Failure technique: Implementing inappropriate technique is a failure

Hello WCAG-WG,

Time and again I come across situations where an inappropriate technique has been employed.Often these lead to duplication or unnecessary verbosity. This in itself creates a problem  for real users who depend on AT and accessibility  for their daily Web access needs.
Developers are reluctant to correct these saying it creates more work and question which technique prohibits over-usage of techniques. They tend to brush aside such issues as usability issues. 
Can the WG take a stand on this and maybe list this issue as a failure?
Consider:
i. Use of summary attribute and / or  off-screen caption for a simple data table that repeat the title (heading) of the table that is marked up with an h-tag just above the table.
ii. Use of a FIELDSET with a LEGEND for the form’s title (say, “Registration Form”) as a wrapper for an entire form.
iii. Use of a FIELDSET (without a LEGEND as a wrapper for an entire form simply for the border that FIELDSET creates
iv. Use of a title attribute say for INPUT type=submit even when it has a clear value attribute. H91 says ‘value’ is sufficient. Rendering of title is user-agent and AT-dependent and creates a mismatch between  what sighted user sees and what is exposed to AT in some browsers.
v. Use of longdesc for images that  repeats the alt-value or is broken.

Thanks,
Sailesh Panchang
Centreville VA
Tel 571-344-1765

Received on Wednesday, 16 June 2010 02:42:04 UTC