Copyright © 2007 W3C® (MIT, ERCIM, Keio), All Rights Reserved. W3C liability, trademark and document use rules apply.
This document is an editors' copy that has no official standing.
This section describes the status of this document at the time of its publication. Other documents may supersede this document. A list of current W3C publications and the latest revision of this technical report can be found in the W3C technical reports index at http://www.w3.org/TR/.
Preliminary draft: this document is intended to gather together preliminary material for the planned public working draft. It has not been reviewed or approved by members of the Mobile Web Best Practices Working Group - Accessibility Task Force.
The W3C Membership and other interested parties are invited to review the document and send comments to public-bpwg-comments@w3.org (with public archive) through [date] 2006. Advisory Committee Representatives should consult their WBS questionnaires.
This document was developed by the Mobile Web Best Practices Working Group - Accessibility Task Force as part of the Mobile Web Initiative.
Publication as a Proposed Recommendation does not imply endorsement by the W3C Membership. This is a draft document and may be updated, replaced or obsoleted by other documents at any time. It is inappropriate to cite this document as other than work in progress.
This document was produced by a group operating under the 5 February 2004 W3C Patent Policy. This document is informative only. W3C maintains a public list of any patent disclosures made in connection with the deliverables of the group; that page also includes instructions for disclosing a patent. An individual who has actual knowledge of a patent which the individual believes contains Essential Claim(s) must disclose the information in accordance with section 6 of the W3C Patent Policy.
Comment: This first paragraph is an attempt at a short sales pitch to get people to read on. The intention is to directly hook different reader profiles.
If you are a mobile Web designer you may not be very aware of the need to give special consideration to the needs of people with disabilities, or even that they use mobile devices to access the Web. If you have a disability and access the Web with your mobile device you may not be aware that there are guidelines other than WCAG that improve your experience of the Web. If you work in the field of disability or Web accessibility you may know of the existence of the Mobile Web Best Practices but not be aware that they can improve accessibility for people with disabilities, or that with a little extra effort or insight those best practices could make an even greater difference. This document describes the relationship.
Many Web sites have already adopted the Web Content Accessibility Guidelines 1.0 (hereinafter referred to as [WCAG]). WCAG explains how to make Web content accessible to people with disabilities. In many cases compliance with WCAG is mandatory. The Mobile Web Best Practices 1.0 (hereinafter [MWBP]) document specifies Best Practices for delivering Web content to mobile devices. The principal objective is to improve the user experience of the Web when accessed from such devices.
Increasingly, web content is designed to comply with one of these sets of guidelines or best practices. However, misunderstanding of their requirements and the assumptions about the user and device characteristics on which they are based, leads to less than optimal implementation. This document is intended to serve as an added justification or argument for aiming for compliance with either of the recommendations. The benefits include:
It may be useful for building the business case for adopting either [WCAG] or [MWBP] in a web site that already complies with one, or for adopting both together. For accessibility, the Web Accessibility Initiative provides a guidance document Developing a Web Accessibility Business Case for Your Organization.
Unlike the Web Content Accessibility Guidelines, the Mobile Web Best Practices are not prioritised. [MWBP] relate to checkpoints of all the WCAG priorities (1, 2 and 3).
This document considers the relationship of the MWBPs to the WCAG guidelines and checkpoints, and seperately, the inverse relationships. The relationship between MWBP and WCAG is not symmetrical. As an introduction and background it considers first the experience of users with disabilities and the experience of the general user in the mobile context.
Readers of this document are expected to be familiar with the creation of Web sites, and to have a general familiarity with the technologies involved, such as Web servers and HTTP. Readers are not expected to have a background in mobile-specific technologies. it is important to understand the other W3C Recommendations to which it refers (see Relationship to other W3C Recommendations).
Our intention is to make it clear to all involved what the Best Practices are, and hence establish a common basis of understanding. As a result of wishing to be clear to those not already involved in the development of mobile friendly content, some of our statements may appear to be obvious or trivial to those with experience in this area.
The document is not targeted solely at developers; others, such as interaction and graphic designers are encouraged to read it.
Many readers of the document are likely to have a good knowledge of general Web accessibility but are concerned with the problems of persons with disabilities in the mobile context.
This document describes the relationships, overlaps and differences between [MWBP] and [WCAG]. It also describes the relationships between content characteristics and the effects these have on users with disabilities in all contexts and all users in the mobile context.
Web accessibility for people with disabilities is beyond the scope of this document except where it especially affects mobile users. It is described in [WCAG]. The needs of users in the mobile Web context is beyod the scope of this document except where it especially affects users with disabilities. It is described in [MWBP].
This document does not create any further requirements beyond those defined in the [MWBP] and [WCAG].
This document refers to W3C recommendations for Web content accessibility and mobile Web best practices. For Web accessibility the referenced W3C Recommendation is teh Web Content Accessibility Guidelines 1.0 . For mobile Web best practices it references the Mobile Web Best Practices 1.0.
At the time of writing there is a draft of the Web Content Accessibility Guidelines 2.0 [WCAG20]. The [MWBP] make direct reference to WCAG 1.0 and many of the concepts described relate directly to those in that version. Like WCAG 1.0, MWBP 1.0 assumes content in HTML. At the time of writing WCAG 1.0 is the most widely used and understood. For these reasons this document makes reference to WCAG version 1.0. When new versions of referenced documents become accepted as W3C Recommendations, new versions of this document will be necesary as described in the section Longevity and Versioning in this document.
This document makes primary reference to [WCAG] and [MWBP]. New versions of these documents are expected to be produced during the life of this document. Especially it is based on [WCAG], the Web Content Accessibility Guidelines 1.0 which are expected to become superseded by a new version possibly before this document is published. New versions of this document should be produced as soon as new versions of the referenced Recommendations are published and well understood.
The accessibility documents referenced consist of guidelines and checkpoints. Mobile Web Best Practices contains Best Practices.
Comment: Placeholder for future content. Explain (to non-accessibility people) that they do so a lot.
Comment: Alternative title “Common user needs: Understanding the relationship between the needs of mobile users and users with disabilities”.
While disabled users have involuntary disability, we can think of all mobile users as having a kind of voluntary “disability” due to their choice of technology (the mobile context) that parallels innate disability.
Users of mobile devices experience limitations. Users with disabilities, even with full-featured desktop devices, may experience certain physical, sensorial or cognitive limitations that are not related / relevant to those of the general mobile user.
Users of mobile devices experience limitations imposed by the features of devices and user agents and the environmental context in which they often access the Web. Note that mobile devices vary widely, not all the problems described are present on all models. the table below is not exhaustive, but has been selected to demonstrate the parallels between the two contexts of use.
The table below shows that in the example aspects, although the cause may be different in each context, the result is generally similar in both. Implementing accessibility guidelines will in many ways improve the experience for users in the mobile context. Similarly, implementing best practices for the mobile context will improve the experience for users with a range of disabilities.
Content Feature | Disabled user characteristics (any context) | General user and device characteristics (mobile context) | Result |
---|---|---|---|
Interaction and intra-page navigation requires a mouse. | User with a motor disability may not be able to use a mouse | Device has no mouse, only alphanumeric keypad or rocker switch | User unable to navigate all content, or wastes time moving through numerous links. |
Information conveyed using color (for example, “required fields shown in red”) with no redundancy. | Blind or colorblind user perceives color incorrectly or not at all. | Screen has reduced color palette (DDC). Device is used in poor lighting (outdoors, near flashing lights), so colors are not clearly perceived. | User perceives color incorrectly or not at all, and so misunderstands information, makes mistakes. |
Large page or large images | User with restricted field of vision or using screen maginfier. | Mobile device has small screen (viewport). | User only sees small areas at a time (keyhole view), unable to relate different areas of page; becomes disoriented or has to scroll excessively. |
Multimedia with no captions | Deaf or hard of hearing user can't hear. | Mobile users often in public places (trains, hotel lobbies) turn off sound; often in noisy places (streets, nightclubs) can't hear. | User misses soundtrack. |
Audio-only prompts (beeps, buzzes) for important information (warnings, errors) | Deaf or hard of hearing user can't operate content. | In noisy place (street, nightclub) can't hear. | Can't operate or interact correctly with content, misses warnings, makes mistakes. |
Free-text entry (for example, alphbetical characters allowed in numeric fields) | User with motor disability (partial paralisis, hand tremor, lack of sensitivity, coordination). | Device has small keypad, or is held in unsteady hand. | User enters text incorrectly, makes mistakes. |
Embedded non-text objects (images, sound, video) with no text alternative. | Disadvantaged user with slow connection prefers not to wait for download. | User with low bandwidth or who declines to run up connection charges. Already small images redimensioned even smaller in adaptation, become meaningless. | Information loss due to lack of alterantive. User can't perceive infromation. |
Important information in non-text content (images, multimedia, CSS effects) | Blind or low-vision can't perceive content. | User billed for download volume, turns off images to save costs. Device has no CSS support. | User misses important information. |
Long words, long and complex sentences, jargon | User with cognitive disability. | Text is displayed in small font, and user is often distracted by ambient conditions (background noise, conversations, moving objects in field of vision). | User finds content difficult to understand, becomes confused. |
Content formatted using tables or CSS, and reading order not correct whern linearised (for example when CSS or tables not rendered) | Non-visual (screen reader) user reads content in document tree order. | Meaning of content altered by reformatting or restructuring in adaptation process. | Content is garbled, user becomes confused. |
Scripting required to operate or generate content. | User's assistive technology or browser doesn't support scripting. | Scripting turned off or not supported. | Information loss. Content inoperable. |
Special plugin required | Plugin turned off, not installed, not compatible with assistive technology. Plugin not operable with preferred input device. | Plugin turned off or not installed; not compatible with input device (for example, requires mouse). | User can not perceive content or can not operate interface. |
Invalid or unsupported markup. | User has “old” or unusual browser to acommodate special needs. | Mobile device has embedded browser not catered for by content provider. Content passes through adaptation process(es). | Browser or adaptation system chokes on markup; rejects or garbles it. |
Content spawns new windows without warning user. | User with low vision, restricted field of vision, or blindness doesn't realize active window is new. | Single window interface. Multiple stacked windows on small screen hide each other. | User becomes disoriented among widows; back button doesn't work. User closes window, not realising it is last in stack, closing browser instance. |
Information conveyed only using CSS (visual formatting) | Blind user doesn't perceive visual formatting effects. | Often no CSS support by mobile browser. | Information lost or altered. |
No tactile feedback | Device put away | [Bruno please clarify] |
Comment: MWBP but not WCAG, as correspondence is not automatic. Use “can” because some extra work may be required.
Comment: Should this section include all BPs, or only those with accessibility benefits?
By improving usability, all BPs help improve accessibility. This section describes the specific accessibility benefits and the ways in which some relate directly to the Web Content Accessibility Guidelines 1.0.
As described in this section, many Mobile Web BPs have the added benefit of partial or complete compliance with certain WCAG 1.0 checkpoints. However, the accessibility guidelines are often more detailed or describe a different aspect of the same concept. It should not be assumed that following any BP will ensure accessibility. To ensure accessibility it is important to always consult the Web Content Accessibility Guidelines.
Each BP is covered to answer the following questions:
Describe how the BP helps users with disabilities above and beyond the benefit to the general user in the mobile context. Users with disabilities benefit from the Mobile Web Best Practices like any other user. This paragraph focuses on the added benefits for their special needs of users with different disabilities. Best Practices that have no specific benefit for users with disabilities beyond that experienced by the general user in the mobile context is marked [no added benefit]
Many Web sites wish to ensure that their content is both mobile aware and accessible to users with disabilities by complying with both the MWBPs and Web Content Accessibility Guidelines (WCAG). For a site that complies with the MWBP it is useful to know how much has already been achieved towards accessibility, and how much more could be achieved for little extra effort.
Many BPs correspond directly to WCAG 1.0 checkpoints or WCAG 2.0 success criteria and in these cases complying with one automatically gives compliance with the other, with no extra effort. For example, [USE_OF_COLOR] ensures compliance with WCAG 1.0 checkpoint 2.1, “Ensure that all information conveyed with color is also available without color, for example from context or markup” and WCAG 2.0 success criterion 1.4.1, “Use of Color” with no added effort.
With other BPs, a little extra effort or simply considering a more diverse range of user needs can achieve compliance with WCAG 1.0 checkpoint. For example, [COLOR_CONTRAST] is intended to help moble users with monochrome displays or in poor lighting conditions. By considering also the needs of users with colour deficits (colour blindness) the same BP makes content accessible to more users and ensures compliance with WCAG 1.0 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” and WCAG 2.0 success criterion 1.4.3 “Contrast (Minimum)”.
Comment: The following applies to WCAG 1.0 but doesn't seem to apply to WCAG 2.0 as the prohibitions (like tables and frames) are technology-specific.
Other BPs prohibit the use of features that can cause accessibility barriers. Complying with these BPs ensures that some WCAG checkpoints simply do not apply. For example, [NO_FRAMES], by excluding the use of frames, means that it is not necessary to comply with WCAG 1.0 checkpoint 12.1, “Title each frame to facilitate frame identification and navigation”.
Many BPs have no relations to any WCAG checkpoint or success criterion and this is also noted.
To summarise, for WCAG 1.0, compliance with MWBP ensures that content already complies with checkpoints 1.1, 2.1, 3.2, 3.3, 3.4, 3.5, 6.1, 6.3, 7.5, 9.4, 10.1, 10.2, 12.4 and 13.4, while 5.1, 5.2, 5.3, 5.4, 5.5, 12.1, 12.2 simply do not apply. With some extra effort or simply considering different user needs, it is quite feasible to also comply with 2.2, 3.1, 6.1, 6.4, 7.4, 9.5, 11.1, 11.2, 12.3, 13.1, 13.2, 13.8 and 14.1.
For WCAG 2.0, compliance with MWBP ensures that content already complies with success criteria 1.4.1, @@...
List of best practices:
Refer to [THEMATIC_CONSISTENCY] to understand the Best Practice described in this section.
How does it help especially users with disabilities?: While some users with disabilities use the most advanced mobile devices to run their assistive technology properly, others need or prefer simpler models that are easier to use. For example, the elderly or those with cognitive disabilities. Users with limited dexterity may prefer older devices with larger keypads. those with limited vision may use devices with monochrome displays. Some assistive technology may not be compatible with new devices. This BP ensures that content is accessible using the widest possible range of devices.
Does it give me WCAG compliance?: This BP does not correspond to any WCAG provision.
Refer to [CAPABILITIES] to understand the Best Practice described in this section.
How does it help especially users with disabilities?: no_added_benefit.
Does it give me WCAG compliance?: This BP does not correspond to any WCAG provision.
Refer to [DEFICIENCIES] to understand the Best Practice described in this section.
How does it help especially users with disabilities?: no_added_benefit.
Does it give me WCAG compliance?: This BP does not correspond to any WCAG provision.
Refer to [TESTING] to understand the Best Practice described in this section.
How does it help especially users with disabilities?: This BP is concerned with the characteristics of different devices, not different users, and as such does not specifically improve accessibility for users with disabilities. However, it also encourages content providers to also test “with specific features disabled, such as using text-only modes and with scripting disabled”. This is a way of checking compliance with WCAG 1.0 checkpoints 1.1, “Provide a text equivalent for every non-text element...” and 6.3, “Ensure that pages are usable when scripts, applets, or other programmatic objects are turned off or not supported”.
Does it give me WCAG compliance?: This BP does not correspond to any WCAG provision.
Tip: You can improve accessibility when performing testing by involving users with a range of abilities (not only evaluation and development staff). Refer to the WAI resource “Involving Users in Web Accessibility Evaluation” for more information.
Refer to [URIS] to understand the Best Practice described in this section.
How does it help especially users with disabilities?: Users with motor disability who type URIs using the keyboard or use voice input, or who have dyslexia, may experience difficulty when entering long strings of text. Keeping the URIs short can help both groups of users. This BP deals with an aspect not considered in WCAG 1.0.
Does it give me WCAG compliance?: This BP does not correspond to any WCAG provision.
Refer to [NAVBAR] to understand the Best Practice described in this section.
How does it help especially users with disabilities?: Implementing this BP benefits users of screen magnifiers and others who have a restricted field of vision as it ensures that they are more easily able to locate the main content of the page. Users with a motor disability or who use the keyboard for navigation will be able to view the main content of the page without difficult scrolling.
Does it give me WCAG compliance?: This BP deals with an aspect not considered in WCAG. However, conceptually identifying the navigation mechanisms will ultimately help content designers understand and provide the functionality needed. For WCAG 1.0, it will help compliance with checkpoints 13.5, “Provide navigation bars to highlight and give access to the navigation mechanism” and 13.6, “Group related links, identify the group (for user agents), and, until user agents do so, provide a way to bypass the group”. For WCAG 2.0, it will help compliance with guideline 2.4, “Provide ways to help users with disabilities navigate, find content and determine where they are”.
Refer to [BALANCE] to understand the Best Practice described in this section.
How does it help especially users with disabilities?: Like all users of the small keypads found on mobile devices, users with motor disability may experience special difficulty in using the keyboard or other device to navigate between links. Users with cognitive disability may have difficulty concentrating on large numbers of links. Screen reader users may also have difficulty reading through and remembering a large number of links in order to decide which one they want. Given that human memory can only hold a limited number of items then having to recall more than that many links to choose the right one leads to serious difficulty for blind users. Reducing the number of links helps avoid these difficulties.
Does it give me WCAG compliance?: This BP does not correspond to any WCAG provision.
Refer to [NAVIGATION] to understand the Best Practice described in this section.
How does it help especially users with disabilities?: Refer to WCAG 1.0 Core Techniques: Navigation.
Does it give me WCAG compliance?: For WCAG 1.0, complying with this BP also ensures compliance with checkpoint 13.4, “Use navigation mechanisms in a consistent manner”, but considering the aspects covered in WCAG 1.0 Core Techniques: Navigation will clarify what is needed for all users. For WCAG 2.0, it goes some way to ensuring compliance with 3.2.3 “Consistent Navigation”, although WCAG is more detailed and specific (“same relative order”) than the MWBP (“same navigation”).
Refer to [ACCESS_KEYS] to understand the Best Practice described in this section.
How does it help especially users with disabilities?: Some users, for example those with motor disability, are unable to use a mouse even when the context of use allows one. These persons often use only a keyboard or a device that emulates a keyboard. This situation parallels that of all users of mobile devices as these are not usually equipped with a mouse. Access keys may be helpful for all keyboard users. They are especially (perhaps only) useful when the browser allows the user to discover the keys that are assigned (some do, some don't).
Does it give me WCAG compliance?: For WCAG 1.0, providing that access keys are also defined as necessary for form controls (not made explicit in the BP but apparently implicit in “frequently accessed functionality”), this BP also ensures compliance with checkpoint 9.5, “Provide keyboard shortcuts to important links (including those in client-side image maps), form controls, and groups of form controls”. If it is not apparent from the content or shown by the device, provide a summary of access keys used in content on a separate page (but perhaps warn that access key assignments may be changed by the device in ways the author cannot predict). For WCAG 2.0, this BP does not correspond to any provision.
Refer to [LINK_TARGET_ID] to understand the Best Practice described in this section.
How does it help especially users with disabilities?: Refer to WCAG 1.0 HTML Techniques: Link text. As the BP says “It is important to identify where a link leads so users can make an assessment of whether following it will be of interest to them”. While this is true for any user, those with diabilities may have greater difficulty in judging whether the retrieved content is what they expected and of returning to the location of the link in the previous page.
Does it give me WCAG compliance?: For WCAG 1.0 , this BP goes some way to ensuring compliance with checkpoint 13.1, “Clearly identify the target of each link”. However, to ensure accessibility it is important to understand that the user may read (or hear) the links in a page as part of a list of links without surrounding contextual information. For this reason it is important that the link text not lose its meaning when read out of context. Refer to WCAG 1.0 HTML Techniques: Link text gives more information. For WCAG 2.0, this BP ensures compliance with success criteria 2.4.4 Link Purpose (Context) and 2.4.8, “Link Purpose (Link Text)”.
Refer to [LINK_TARGET_FORMAT] to understand the Best Practice described in this section.
How does it help especially users with disabilities?: no_added_benefit.
Comment: I don't believe that this really does relate to WCAG 11.3, which says send the content in user's preferred format or language, while this BP just says tell user what the format is if format is supported
Does it give me WCAG compliance?: This BP does not correspond to any WCAG provision.
Refer to [IMAGE_MAPS] to understand the Best Practice described in this section.
Comment: The references section for this BP is misleading: “This relates to WCAG 1.2 and 9.1”. It relates to these checkpoints but not in the way covered by the BP.
How does it help especially users with disabilities?: no_added_benefit.
Does it give me WCAG compliance?: If image maps are used, this BP does not give compliance with any WCAG provision. For WCAG 1.0, if image maps are not used at all, then it is unnecessary to provide the text alternatives for them required by checkpoint 1.1 “Provide a text equivalent for every non-text element” or the keyboard shortcuts for them required by 9.5, “Provide keyboard shortcuts to important links (including those in client-side image maps), ...”; checkpoints 1.2, “Provide redundant text links for each active region of a server-side image map” and 9.1, “Provide client-side image maps instead of server-side image maps...” do not apply. For WCAG 2.0, if image maps are not used at all, then it is unnecessary to provide the text alternatives for them required by success criteria 1.1.1, “Non-text Content”, 2.4.4, “Link Purpose (Context)” and 2.4.8, “Link Purpose (Link Text)”.
Refer to [POP_UPS] to understand the Best Practice described in this section.
How does it help especially users with disabilities?: Opening new windows or changing between open windows when the user is not aware what is happening can be confusing to those who can not see that a new or different window has opened, or can not see the window at all. The user may not understand why the back button does not work correctly (the new window has no history or different history list) and may close the last window of the browser instance and close the application inadvertently.
Does it give me WCAG compliance?: For WCAG 1.0 this BP ensures compliance with 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” (by avoiding the problem: the BP is more restrictive). For WCAG 2.0 it ensures partial compliance (in the pop-up windows situation) with success criterion 3.2.5, “Change on Request”.
Refer to [AUTO_REFRESH] to understand the Best Practice described in this section.
How does it help especially users with disabilities?: Auto-refresh is especially confusing to users of screen readers. As the page is refreshed a screen reader may begin reading the updated content again from the beginning, causing confusion and preventing the user from ever reading the whole page.
Does it give me WCAG compliance?: For WCAG 1.0, as long as auto-refresh is not used, this ensures compliance with checkpoint 7.4, “Until user agents provide the ability to stop the refresh, do not create periodically auto-refreshing pages”. At the time of writing user agents do not allow the user to disable auto-refresh (@@do they?). If auto-refresh is used, under the provision of the BP to inform the user and provide a means to deactivate it, the WCAG 1.0 CP is not complied with (WCAG requires that the user agent be used to turn it off, while the BP allows for the content to do it). For WCAG 2.0 it ensures that refresh is initiated only by user request, and therefore partial compliance (in the automatic redirects situation) with success criterion 3.2.5, “Change on Request”.
Comment: The BP confusingly says “Auto-refreshing pages are widely recognized as presenting accessibility problems” but does not explain why. This detail could be removed from the BP as it is out of scope.
Refer to [REDIRECTION] to understand the Best Practice described in this section.
How does it help especially users with disabilities?: Like auto-refresh, using markup for redirection can confuse users, especially:
Does it give me WCAG compliance?: For WCAG 1.0 This BP ensures compliance with checkpoint 7.5, “Until user agents provide the ability to stop auto-redirect, do not use markup to redirect pages automatically. Instead, configure the server to perform redirects”. For WCAG 2.0 it ensures that redirection is initiated only by user request, and therefore partial compliance (in the automatic redirects situation) with success criterion 3.2.5, “Change on Request”.
Refer to [EXTERNAL_RESOURCES] to understand the Best Practice described in this section.
How does it help especially users with disabilities?: no_added_benefit.
Does it give me WCAG compliance?: This BP does not correspond to any WCAG provision.
Refer to [SUITABLE] to understand the Best Practice described in this section.
How does it help especially users with disabilities?: no_added_benefit.
Does it give me WCAG compliance?: This BP does not correspond to any WCAG provision.
Refer to [CLARITY] to understand the Best Practice described in this section.
How does it help especially users with disabilities?: Refer to WCAG 1.0 Core Techniques: Comprehension.
Does it give me WCAG compliance?: This BP goes some of the way to ensuring compliance with 14.1, “Use the clearest and simplest language appropriate for a site's content”, although the BP is concerned primarily with context of use, which was not contemplated in WCAG 1.0. WCAG emphasizes writing style and thematic content in all contexts. It also covers (in the explanation) 13.8 “Place distinguishing information at the beginning of headings, paragraphs, lists, etc.”
Refer to [LIMITED] to understand the Best Practice described in this section.
How does it help especially users with disabilities?: no_added_benefit.
Does it give me WCAG compliance?: This BP does not correspond to any WCAG 1.0 provision.
Refer to [PAGE_SIZE_USABLE] to understand the Best Practice described in this section.
How does it help especially users with disabilities?: Smaller pages may help users with cognitive limitations who have difficulty with large amounts of text.
Does it give me WCAG compliance?: No, but this BP goes some way toward complying with WCAG 1.0 checkpoint 12.3, “Divide large blocks of information into more manageable groups where natural and appropriate”. However the WCAG checkpoint is much broader in scope, covering all usage contexts.
Refer to [PAGE_SIZE_LIMIT] to understand the Best Practice described in this section.
How does it help especially users with disabilities?: no_added_benefit.
Does it give me WCAG compliance?: This BP does not correspond to any WCAG 1.0 provision.
Refer to [SCROLLING] to understand the Best Practice described in this section.
How does it help especially users with disabilities?: This BP enhances accessibility for users who have difficulty scrolling for whatever reason (device or physical limitation).
Does it give me WCAG compliance?: This BP does not correspond to any WCAG 1.0 provision.
Refer to [CENTRAL_MEANING] to understand the Best Practice described in this section.
How does it help especially users with disabilities?: Putting the main content first helps keyboard-only users whether in a mobile context or not. It may also help users with cognitive disabilities who have difficulty locating the central information in a page full of navigation links. Users who can only read part of the page at a time, and who tend to start at the beginning, such as those using screen readers or sreeen magnifiers benefit from this BP.
Does it give me WCAG compliance?: For WCAG 1.0, this BP corresponds to 12.3, “Place distinguishing information at the beginning of headings, paragraphs, lists, etc.”. However, where the checkpoint is described as applicable to paragraphs, in the mobile context these units of content are often the complete page. It also relates to the spirit of WCAG 1.0 checkpoint 12.3, “Divide large blocks of information into more manageable groups where natural and appropriate”, although, like [PAGE_SIZE_USABLE], in a way not explicitly contemplated in the guidelines. This WCAG checkpoint is much broader in scope than the BP. For WCAG 2.0, @@
Refer to [GRAPHICS_FOR_SPACING] to understand the Best Practice described in this section.
How does it help especially users with disabilities?: no_added_benefit.
Does it give me WCAG compliance?: For WCAG 1.0, no, but if you do use images for spacing that goes against WCAG 1.0 checkpoint 3.1, “When an appropriate markup language exists, use markup rather than images to convey information” and 3.3, “Use style sheets to control layout and presentation”.
Refer to [LARGE_GRAPHICS] to understand the Best Practice described in this section.
How does it help especially users with disabilities?: no_added_benefit.
Does it give me WCAG compliance?: This BP does not correspond to any WCAG provision.
Refer to [USE_OF_COLOR] to understand the Best Practice described in this section.
How does it help especially users with disabilities?: This BP benefits people with visual disabilities. Users may not be able to see colours or identify them correctly (colour deficit, colour blindness) or see the page at all (blind users). Users may have turned off the style sheet or use a browser that does not support CSS, or may need to use a special style sheet. These users may misinterpret or not percieve information expressed by colour alone.
Does it give me WCAG compliance?: Although there is a direct relationsip between this BP and certain WCAG provisions, it is important to taken into account that unlike the MWBP, the accessibility requirements specify the ways that color may be used. For WCAG 1.0, this BP ensures compliance with checkpoint 2.1, “Ensure that all information conveyed with color is also available without color, for example from context or markup” with no added effort. For WCAG 2.0, this BP ensures compliance with 1.4.1 Use of Color.
Refer to [COLOR_CONTRAST] to understand the Best Practice described in this section.
How does it help especially users with disabilities?: People with low vision often have difficulty reading text that does not contrast with its background. This can be exacerbated if the person has a color vision deficiency that lowers the contrast even further. Adequate colour and brightness contrast make content readable.
Does it give me WCAG compliance?: This BP may ensure (using additional criteria) compliance with WCAG 1.0 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. However, the BP is concerned with unfavourable ambient light and the ability of devices to display contrasting colour at all, while WCAG is primarily concerned with colour blindness, which may lead to different results.
Refer to [BACKGROUND_IMAGE_READABILITY] to understand the Best Practice described in this section.
How does it help especially users with disabilities?: As readability is compromised when there is a lack of contrast caused by background images, this BP helps users with low vision or colour vision deficit more than other users.
Does it give me WCAG compliance?: Complying with this BP does not ensure compliance with any WCAG checkpoint. However it is related to WCAG 1.0 checkpoint 6.1, “Organize documents so they may be read without style sheets”. If the content is not readable without a background image provided by a stylesheet, this checkpoint is not met. If, on any device, the background image gives insufficient contrast with foreground image or text, WCAG 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” is not met.
Refer to [PAGE_TITLE] to understand the Best Practice described in this section.
How does it help especially users with disabilities?: People with visual disabilities will benefit from being able to differentiate content when multiple Web pages are open. For example, screen reader users may not be able to see at a glance the content of a window, and so identify it by the page title. People with cognitive disabilities, limited short-term memory and reading disabilities also benefit from the ability to identify content by its title. A descriptive page title also benefits people with severe mobility impairments whose mode of operation relies on audio when navigating between Web pages.
Does it give me WCAG compliance?: This BP goes some of the way to compliance with WCAG 1.0 checkpoint 13.2, “Provide metadata to add semantic information to pages and sites”.
Refer to [NO_FRAMES] to understand the Best Practice described in this section.
How does it help especially users with disabilities?: While correctly designed and labelled frames are not inaccessible, equivalent content without frames is generally easier to use. It is easier to scan the whole content with a screen reader and to navigate with the keyboard.
Does it give me WCAG compliance?: This BP ensures that WCAG 1.0 checkpoints 12.1, “Title each frame to facilitate frame identification and navigation” and 12.2, “Describe the purpose of frames and how frames relate to each other if it is not obvious by frame titles alone” do not apply to the content.
Refer to [STRUCTURE] to understand the Best Practice described in this section.
How does it help especially users with disabilities?: Most visual users are able to scan a whole document at a glance. Many non-visual (for example, blind) users are unable to do this and access content starting at the top. When a document is structured with section headings a screen reader or suitable browser can create a table of contents on the fly. A browser may allow keyboard navigation between headings. Refer to WCAG 1.0 HTML Techniques: Section headings for more information.
Does it give me WCAG compliance?: This BP ensures compliance with WCAG 1.0 checkpoint 3.5, “Use header elements to convey document structure and use them according to specification” with no further effort.
Refer to [TABLES_SUPPORT] to understand the Best Practice described in this section.
How does it help especially users with disabilities?: no_added_benefit as tables may be used. Refer to [TABLES_ALTERNATIVES] for an explanation of the benefits of avoiding tables.
Does it give me WCAG compliance?: As long as tables are not used in any adaptation of the content served, then WCAG 1.0 Guideline 5, “Create tables that transform gracefully” does not apply. It goes some way to ensuring compliance with WCAG 1.0 checkpoint 3.3, “Use style sheets to control layout and presentation”.
Refer to [TABLES_NESTED] to understand the Best Practice described in this section.
How does it help especially users with disabilities?: Nested tables can be problematic for users of screen readers. As the screen reader is unable to differentiate between a data table (which conveys meaning) and a layout table (which should not), a screen reader may announce to the user each new table it encounters, and information such as the number of rows and columns the table contains. If tables are nested this can easily result in an excess of information and cause confusion. This best practice avoids the problem.
Does it give me WCAG compliance?: This BP does not correspond to any WCAG 1.0 provision.
Refer to [TABLES_LAYOUT] to understand the Best Practice described in this section.
How does it help especially users with disabilities?: Reading order: Using tables can easily cause incorrect reading order (the apparent visual sequence is not the same as that in the markup). Flexibility: if content is formatted with CSS, users can modify the style to suit their needs, with tables the content is locked in a grid. Browser support: not all browsers support tables, for example text-only browsers used with Braille output and many mobile browsers. Printing: tables are difficult to print, often not fitting on the page.
Does it give me WCAG compliance?: If tables are not used for layout, then WCAG 1.0 checkpoints 5.3, “Do not use tables for layout unless the table makes sense when linearized” and 5.4, “If a table is used for layout, do not use any structural markup for the purpose of visual formatting”, do not apply.
Refer to [TABLES_ALTERNATIVES] to understand the Best Practice described in this section.
Comment: Check on the implications of this. Tables may be easier to use (less verbose) for screen reader users, if the browser and screen reader support them.
Does it give me WCAG compliance?: If tables are not used then WCAG 1.0 Guidelines 5, “Create tables that transform gracefully” does not apply.
Refer to [NON-TEXT_ALTERNATIVES] to understand the Best Practice described in this section.
How does it help especially users with disabilities?: Providing text equivalents for non-text content ensures flexibility. Text can be rendered in a diversity of ways such as speech, braille, print, different text sizes. Refer to WCAG 1.0 Core Techniques: Text equivalents. Designing content to be useful when rendered text-only (as required by the BP) requires the provision of text equivalents for non-text content and so may make content more accessible to users unable to see images or other non-text content for whatever reason.
Does it give me WCAG compliance?: Providing a text equivalent for every non-text element ensures compliance with WCAG 1.0 checkpoint 1.1 “Provide a text equivalent for every non-text element”. However, it is important to remember that non-text content is more than just images. The tests suggested in the BPs may not lead to adequately accessible content. Avoiding CSS image replacement and pictures of words implies using text and markup, thus avoiding the need for text alternatives and the accessibility problems caused by these techniques. This aspect of the BP goes some way to complying with WCAG 1.0 checkpoint 3.1, “When an appropriate markup language exists, use markup rather than images to convey information”.
Tip: Using the alt
and longdesc
attributes adequately is not always a simple matter and the BPs provide no further guidance. Refer to WCAG 1.0 HTML techniques Short text equivalents for images (“alt-text”) and Long descriptions of images for further guidance.
Comment: Longdesc support in mobile devices?? have added a tip, as it the following workaround isn't actually described in the BP (but should be).
Tip: As stated in the BP, if the user agent is not known to support the longdesc
attribute of the img
element (and additionally, until assistive technology is known to support it adequately), do rely on it. Provide in addition a separate [D] link adjacent to the image. Refer to WCAG 1.0 HTML technique Invisible d-links (note that this technique should not be considered deprecated in the mobile context, which was not anticipated when the techniques were written).
Refer to [OBJECTS_OR_SCRIPT] to understand the Best Practice described in this section.
How does it help especially users with disabilities?: Users may not be able or willing to install or use the plugins necessary for embedded objects. Users may be unable or unwilling to use script. Browsers may not support scripting or it may be disabled. This BP recommends using onclick
for script rather than onkey
and onmouse
event handlers. In practice onclick
is device independent and allows interaction with mouse or keyboard.
Does it give me WCAG compliance?: This BP ensures compliance with WCAG 1.0 checkpoint 6.3 “Ensure that pages are usable when scripts, applets, or other programmatic objects are turned off or not supported...”, but be sure to follow the further guidance given in WCAG 1.0 and accompanying techniques. Using onclick
for script rather than onkey
and onmouse
event handlers helps ensure compliance with WCAG 1.0 checkpoint 6.4, “For scripts and applets, ensure that event handlers are input device-independent”.
Refer to [IMAGES_SPECIFY_SIZE] to understand the Best Practice described in this section.
How does it help especially users with disabilities?: no_added_benefit.
Does it give me WCAG compliance?: This BP does not correspond to any WCAG 1.0 provision.
Refer to [IMAGES_RESIZING] to understand the Best Practice described in this section.
How does it help especially users with disabilities?: no_added_benefit.
Does it give me WCAG compliance?: This BP does not correspond to any WCAG 1.0 provision.
Refer to [VALID_MARKUP] to understand the Best Practice described in this section.
How does it help especially users with disabilities?: Refer to WCAG 1.0 HTML Techniques: The !DOCTYPE statement.
Does it give me WCAG compliance?: This BP ensures compliance with WCAG 1.0 checkpoint 3.2, “Create documents that validate to published formal grammars”. If the markup is the most recent version of a W3C recommendation it also helps to ensure compliance with WCAG 1.0 checkpoint 11.1, “Use W3C technologies when they are available and appropriate for a task and use the latest versions when supported”. It helps with compliance with 11.2, “Avoid deprecated features of W3C technologies”.
Refer to [MEASURES] to understand the Best Practice described in this section.
How does it help especially users with disabilities?: In addition to the benefits described in the BP, using relative units of measure helps people with low vision by letting them increase text size in content so that they can read it.
Does it give me WCAG compliance?: This BP ensures compliance with WCAG 1.0 checkpoint 3.4, “Use relative rather than absolute units in markup language attribute values and style sheet property values” with no further effort.
Refer to [STYLE_SHEETS_USE] to understand the Best Practice described in this section.
How does it help especially users with disabilities?: Using CSS allows separation of content and presentation, enabling users to adjust presentation to suit their needs.
Does it give me WCAG compliance?: This BP ensures compliance with WCAG 1.0 checkpoint 3.3, “Use style sheets to control layout and presentation” with no further effort.
Refer to [STYLE_SHEETS_SUPPORT] to understand the Best Practice described in this section.
How does it help especially users with disabilities?: When content is organized logically, it will be rendered in a meaningful order when style sheets are turned off or not supported. Visual font effects defined in CSS can not be relied upon in the mobile device and many users may not perceive them. Refer to WCAG 1.0 CSS Techniques: Using style sheet positioning and markup to transform gracefully and the explanation of the [FONTS] best practice in this document.
Does it give me WCAG compliance?: This BP ensures compliance with WCAG 1.0 checkpoint 6.1, “Organize documents so they may be read without style sheets” with no further effort. The BP recognises that style sheets may not be supported and that users may turn them off. However, it is important to remember that some users (for example, non-visual) may simply not perceive (see) their effect.
Refer to [STYLE_SHEETS_SIZE] to understand the Best Practice described in this section.
How does it help especially users with disabilities?: no_added_benefit.
Does it give me WCAG compliance?: This BP does not correspond to any WCAG 1.0 provision.
Refer to [MINIMIZE] to understand the Best Practice described in this section.
How does it help especially users with disabilities?: no_added_benefit.
Does it give me WCAG compliance?: This BP does not correspond to any WCAG 1.0 provision.
Refer to [CONTENT_FORMAT_SUPPORT] to understand the Best Practice described in this section.
How does it help especially users with disabilities?: no_added_benefit.
Does it give me WCAG compliance?: This BP does not correspond to any WCAG 1.0 provision.
Refer to [CONTENT_FORMAT_PREFERRED] to understand the Best Practice described in this section.
How does it help especially users with disabilities?: no_added_benefit.
Does it give me WCAG compliance?: This BP does not correspond to any WCAG 1.0 provision.
Refer to [CHARACTER_ENCODING_SUPPORT] to understand the Best Practice described in this section.
How does it help especially users with disabilities?: no_added_benefit.
Does it give me WCAG compliance?: This BP does not correspond to any WCAG 1.0 provision.
Refer to [CHARACTER_ENCODING_USE] to understand the Best Practice described in this section.
How does it help especially users with disabilities?: no_added_benefit.
Does it give me WCAG compliance?: This BP does not correspond to any WCAG 1.0 provision.
Refer to [ERROR_MESSAGES] to understand the Best Practice described in this section.
How does it help especially users with disabilities?: Many users, but especially those with cognitive disabilities or even those with limited experience may have difficulty understanding default error messages and deciding on the correct acion to take. This BP aids understanding.
Does it give me WCAG compliance?: This BP does not ensure compliance with any WCAG 1.0 checkpoint, but it is related to checkpoint 13.4, “Use navigation mechanisms in a consistent manner” in that the BP encourages provision of consistent navigation in error pages.
Refer to [COOKIES] to understand the Best Practice described in this section.
How does it help especially users with disabilities?: no_added_benefit.
Does it give me WCAG compliance?: This BP does not correspond to any WCAG 1.0 provision.
Refer to [CACHING] to understand the Best Practice described in this section.
How does it help especially users with disabilities?: no_added_benefit.
Does it give me WCAG compliance?: This BP does not correspond to any WCAG 1.0 provision.
Refer to [FONTS] to understand the Best Practice described in this section.
How does it help especially users with disabilities?: If visual font effects achieved using CSS are used, non-visual users may have difficulty understanding the meaning of content. Refer also to the explanation of the [STYLE_SHEETS_SUPPORT] best practice in this document.
Does it give me WCAG compliance?: This BP goes some of the way to complying with WCAG 1.0 checkpoint 6.1, “Organize documents so they may be read without style sheets”. As the font elements described by the BP are deprecated in recent versions of HTML, it also goes some way to meeting WCAG 1.0 checkpoint 11.2, “Avoid deprecated features of W3C technologies”.
Refer to [MINIMIZE_KEYSTROKES] to understand the Best Practice described in this section.
How does it help especially users with disabilities?: While mobile devices have input devices such as numeric keypads that are awkward to use for text input. This BP is especially beneficial to users with limited dexterity who find text input even more difficult. It is not related to any specific WCAG 1.0 checkpoint.
Does it give me WCAG compliance?: The intention of this BP is the use of keyboard shortcuts (referred to confusingly as “navigation keys”). If this is done, then this BP ensures compliance with WCAG 1.0 checkpoint 9.5, “Provide keyboard shortcuts to important links (including those in client-side image maps), form controls, and groups of form controls”. However, when complying with the BP it is important to be aware that WCAG is more explicit in what it applies to than is the BP (which specifies only “items”).
Refer to [AVOID_FREE_TEXT] to understand the Best Practice described in this section.
How does it help especially users with disabilities?: As described in the explanation of [MINIMIZE_KEYSTROKES] in this document, this BP is especially beneficial to users with limited dexterity. It is not related to any specific WCAG 1.0 checkpoint.
Does it give me WCAG compliance?: This BP does not correspond to any WCAG 1.0 provision.
Refer to [PROVIDE_DEFAULTS] to understand the Best Practice described in this section.
Comment: The reference to WCAG 1.0 checkpoint 10.4 “Until user agents handle empty controls correctly, include default, place-holding characters in edit boxes and text areas” is unhelpful. The checkpoint is usually understood to mean text like “your name here”, not default values remembered by the application. The checkpoint is obsolete now anyway, as user agents do now handle empty input boxes correctly.
How does it help especially users with disabilities?: While this BP is primarily concerned with the limitations of the input mechanism of the mobile device (for example, the keyboard), it also helps users who have difficulty using the input device. This BP does not correspond to any WCAG 1.0 provision.
Does it give me WCAG compliance?: This BP does not correspond to any WCAG 1.0 provision.
Refer to [DEFAULT_INPUT_MODE] to understand the Best Practice described in this section.
How does it help especially users with disabilities?: This BP helps users in the same way as described in the [PROVIDE_DEFAULTS] section of this document. This BP does not correspond to any WCAG 1.0 provision.
Does it give me WCAG compliance?: This BP does not correspond to any WCAG 1.0 provision.
Refer to [TAB_ORDER] to understand the Best Practice described in this section.
How does it help especially users with disabilities?: Refer to WCAG 1.0 HTML Techniques: Keyboard access
Does it give me WCAG compliance?: This BP ensure compliance with WCAG 1.0 checkpoint 9.4, “Create a logical tab order through links, form controls, and objects” with no further effort.
Refer to [CONTROL_LABELLING] to understand the Best Practice described in this section.
How does it help especially users with disabilities?: Screen reader users who are unable visually determine the relationship between controls and their labels need to determine from markup which label identifies each form control.
Does it give me WCAG compliance?: This BP ensures compliance with WCAG 1.0 checkpoint 12.4, “Associate labels explicitly with their controls” with no further effort.
Refer to [CONTROL_POSITION] to understand the Best Practice described in this section.
How does it help especially users with disabilities?: If controls are not explicitly associated with their labels (as described in the [CONTROL_LABELLING] best practice) screen readers use the position in markup of the control and the label to determine the relationship. However, for recent screen readers this is now unnecessary if there is explicit association.
Does it give me WCAG compliance?: This BP corresponds to WCAG 1.0 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”. While the BP is concerned with reflowing and adapting content, WCAG is concerned to enable screen readers to determine the association in the absence of an explicit association in markup. However, this association of form labels with their controls by position for correct interpretation by screen readers is a convention, not fully described in W3C recommendations (WCAG 1.0 describes positioning of text input and list boxes but not checkboxes and radio buttons). The description in the BP is not adequate for accessibility purposes, and following the BP does not ensure compliance with the WCAG 1.0 checkpoint.
Tip: Use explcitly associated labels (refer to [CONTROL_LABELLING]), but if you can not, then avoid nesting the control inside the label
element as it is not supported in an accessible way by most user agents.
This section describes how the Web Content Accessibility Guidelines help the general user in the mobile context above and beyond the special benefit for users with disabilities. Mobile users may benefit from the [WCAG] as do users with disabilities. This paragraph focuses on the extra benefits for the special needs of the general user of mobile devices. Checkpoints and guidelines that have no specific benefit for mobile users beyond that experienced by the user with disabilities is marked [no added benefit].
Many Web sites wish to ensure that their content is both mobile aware and accessible to users with disabilities by complying with both the MWBPs and WCAG. For a site that complies with [WCAG] it is useful to know how much has already been achieved, and how much more could be achieved for little extra effort.
Many WCAG guidelines, checkpoints, and success criteria correspond directly to Mobile Web Best Practices 1.0 provisions, and complying with one automatically ensures compliance with the other, with no extra effort. For example, WCAG 2.0 success criterion 1.4.1 Use of Color ensures compliance with BP [USE_OF_COLOR] “Ensure that information conveyed with color is also available without color”.
With other [WCAG] provisions, a little extra effort or simply considering the diversity of devices and environmental factors of the mobile context can help achieve compliance with a [MWBP] best practice. For example, @@xxx.
Other [WCAG] provisions prohibit the use of features that can cause problems in the mobile context. Complying with these guidelines or checkpoints ensures that some BPs simply do not apply. For example, @@xxx.
Many [WCAG] provisions have no relation to any BP and this is also noted.
To summarise, compliance with [WCAG] ensures that content already complies with BPs @@xxx while @@xxx simply do not apply. With some extra effort or simply considering different user needs, it is quite feasible to also comply with @@xxx.
The section below describes the relationship to WCAG 2.0, the section following it describes the relationship of WCAG 1.0 to the MWBP 1.0.
Refer to success criterion 1.1.1, “Non-text Content” in WCAG 2.0.
How does it help mobile users?: @@
Does it give me MWBP compliance?: This checkpoint also ensures compliance with BP [NON-TEXT_ALTERNATIVES] “Provide a text equivalent for every non-text element” with no further effort.
Refer to success criterion 1.2.1 Captions (Prerecorded) in WCAG 2.0.
How does it help mobile users?: Mobile devices are often used in situations with significant background noise that makes it difficult to hear the audio track of multimedia content. It public places it may be socially unacceptable to listen to the soundtrack. In these situations captions enable the user to understand the multimedia content.
Does it give me MWBP compliance?: This SC does not correspond to any MWBP 1.0 provision.
Comment: Example of a partial match between MWBP and WCAG.
Refer to WCAG 1.0 checkpoint 1.1 to understand this section.
How does it help mobile users?: @@
Does it give me MWBP compliance?: This checkpoint also ensures compliance with BP [NON-TEXT_ALTERNATIVES] “Provide a text equivalent for every non-text element” with no further effort.
Refer to WCAG 1.0 checkpoint 2.1 to understand this section.
How does it help mobile users?: Mobile devices may have monochrome screens, often do not have good color contrast and are often used in less-than-ideal lighting conditions and so like non-visual users or those with colour pereception deficit they may be unable to percieve information conveyed by colour. This WCAG checkpoint ensures that users who cannot perceive colour correctly for whatever reason will be able to understand and operate the content.
Does it give me MWBP compliance?: This checkpoint should ensure compliance with BP [USE_OF_COLOR] “Ensure that information conveyed with color is also available without color” without any further effort. It also helps to achieve compliance with BP [STRUCTURE] by ensuring that structural elements are used rather than colour
Refer to WCAG 1.0 checkpoint 6.2 to understand this section.
Comment: Perhaps some clarification needed here of this often baffling checkpoint.
Comment: Also cover [NON-TEXT_ALTERNATIVES] here.
How does it help mobile users?: Providing equivalents for objects and scripts and ensuring the equivalents are updated helps users who can not perceive this conent due to device limitations as described in BP [OBJECTS_OR_SCRIPT].
Does it give me MWBP compliance?: No. Although BP [OBJECTS_OR_SCRIPT] is partly concerned with equivalents, providing an equivalent is not sufficient to ensure compliance (the BP requires that objects and script not even be delivered to devices that do not support them and should be avoided where possible). However, objects and scripts are types of dynamic content and providing equivalents for them and ensuring the equivalents are updated goes some way to enabling (is a precondition for) compliance with the BP.
Refer to WCAG 1.0 checkpoint 13.2 to understand this section.
How does it help mobile users?: Like users with no vision or limited field of vision, or cognitive disability, mobile users with small screens may have difficulty scanning and summarising the overall content of a page. Perhaps the most useful item of metadata for a page is a descriptive page title, to provide a quick description of the content of a page.
Does it give me MWBP compliance?: Including the page title ensures compliance with [PAGE_TITLE] “Provide a short but descriptive page title” with no further effort.
As described in this document, the two recommendations are complementary. the motivation for adopting them may be different (for example, commercial, regulatory, altruistic). It has been described elsewhere that retrofitting existing websites for compliance with another set of non-functional requirements is much more costly than complying during the design and development phases. the cost of late implementation (content repair, staff training, redesigning workflow) separately may also be much greater than doing both together, due to the synergies between them.
Both the Mobile Web Best Practices and WCAG provide information about the possible barriers to users, and advice about how to avoid them. Compliance does not guarantee usability or accessibility. Barriers may arise other than those described and content providers should avoid them by performing user testing [cite both Recs]. Other solutions than those described may be found to the barriers. User testing should always include a full range of users, including those with different disabilities.
Comment: Cite the relevant text from each recommendation that advises doing user testing.
For the latest version of any W3C specification please consult the list of W3C Technical Reports.
[end of document]
Comment: Should we discuss in terms of actual recommendations (WCAG and MWBP) or more abstractly accessibility and best mobile web practices?.