allow the author to set the tabindex of
each.
Checkpoint 9.5 - Provide keyboard
shortcuts to important links, form controls, and groups of form controls
- Elements:
A
AREA
BUTTON
INPUT
LABEL
LEGEND
TEXTAREA
- Requirements:
- If any of these elements are present, at least one of them should
have a valid "
accesskey
" attribute
- @@Does every page require an "accesskey" or only some of them?
How does the author decide which ones?
- If accesskeys have been used, has the author identified which keys
are defined and how to use them?
Repair
- Display the objects that can contain shortcut keys and allow the author
to assign shortcut keys to them.
- If accesskeys are used, encourage the author to provide a description
that identifies which keys are defined and how to use them.
- Checkpoint 10.1 - Until user agents allow
users to turn off spawned windows, do not cause pop-ups or other windows
to appear and do not change the current window without informing the
user
- Checkpoint 10.2 - Until user agents
support explicit associations between labels and form controls, for all
form controls with implicitly associated labels, ensure that the label is
properly positioned
- Checkpoint 10.3 - Until user agents
(including assistive technologies) render side-by-side text correctly,
provide a linear text alternative (on the current page or some other) for
all tables that lay out text in parallel, word-wrapped columns
- Checkpoint 10.4 - Until user agents handle
empty controls correctly, include default, place-holding characters in
edit boxes and text areas
- Checkpoint 10.5 - Until user agents
(including assistive technologies) render adjacent links distinctly,
include non-link, printable characters (surrounded by spaces) between
adjacent links
Checkpoint 10.1 - Until user agents allow
users to turn off spawned windows, do not cause pop-ups or other windows to
appear and do not change the current window without informing the user
Technique 10.1.1 [priority 2] Check
A
and AREA
elements for valid "target
"
attributes
- How do we handle the "until user agents" clause?
- Is it enough for the document to inform the user that the link will open
in a new window or must we completely avoid new windows?
- Elements:
- Requirements:
- Should not have "
target
" attributes of
"_blank
" or "_new
".
- Allow the author to
- remove the "
target
" attribute or
- use an existing window as the target
Open issues for this technique
- Do all
APPLET
elements trigger this technique?
- Are there other embedded elements or scripting languages that ought to
trigger this technique?
- Elements:
- Requirement:
SCRIPT
must not contain code of
document.open()
- Allow the author to remove the scripting code that opens a new
window.
Checkpoint 10.2 - Until user agents
support explicit associations between labels and form controls, for all form
controls with implicitly associated labels, ensure that the label is properly
positioned
Refer also to checkpoint 12.4
- Elements:
- Requirement: Text labels must be positioned as the first text
immediately before or after the form control.
- Allow the author to reposition labels associated with form controls as
follows:
- Labels for radio buttons and checkboxes should appear after the
radio button or checkbox. For example: [checkbox] oranges, [checkbox]
apples.
- Labels for text fields appear before the text field. For example:
last name [text area].
- Labels for groups of any form control should appear before the
group. For example: choose a city [radio button] Boston [radio button]
Madison.
Checkpoint 10.3 - Until user agents (including
assistive technologies) render side-by-side text correctly, provide a linear
text alternative (on the current page or some other) for all tables that lay
out text in parallel, word-wrapped columns
- Element:
TABLE
- Requirement: A linear version of the table is provided
- If it has been determined that the table is used for layout (see
Technique 5.1.1) then create a linear version of the table by: [@@insert
heuristics from table linearizer - basically replace
TABLE
markup with text structural markup]. The author will then need to check
that it is readable.
- If it has been determined that the table is used for data (see Technique
5.1.1) then create a linear version of the table by: [@@table linearizer
heuristics? basically, for each cell repeat the column and row headers
associated with it]. The author will then need to check that it is
readable.
- Table linearizer(@@link)
- Trace "HelpDB" (@@link)
- other examples?
Checkpoint 10.4 - Until user agents handle
empty controls correctly, include default, place-holding characters in edit
boxes and text areas
- Elements:
INPUT type="text | checkbox | radio"
TEXTAREA
OPTION
- Requirements
INPUT
elements that have a type of "text",
"checkbox" or "radio"
must have at least one word of text in
their "value
" attribute.
INPUT
elements of type "radio
" must have at
least one that is "checked
".
- Between the
TEXTAREA
start and TEXTAREA
end elements must be at least one word of text.
- One
OPTION
in each group contained by
SELECT
elements must have a "selected
"
attribute.
INPUT
element missing value: Allowthe author to enter
placeholder text.
TEXTAREA
missing text: Allow the author to enter text.
OPTION
not selected: Display all options and allow the
author to select one as "selected".
Checkpoint 10.5 - Until user agents (including
assistive technologies) render adjacent links distinctly, include non-link,
printable characters (surrounded by spaces) between adjacent links
- Element:
A
end element.
- Requirement:
A
elements within the same line of text must
be separated by a sequence of "whitespace, non-whitespace,
whitespace".
- Whitespace is a space, tab, CR, or
- Non-whitespace is any text character including markup.
- Allow the author to insert " | " characters between sequential links.
Allow the author to choose another character other than "|" for
separator.
Guideline 11. Use W3C technologies and
guidelines
- Checkpoint 11.1 - Use W3C technologies
when they are available and appropriate for a task and use the latest
versions when supported
- Checkpoint 11.2 - Avoid deprecated
features of W3C technologies
- Checkpoint 11.3 - Provide information
so that users may receive documents according to their preferences
- Checkpoint 11.4 - If, after best efforts, you
cannot create an accessible page, provide a link to an alternative page
that uses W3C technologies, is accessible, has equivalent information (or
functionality), and is updated as often as the inaccessible (original)
page
Checkpoint 11.1 - Use W3C technologies when
they are available and appropriate for a task and use the latest versions when
supported
Open issues for this technique
- Many of these W3C formats are not widely supported yet. Therefore, how
do we deal with this in the meantime? Present the info and let the author
decide?
- Element: ?@@
- Requirements:
- Check for uses of non-W3C technologies such as: PDF, Flash, GIF
images, JPG images, proprietary HTML elements (@@other major
ones??).
- @@link See 1.1.1 for images used for mathematical equations.
- Note. I left out JavaScript because there is not a W3C equivalent
technology yet.
- Suggest that where appropriate, the author:
- convert quicktime movies (others?) into SMIL presentations.
- convert GIF and JPG images with text to text with style sheets.
- convert Flash animations to a combination of valid HTML, SMIL, and
PNG or SVG.
- convert images of math equations to MathML.
- Use a text-only page generator (such as Adobe's PDFtoText) to create an
equivalent accessible page.
Checkpoint 11.2 - Avoid deprecated features
of W3C technologies
- Allow the author to replace
FONT
with
CSS
.
- Allow the author to embed
IMG
and APPLET
within OBJECT
or to replace them with an OBJECT
element.
- Note. Before making these changes, the author should be made aware of
the current situation of browser support of
CSS
and the
OBJECT
element.
Checkpoint 11.3 - Provide information so
that users may receive documents according to their preferences
- Element: ?@@
- Requirement: ?@@
- Prompt the author to specify language of document in technique 4.3.1.
- Use CC/PP or XML/XSLT or other transformations on the server or gateway
to configure a page for various user preferences and device profiles.
- Serve style sheets based on user preferences - use the media types.
- Work with your server system administrator to provide content
negotiation.
- Use browser sniffing on the client to request documents on the
server.
- Use cookies to remember user preferences between sessions and server
documents per those preferences.
- Link to other versions of the document (other formats and
languages).
- If not possible to use content negotiation, indicate content type or
language through markup (e.g., in HTML use "
type
" and
"hreflang
").
Checkpoint 11.4 - If, after best efforts, you
cannot create an accessible page, provide a link to an alternative page that
uses W3C technologies, is accessible, has equivalent information (or
functionality), and is updated as often as the inaccessible (original)
page
- Elements: All elements specified in this document.
- Requirements: Check the document for compliance to the WCAG guidelines
according to the level specified by the author.
- Allow the author to insert a link in the document to another more
accessible page.
- Dynamically generated alternative pages [references@@].
- Tools to generate alternative pages [references@@].
Guideline 12. Provide context and
orientation information
- Checkpoint 12.1 - Title each frame to
facilitate frame identification and navigation
- Checkpoint 12.2 - Describe the purpose of
frames and how frames relate to each other if it is not obvious by frame
titles alone
- Checkpoint 12.3 - Divide large blocks
of information into more manageable groups where natural and
appropriate
- Checkpoint 12.4 - Associate labels
explicitly with their controls
Checkpoint 12.1 - Title each frame to facilitate
frame identification and navigation
Technique 12.1.1 [priority 1] Check
FRAME
elements for valid "title
" attributes
- Element:
FRAME
- Requirement: Must have valid "
title
" attribute .
- Display the frame content and allow the author to enter a new title for
the frame.
Checkpoint 12.2 - Describe the purpose of
frames and how frames relate to each other if it is not obvious by frame
titles alone
@@ covered by 1.1.8?
@@Suggest that if the FRAME "title"
does not describe the
frame that a "longdesc
" is needed?
Checkpoint 12.3 - Divide large blocks of
information into more manageable groups where natural and appropriate
- Element:
SELECT
- Requirement: Should have
OPTGROUP
elements if more than 7
OPTIONS
Repair
Display the list and allow the author to group long lists of selections
into a hierarchy using OPTGROUP elements.
- Element:
FORM
- Requirement:
FIELDSET
elements should be used to group
controls if the FORM
contains more than 7 controls
(INPUT
, TEXTAREA
etc.)
Repair
Display the form controls and allow the author to break into groups using
the FIELDSET
element.
- Element:
OL
or UL
- Requirement: Lists should contain 7 or less items
Repair
Display the list and help the author group list items into sub lists of
fewer than 7 items. This is not always possible or desired. For example,
depending on the context the author may wish to list all 50 states in the
United States while other times the author may wish to group them
geographically.
- Element:
P
or blocks of text
- Requirement: Sentences should contain less than 3 verbs and less than
100 characters
Repair
Display the sentence and allow the author to edit and shorten.
- Element:
P
- Requirement: Paragraphs should contain less than 500 characters
Repair
Display the paragraph and allow the author to edit and shorten it.
- Element:
P
or blocks of text
- Requirements: Blocks of text or paragraphs should be less than 1000
characters.
Repair
Display the block of text and allow the author to insert headers to break
up a single, long paragraph into several shorter ones.
Checkpoint 12.4 - Associate labels
explicitly with their controls
- Elements:
INPUT
and LABEL
- Requirements:
- Allow the author to set a unique "
id
" attribute for each
INPUT
element in the document then set the "for
"
attribute of each LABEL
element so it matches an
INPUT
element.
Guideline 13. Provide clear navigation
mechanisms
- Checkpoint 13.1 - Clearly identify the
target of each link
- Checkpoint 13.2 - Provide metadata to add
semantic information to pages and sites
- Checkpoint 13.3 - Provide information
about the general layout of a site
- Checkpoint 13.4 - Use navigation
mechanisms in a consistent manner
- Checkpoint 13.5 - Provide navigation bars to
highlight and give access to the navigation mechanism
- Checkpoint 13.6 - Group related links,
identify the group (for user agents), and, until user agents do so,
provide a way to bypass the group
- Checkpoint 13.7 - If search functions are
provided, enable different types of searches for different skill levels
and preferences
- Checkpoint 13.8 - Place distinguishing
information at the beginning of headings, paragraphs, lists, etc
- Checkpoint 13.9 - Provide information
about document collections
- Checkpoint 13.10 - Provide a means to
skip over multi-line ASCII art
Checkpoint 13.1 - Clearly identify the
target of each link
- Element:
A
- Requirements:
- Names must be unique for each target.
- Must be meaningful
- Should be terse
- Suspicious anchor names:
- "click here"
- "more"
- "follow this"
- greater than 60 characters
- Allow the author to edit the link text and surrounding text in order to:
- make the link text shorter,
- make the links text meaningful.
- Retrieve the
TITLE
of the target page and suggest that as
link text.
- If the author is trying to make a Level Triple A site, Ask the author to
provide supplemental information about the link in the
"
title
" attribute.
Harper, S., Stevens, R., and Goble, C. (1999). Towel: Real World Mobility
on the Web. In Vanderdonckt, J. and Puerta, A., eds.: Computer-Aided Design of
User Interfaces II. Dordrecht, Netherlands: Kluwer Academic Publishers.
Checkpoint 13.2 - Provide metadata to add
semantic information to pages and sites
- Elements:
- Requirements: Must have at least one of these elements in the
document.
- If no
META, ADDRESS, TITLE
or LINK
elements
are found, request information from the author to be stored as meta
information. Examples of content to prompt for:
- title of the page (required for frames, see checkpoint 12.1),
- type of content,
- descriptions of the content of the page,
- conformance claims,
- author information,
- next page in a series (e.g.,
LINK rel="next"
).
- If a
LINK
element is found, check if it is used for style
sheets. If it is, then proceed as if no LINK
element were
found.
- If a
META
element is found, check if it is used to create a
redirect. If it is, then proceed as if no META
element were
found (refer also to checkpoints 7.4 and 7.5).
@@Similar to 13.2.1, yet might be best in own technique??
Checkpoint 13.3 - Provide information about
the general layout of a site
@@Machine checkable? Generate author notification?
Checkpoint 13.4 - Use navigation
mechanisms in a consistent manner
@@Machine checkable? Generate author notification?
Checkpoint 13.5 - Provide navigation bars to
highlight and give access to the navigation mechanism
@@Machine checkable? Generate author notification?
Checkpoint 13.6 - Group related links, identify
the group (for user agents), and, until user agents do so, provide a way to
bypass the group
The suggested authoring technique is not widely supported by user
agents.
Evaluation
- Triggers
- Several
A
elements separated by
- spaces, bullets, or other characters such as "] [" or " | "
BR
elements,
- LI elements,
- TD elements (i.e.
A
is the only element in a series
of TD
s, or A with inner IMG
s are the only
elements in a series of TD
s)
- Requirement
- Links should be grouped by
MAP
elements. Provide
information about the group in the "title
" attribute.
Repair
- Triggers
- User has identified a list of links that should be grouped.
- User has identified that they want to include a link to skip over
the group of links.
- Actions
- If the author wants to group links:
- If the links are contained in a
P
element, envelope
the P
element in a MAP
element.
- If the links are in a list, enclose the list in a
MAP
element.
- If the links are the only content of a table, include the table in
a
MAP
element.
- If the links are not the only content of a table, then ??? how do
you help the author separate the links into something that can be
included in a
MAP
element???
If the author wants to bypass a group of links and wants to include a
link on the page:
- Insert an A element with a "name" attribute just after the group
of links. Then insert an A element just before the group of links
and link to the A element just created before the group of
links.
Refer to the suggested techniques from the section in the HTML
Techniques for Web Content Accessibility Guidelines 1.0 called "Bypassing
and Grouping Links."
Checkpoint 13.7 - If search functions are provided,
enable different types of searches for different skill levels and
preferences
- Element:
FORM
- Requirement: Check if a
FORM
is used to submit a
search.
- Help authors to or suggest that authors provide a variety of search
mechanisms to satisfy varying user skill levels and preferences. Examples:
- Include a spell checker in the search function
- Offer "best guess" alternatives,
- Offer query-by-example searches or similarity searches.
Checkpoint 13.8 - Place distinguishing
information at the beginning of headings, paragraphs, lists, etc
@@Machine checkable? Generate author notification?
Checkpoint 13.9 - Provide information about
document collections
- Is there a way to use RDF to describe document collections?
- Elements: @@?
LINK, A
- Requirement: If the page is part of a collection, such as a slide show,
or a chapter in a book, the previous and next pages ought to be marked as
such.
- In HTML/XHTML specify document collections with the
LINK
element and the "rel
" and "rev
" attributes.
- Suggest that that the author create a collection by building an archive
(e.g., with zip, tar and gzip, stuffit, etc.) of the multiple pages.
Checkpoint 13.10 - Provide a means to skip
over multi-line ASCII art
- See 1.1.13 for algorithm to find ASCII art
- Elements:
PRE
and XMP
- Requirements: A link must be provided to skip over ASCII art.
- Allow the author to insert a link in the document that skips over the
ASCII art then use "Skip Over ASCII Art" as the link text so it can be
detected in future.
Guideline 14. Ensure that documents
are clear and simple
- Checkpoint 14.1 - Use the clearest and
simplest language appropriate for a site's content
- Checkpoint 14.2 - Supplement text with graphic or
auditory presentations where they will facilitate comprehension of the
page
- Checkpoint 14.3 - Create a style of
presentation that is consistent across pages
Checkpoint 14.1 - Use the clearest and
simplest language appropriate for a site's content
14.1.1 Check for clear and accurate headings
Evaluation
- Elements: Any
Hx
element.
- This is a manual check.
- Requirements: Headings should accurately reflect the content they
proceed as well as be stated clearly.
14.1.2 Check that the topic of the sentence or paragraph is at the
beginning of the sentence or paragraph.
Evaluation
- Elements: Any sentence within a paragraph (
p
element).
- This is a manual check.
- Requirements: The topic of a sentence or paragraph should be at the
beginning of the sentence or paragraph.
14.1.3 Check that each paragraph has one main idea
Evaluation
- Elements: Any sentence within a paragraph (
p
element).
- This is a manual check.
- Requirements: Each sentence or paragraph should have one main idea.
14.1.4 Check for use of slang and jargon
Evaluation
- Elements: Any text within the document.
- This is a manual check.
- Requirements: Avoid slang and jargon. Check all words in the document
against a dictionary of slang and jargon words that are in the document's
primary language.
14.1.5 Check for commonly used words
Evaluation
- Elements: Any element that contains text
- This is a manual check.
- Requirements: Favor commonly used words. Check all words in the document
against a dictionary of uncommonly used words that are in the document's
primary language. If any uncommon words are found then inform the author
and allow them to change the words.
14.1.6 Check for active rather than passive verbs.
Evaluation
- Elements: Any element that contains text
- This is a manual check.
- Requirements: Use active rather than passive verbs. For a document
with a primary language of English, check for form of the verb to be (is,
am, be, being, were, was, been). If the sentence contains any of these
words then suggest to the author that they should check the sentence for
passive verbs. (Another indicator is 'by'.) @@Does this give too many
false positives? Does looking for the past participle make this more
accurate?
14.1.7 Check language is appropriate for a site's content
Evaluation
- Elements: Any element that contains text
- This is a manual check.
- Requirements: Use language appropriate for a site's content.
- For English documents - create a FOG index and ask the author if
this is the level for their intended readers.
- For Japanese documents - check for the occurrence of the core set of
Japanese symbols and askuthor if this is appropriate for their
intended audience.
- @@Other languages?
14.1.8 Check for specialized meanings of familiar words
Evaluation
- Elements: Any element that contains text
- This is a manual check.
- Requirements: Avoid specialized meanings of familiar words.
Checkpoint 14.2 - Supplement text with graphic or
auditory presentations where they will facilitate comprehension of the
page
@@Machine checkable? Generate author notification?
Checkpoint 14.3 - Create a style of presentation
that is consistent across pages
- @@This requires looking at pages throughout the site. Need two levels of
checking: page vs site?
- Elements:
STYLE
and LINK
- Requirements:
- The properties of
STYLE
elements should be consistent
between pages.
- The names of external style sheets (referenced with
LINK
elements) should be consistent between pages.
- This should be verified by the author. There are good reasons to use
different styles between pages.
- If style properties vary between pages, or various external style sheets
are used, suggest the author consolidate style properties into external
style sheets and use consistently.
After evaluating a document, an evaluation and/or repair tool should
provide the author with a document rating. The rating is based on conformance
to the W3C Web
Content Accessibility Guidelines and will be:
- Level "A": all Priority 1 checkpoints are
satisfied;
- Level "Double-A": all Priority 1 and 2 checkpoints are
satisfied;
- Level "Triple-A": all Priority 1, 2, and 3 checkpoints
are satisfied;
Some checkpoints can not be checked by a software program and will require
author evaluation. The author must be informed of the items that they must
check.
Refer to the Rating Algorithm
for Evaluation of Web Pages by Len Kasday.
- an image file suffix (see [MIMETYPES])
- the single word "Image", "Photo"
- the word "images" (e.g. as in "turn on images").
Appendix B - Placeholder OBJECT
text equivalent
Appendix C - Placeholder
NOSCRIPT
text
- {NOSCRIPT text goes here}
Appendix D - Placeholder
TABLE "summary"
text
- Summary
- Table
- Table Summary
Appendix E - Placeholder table
header "abbr
" text
Appendix F - Placeholder
FRAME "title"
text
Appendix G - Applet Executable
Suffix
Appendix H - Bullet
Identification
An image will be identified as a bullet if it has the following
characteristics:
Identifying Bullets page
Appendix I - Horizontal Rule
Identification
An image will be identified as a horizontal rule if it has the following
characteristics:
Identifying HRs page
@@link to WCAG and ATAG glossaries?
- Programmatic object
- An object that is embedded in a document with the SCRIPT or
APPLET
elements, and sometimes with the OBJECT or EMBED
elements. @@need to clarify the definition and then use it.
References