Error Handling
Contents
Description
- Specify accessible approaches to avoiding errors, and helping users recover from errors when they do occur.
- Take the current WCAG SCs that relate to error handling and bring them together, and add in new ones to further expand the coverage of this important facet of user interaction and user experience for people with disabilities.
Project Scope
Project Definition
Purpose
The primary purpose of the Errors Sub-Group is to define guidelines related to errors and create content to support them using the WCAG 3 framework. Based on a defensive design philosophy, our focus is on building an interface that helps people avoid errors, creating systems that prevent and fix errors, and in the worst case, helping people recover when they experience an error.
Goals
The following are goals for the Errors Sub-Group, in priority order:
- Provide a clearly defined and delineated scope for error-related accessibility guidelines.
- Provide error-related guidelines that support accessibility.
- Help people learn about accessibility and practices for accessible errors.
- Provide resources (e.g., examples) to implement accessible errors.
- Identify strengths and weaknesses of the proposed WCAG 3 structure.
Target Audience
The following lists the target audience of the output of the Errors Sub-Group, in priority order:
- WCAG 3 consumers
- Silver Taskforce
- Accessibility Guidelines Working Group
Indicators of Success
The following are changes that will occur if we are successful in achieving our purpose and goals for our target audience (Note: The exercise of listing indicators of success in the project charter context is to help illuminate project goals. Indicators of success may not be measurable, and may not correlate directly to the work of the Errors Sub-Group).
- Fewer and more readily resolved discussions about what is in scope and out of scope
- Fewer queries coming back from AGWG
- Comprehensive content related to error management in WCAG 3 (code, how to implement, etc)
- Approval of proposal by Silver Taskforce
- Approval of proposal by AGWG
- WCAG 3 becomes Recommendation
- Improved accessibility in error management
- Confidence in designers and developers that they are implementing accessible errors
Scope of Errors-Related Guidelines
Listed in priority order from a user experience perspective, based on defensive design philosophy, building an interface that helps people avoid errors, creating systems that prevent and fix errors, and in the worst case, helping people recover when they experience an error:
- Avoid: Help users avoid errors (e.g., labeling, instructions)
- Prevent: Prevent errors from occurring (e.g., interface won't let you do the wrong thing)
- Fix: Forgive and adapt errors (considerations: guidelines for security)
- Correct: Help users correct errors (e.g., notifications)
Drafts
Guidelines
- Errors Guidelines DRAFT (Google Doc): Errors guidelines and associated content for WCAG 3.
Working Documents
- Errors Guidelines Outline (Google Doc): Outline of errors-related guidelines, outcomes, functional needs and user needs.
- Errors User Needs Worksheet (Google Doc): Working document to inventory common and unique user needs (derived from Error Flows Inventory).
- Errors User Needs Summary (Google Doc): Summary of errors-related user needs.
- Error Flows Inventory (Google Doc): Working document to inventory error flows as the starting point for identifying user needs and building out WCAG 3 Guidelines. To provide feedback, email public-silver@w3.org with [Errors] in subject line or comment in the Google document. Corresponding examples provided in Examples of Error Flows (Google Doc).
Resources
WCAG 3 / Silver Process
- Silver Content Writing Resources: https://www.w3.org/WAI/GL/task-forces/silver/wiki/Main_Page#Silver_Content_Writing_Resources
- User Needs example: https://www.w3.org/WAI/GL/WCAG3/2020/how-tos/text-alternatives/
- Content Templates
- WCAG 3 issues assigned to Errors Subgroup: https://github.com/w3c/silver/labels/Subgroup%3A%20%20Errors
Content
- WCAG 3 Editor's Draft: https://w3c.github.io/silver/guidelines/
Participants
Active Participants Q1 2022
- Jake Abma
- Sarah Horton
- JaEun Jemma Ku
- Todd Libby
- Aparna Pasi
- Glenna Winters
Other Participants
- Tim Boland
- Sukriti Chadha
- Sheri Byrne Haber
- Charles Hall
- Dean Hamack
- Stacey Lumley
- Christian Perera
- Shannon Urban
Former Participants
- Suzanne Taylor
Meeting Details
- As of 29 September 2021: Meetings paused until Mid-late 2023
- Meetings: Wednesdays at 10am Eastern Time
- Conference Call Info
- W3C web IRC IRC channel: #silver-errors
Meeting Procedures
- Set up IRC following IRC instructions
- Open Zoom meeting
- Assign scribe
- Conduct meeting, working through agenda
- End meeting, make minutes
- Add link to minutes: https://www.w3.org/WAI/GL/task-forces/silver/wiki/Error_Handling#Meetings
- Reply to agenda email with link to minutes
- Add link to minutes as a comment on the Basecamp event
IRC Instructions
- https://www.w3.org/WAI/PF/wiki/Teleconference_cheat_sheet
- https://gist.github.com/xero/2d6e4b061b4ecbeb9f99
- https://www.w3.org/2001/12/zakim-irc-bot
/invite zakim #silver-errors
zakim, start meeting
rrsagent, make logs public
You will see a message "Please title this meeting". Paste in the following (adjust as needed):
Meeting: Silver Errors Subgroup
present:
chair: sarahhorton
present+
zakim, clear agenda
rrsagent, make minutes
agenda+ [agenda item text]
scribe: [name]
zakim, next item
You can just use this command to make the minutes and let the rest of the bots time out automatically. This way you can go back in and make corrections if needed.
rrsagent, make minutes
Alternatively, you can use this to end the meeting and make the minutes, but be sure you have finished adding everyone and the minutes are ok before you use it. There is no undo.
zakim, end meeting
Meeting Notes
Meetings
- Wednesday, 29 September 2021 — no meetings until Mid-late 2023
- Wednesday, 22 September 2021
- Wednesday, 15 September 2021 — no meeting
- Wednesday, 8 September 2021 — no meeting
- Wednesday, 1 September 2021
- Wednesday, 25 August 2021
- Wednesday, 18 August 2021
- Wednesday, 11 August 2021
- Wednesday, 6 August 2021
- Wednesday, 28 July 2021
- Wednesday, 21 July 2021
- Wednesday, 14 July 2021
- Wednesday, 7 July 2021
- Friday, 2 July 2021
- Friday, 25 June 2021
- Friday, 18 June 2021 — no meeting
- Friday, 11 June 2021
- Friday, 4 June 2021
- Friday, 28 May 2021
- Friday, 21 May 2021
- Friday, 14 May 2021 — no meeting
- Friday, 7 May 2021
- Wednesday, 28 April 2021
- Wednesday, 14 April 2021
- Wednesday, 7 April 2021
- Wednesday, 31 March 2021
- Wednesday, 24 March 2021
- Wednesday, 17 March 2021
- Wednesday, 10 March 2021
- Wednesday, 3 March 2021
- Wednesday, 17 February 2021
- Wednesday, 10 February 2021
- Wednesday, 03 February 2021
- Wednesday, 27 January 2021
- Wednesday, 20 January 2021
- Wednesday, 13 January 2021
- Wednesday, 6 January 2021
- Wednesday, 16 December 2020
- Wednesday, 9 December 2020
- Wednesday, 2 December 2020
- Wednesday, 25 November 2020
- Wednesday, 18 November 2020 (Basecamp)
- Friday, 13 November 2020 (Basecamp)
- Friday, 06 November 2020
- Friday, 23 October 2020
- Friday, 16 October 2020
- Friday, 9 October 2020