[guidelines]   [linear checklist]  

W3C

Checklist of Checkpoints for User Agent Accessibility Guidelines 1.0

14 July 2001

This version:
http://www.w3.org/WAI/UA/WD-UAAG10-20010714/uaag10-chktable
(Formats: plain text, PostScript, PDF)
This document is an appendix to:
http://www.w3.org/WAI/UA/WD-UAAG10-20010714/
Latest version of User Agent Accessibility Guidelines 1.0:
http://www.w3.org/WAI/UA/UAAG10/
Editors:
Ian Jacobs, W3C
Jon Gunderson, University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign
Eric Hansen, Educational Testing Service

Copyright © 1999 - 2001 W3C® (MIT, INRIA, Keio), All Rights Reserved. W3C liability, trademark, document use and software licensing rules apply.

Abstract

This document is an appendix to "User Agent Accessibility Guidelines 1.0" [UAAG10]. It provides a list of all checkpoints from the User Agent Accessibility Guidelines 1.0, organized by concept, as a checklist for user agent developers. Please refer to the Guidelines document for introductory information, information about related documents, a glossary of terms, and more.

This list may be used to review a tool or set of tools for accessibility. For each checkpoint, indicate whether the checkpoint has been satisfied, has not been satisfied, or is not applicable.

A list version of the checkpoints is also available.

Status of this document

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 document is an appendix to a Working Draft. It 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". This is work in progress and does not imply endorsement by, or the consensus of, W3C Members.

Please send comments about this document to the public mailing list w3c-wai-ua@w3.org; public archives are available.

This document has been produced as part of the Web Accessibility Initiative. WAI Accessibility Guidelines are produced as part of the WAI Technical Activity. The goal of the WAI User Agent Accessibility Guidelines Working Group is discussed in the Working Group charter.

A list of current W3C Recommendations and other technical documents can be found at the W3C Web site.

Priorities

Each checkpoint in this document is assigned a priority that indicates its importance for users with disabilities.

Priority 1 (P1)
This checkpoint must be satisfied by user agents, otherwise one or more groups of users with disabilities will find it impossible to access the Web. Satisfying this checkpoint is a basic requirement for enabling some people to access the Web.
Priority 2 (P2)
This checkpoint should be satisfied by user agents, otherwise one or more groups of users with disabilities will find it difficult to access the Web. Satisfying this checkpoint will remove significant barriers to Web access for some people.
Priority 3 (P3)
This checkpoint may be satisfied by user agents to make it easier for one or more groups of users with disabilities to access information. Satisfying this checkpoint will improve access to the Web for some people.

Priority 1 checkpoints

Checkpoints Content/
User Agent/
Both		 Labels Satisfied Comments
Checkpoint 1.1 Full keyboard access. (P1) 
  1. Ensure that the user can operate through keyboard input alone any user agent functionality available through the user interface.
(Techniques for 1.1) 		For both content and user agent      
Checkpoint 1.2 Activate event handlers. (P1) 
  1. For the element with content focus, allow the user to activate any explicitly associated input device event handlers through keyboard input alone.
  2. The user agent is not required to allow activation of event handlers associated with a given device (e.g., the pointing device) in any order other than what the device itself allows.
(Techniques for 1.2) 		For all rendered content      
Checkpoint 1.3 Provide text messages. (P1) 
  1. Ensure that every message (e.g., prompt, alert, notification, etc.) that is a non-text element and is part of the user agent user interface has a text equivalent.
(Techniques for 1.3) 		For user agent features      
Checkpoint 2.1 Render by specification. (P1) 
  1. Render content according to format specification (e.g., for a markup language or style sheet).
  2. When a rendering requirement of another specification contradicts a requirement of the current document, the user agent may disregard the rendering requirement of the other specification and still satisfy this checkpoint.
  3. Rendering requirements include format-defined interactions between author preferences and user preferences/capabilities (e.g., when to render the "alt" attribute in HTML, the rendering order of nested OBJECT elements in HTML, test attributes in SMIL, and the cascade in CSS2).
(Techniques for 2.1) 		For all content      
Checkpoint 2.2 Provide text view. (P1) 
  1. For text formats, provide a view of the text source. For the purposes of this document, text formats are defined to be:
    • all media objects given an Internet media type of "text" (e.g., text/plain, text/HTML, or text/*) as defined in RFC 2046 [RFC2046], section 4.1.
    • all SGML and XML applications, regardless of Internet media type (e.g., HTML 4.01, XHTML 1.1, SMIL, SVG, etc.).
(Techniques for 2.2) 		For all content      
Checkpoint 2.3 Render conditional content. (P1) 
  1. Allow configuration to provide access to each piece of unrendered conditional content "C".
  2. The configuration may be a switch that, for all content, turns on or off the access mechanisms described in the next provision.
  3. When a specification does not explain how to provide access to this content, do so as follows:
    • If C is a summary, title, alternative, description, or expansion of another piece of content D, provide access through at least one of the following mechanisms:
      • (1a) render C in place of D;
      • (2a) render C in addition to D;
      • (3a) provide access to C by querying D. In this case, the user agent must also alert the user, on a per-element basis, to the existence of C (so that the user knows to query D);
      • (4a) allow the user to follow a link to C from the context of D.
    • Otherwise, provide access to C through at least one of the following mechanisms:
      • (1b) render a placeholder for C, and allow the user to view the original author-supplied content associated with each placeholder;
      • (2b) provide access to C by query (e.g., allow the user to query an element for its attributes). In this case, the user agent must also alert the user, on a per-element basis, to the existence of C;
      • (3b) allow the user to follow a link in context to C.
  4. To satisfy this checkpoint, the user agent may provide access on a per-element basis (e.g., by allowing the user to query individual elements) or for all elements (e.g., by offering a configuration to render conditional content all the time).
(Techniques for 2.3) 		For all content      
Checkpoint 2.4 Allow time-independent interaction. (P1) 
  1. For content where user input is only possible within a finite time interval controlled by the user agent, allow configuration to make the time interval "infinite". Do this by pausing automatically at the end of each time interval where user input is possible, and resuming automatically after the user has explicitly completed input.
  2. In this configuration, alert the user when the session has been paused and which enabled elements are time-sensitive.
  3. When the user pauses a real-time presentation, the user agent may discard packets that continue to arrive during the pause.
(Techniques for 2.4) 		For all rendered content      
Checkpoint 2.5 Make captions, transcripts available. (P1) 
  1. Allow configuration or control so that text transcripts, collated text transcripts, captions, and auditory descriptions are rendered at the same time as the associated audio tracks and visual tracks.
(Techniques for 2.5) 		For all content      
Checkpoint 2.6 Respect synchronization cues. (P1) 
  1. Respect synchronization cues during rendering.
(Techniques for 2.6) 		For all rendered content      
Checkpoint 3.1 Toggle background images. (P1) 
  1. Allow configuration not to render background images.
  2. In this configuration, the user agent is not required to retrieve background images from the Web.
  3. This checkpoint only requires control of background images for "two-layered renderings", i.e., one rendered background image with all other content rendered "above it".
(Techniques for 3.1) 		For all content      
Checkpoint 3.2 Toggle audio, video, animated images. (P1) 
  1. Allow configuration not to render audio, video, or animated images except on explicit user request. This configuration is required for content rendered without any user interaction (including content rendered on load or as the result of a script), as well as content rendered as the result of user interaction (e.g., when the user activates a link).
  2. The user agent may satisfy this checkpoint by making video and animated images invisible and audio silent, but this technique is not recommended.
  3. When configured not to render content except on explicit user request, the user agent is not required to retrieve the audio, video, or animated image from the Web until requested by the user.
(Techniques for 3.2) 		For all content      
Checkpoint 3.3 Toggle animated/blinking text. (P1) 
  1. Allow configuration to render animated or blinking text as motionless, unblinking text. Blinking text is text whose visual rendering alternates between visible and invisible, any rate of change.
  2. In this configuration, the user must still have access to the same text content, but the user agent may render it in a separate viewport (e.g., for large amounts of streaming text).
  3. The user agent also satisfies this checkpoint by always rendering animated or blinking text as motionless, unblinking text.
(Techniques for 3.3) 		For all content      
Checkpoint 3.4 Toggle scripts. (P1) 
  1. Allow configuration not to execute any executable content (e.g., scripts and applets).
  2. In this configuration, provide an option to alert the user when executable content is available (but has not been executed).
  3. The user agent is only required to alert the user to the presence of more than zero scripts or applets (i.e., per-element alerts are not required).
(Techniques for 3.4) 		For all content      
Checkpoint 3.5 Toggle content refresh. (P1) 
  1. Allow configuration so that the user agent only refreshes content on explicit user request.
  2. In this configuration, alert the user of the refresh rate specified in content, and allow the user to request fresh content manually (e.g., by following a link or confirming a prompt).
  3. When the user chooses not to refresh content, the user agent may ignore that content; buffering is not required.
  4. This checkpoint only applies when the user agent (not the server) automatically initiates the request for fresh content.
(Techniques for 3.5) 		For all content      
Checkpoint 4.1 Configure text size. (P1) 
  1. Allow global configuration and control over the reference size of visually rendered text, with an option to override reference sizes specified by the author or user agent defaults.
  2. Allow the user to choose from among the full range of font sizes offered by the conventional font selection mechanism of the operating environment. If the operating environment does not offer a font selection mechanism, allow the user to choose any size offered by the conventional text drawing services of the operating environment.
(Techniques for 4.1) 		For all rendered content      
Checkpoint 4.2 Configure font family. (P1) 
  1. Allow global configuration of the font family of all visually rendered text, with an option to override font families specified by the author or by user agent defaults.
  2. Allow the user to choose from among the full range of font families offered by the conventional font selection mechanism of the operating environment.
  3. For text that cannot be rendered properly using the user's preferred font family, the user agent may substitute an alternative font family.
(Techniques for 4.2) 		For all rendered content      
Checkpoint 4.3 Configure text colors. (P1) 
  1. Allow global configuration of the foreground and background color of all visually rendered text, with an option to override foreground and background colors specified by the author or user agent defaults.
  2. Allow the user to choose from among the full range of colors offered by the conventional color selection mechanism of the operating environment.
(Techniques for 4.3) 		For all rendered content      
Checkpoint 4.4 Slow multimedia. (P1) 
  1. Allow the user to slow the presentation rate of audio and animations (including video and animated images).
  2. For a visual track, provide at least one setting between 40% and 60% of the original speed.
  3. For a prerecorded audio track including audio-only presentations, provide at least one setting between 75% and 80% of the original speed.
  4. When the user agent allows the user to slow the visual track of a synchronized multimedia presentation to between 100% and 80% of its original speed, synchronize the visual and audio tracks. Below 80%, the user agent is not required to render the audio track.
  5. The user agent is not required to satisfy this checkpoint for audio and animations whose recognized role is to create a purely stylistic effect.
(Techniques for 4.4) 		For all rendered content      
Checkpoint 4.5 Start, stop, pause, advance multimedia. (P1) 
  1. Allow the user to stop, pause, resume, fast advance, and fast reverse audio and animations (including video and animated images) that last three or more seconds at their default playback rate.
  2. The user agent is not required to satisfy this checkpoint for audio and animations whose recognized role is to create a purely stylistic effect.
  3. The user agent is not required to play synchronized audio during fast advance or reverse of animations (though doing so may help orient the user).
  4. The user agent is not required to play animations during fast advance and fast reverse.
  5. When the user pauses a real-time audio or animation, the user agent may discard packets that continue to arrive during the pause.
(Techniques for 4.5) 		For all rendered content      
Checkpoint 4.6 Position captions. (P1) 
  1. For graphical viewports, allow the user to position captions with respect to synchronized visual tracks as follows:
    • if the user agent satisfies this checkpoint by using a markup language or style sheet language to provide configuration or control, then the user agent must allow the user to choose from among at least the range of positions enabled by the format
    • otherwise the user agent must allow both non-overlapping and overlapping positions (e.g., by rendering captions in a separate viewport that may be positioned on top of the visual track).
  2. In either case, the user agent must allow the user to override the author's specified position.
  3. The user agent is not required to change the layout of other content (i.e., reflow) after the user has changed the position of captions.
  4. The user agent is not required to make the captions background transparent when those captions are rendered above a related video track.
(Techniques for 4.6) 		For all rendered content      
Checkpoint 4.9 Global volume control. (P1) 
  1. Allow global configuration and control of the volume of all audio, with an option to override audio volumes specified by the author or user agent defaults.
  2. Allow the user to choose zero volume (i.e., silent).
(Techniques for 4.9) 		For all rendered content      
Checkpoint 4.10 Independent volume control. (P1) 
  1. Allow independent control of the volumes of audio sources synchronized to play simultaneously.
  2. The user agent is not required to satisfy this checkpoint for audio whose recognized role is to create a purely stylistic effect.
  3. The user control required by this checkpoint includes the ability to override author-specified volumes for the relevant sources of audio.
(Techniques for 4.10) 		For all rendered content      
Checkpoint 4.12 Configure synthesized speech rate. (P1) 
  1. Allow configuration and control of the synthesized speech rate, according to the full range offered by the speech synthesizer.
(Techniques for 4.12) 		For all rendered content      
Checkpoint 4.13 Configure synthesized speech volume. (P1) 
  1. Allow control of the synthesized speech volume, independent of other sources of audio.
  2. The user control required by this checkpoint includes the ability to override author-specified synthesized speech volume.
(Techniques for 4.13) 		For all rendered content      
Checkpoint 4.14 Configure synthesized speech characteristics. (P1) 
  1. Allow configuration of synthesized speech characteristics according to the full range of values offered by the speech synthesizer.
(Techniques for 4.14) 		For all content      
Checkpoint 4.17 Choose style sheets. (P1) 
  1. For user agents that support style sheets, allow the user to choose from (and apply) available author and user style sheets or to ignore them.
(Techniques for 4.17) 		For both content and user agent      
Checkpoint 6.1 DOM read access. (P1) 
  1. Provide programmatic read access to HTML and XML content by conforming to the following modules of the W3C Document Object Model DOM Level 2 Core Specification [DOM2CORE] and exporting the interfaces they define:
    • the Core module for HTML;
    • the Core and XML modules for XML.
(Techniques for 6.1) 		For all content      
Checkpoint 6.2 DOM write access. (P1) 
  1. If the user can modify HTML and XML content through the user interface, provide the same functionality programmatically by conforming to the following modules of the W3C Document Object Model DOM Level 2 Core Specification [DOM2CORE] and exporting the interfaces they define:
    • the Core module for HTML;
    • the Core and XML modules for XML.
(Techniques for 6.2) 		For all content      
Checkpoint 6.3 Programmatic access to other content. (P1) 
  1. For markup languages other than HTML and XML, provide programmatic read access to content.
  2. Provide programmatic write access for those parts of content that the user can modify through the user interface. To satisfy these requirements, implement at least one API that is either
    • defined by a W3C Recommendation, or
    • a publicly documented API designed to enable interoperability with assistive technologies.
  3. If no such API is available, or if available APIs do not enable the user agent to satisfy the requirements, implement at least one publicly documented API to satisfy the requirements, and follow operating environment conventions for the use of input and output APIs.
  4. An API is considered available if the specification of the API is published (e.g., as a W3C Recommendation) in time for integration into a user agent's development cycle.
(Techniques for 6.3) 		For all content      
Checkpoint 6.4 Programmatic operation. (P1) 
  1. Provide programmatic read access to user agent user interface controls.
  2. Provide programmatic write access for those controls that the user can modify through the user interface. For security reasons, user agents are not required to allow instructions in content to modify user agent user interface controls.
  3. To satisfy these requirements, implement at least one API that is either
    • defined by a W3C Recommendation, or
    • a publicly documented API designed to enable interoperability with assistive technologies.
  4. If no such API is available, or if available APIs do not enable the user agent to satisfy the requirements, implement at least one publicly documented API that allows programmatic operation of all of the functionalities that are available through the user agent user interface, and follow operating environment conventions for the use of input and output APIs.
  5. An API is considered available if the specification of the API is published (e.g., as a W3C Recommendation) in time for integration into a user agent's development cycle.
(Techniques for 6.4) 		For user agent features      
Checkpoint 6.5 Programmatic alert of changes. (P1) 
  1. Provide programmatic alert of changes to content, user interface controls, selection, content focus, and user interface focus.
  2. To satisfy these requirements, implement at least one API that is either
    • defined by a W3C Recommendation, or
    • a publicly documented API designed to enable interoperability with assistive technologies.
  3. If no such API is available, or if available APIs do not enable the user agent to satisfy the requirements, implement at least one publicly documented API to satisfy the requirements, and follow operating environment conventions for the use of input and output APIs.
  4. This checkpoint does not require alert to rendering changes due to content (e.g., an animation effect), just changes to the content itself.
(Techniques for 6.5) 		For both content and user agent      
Checkpoint 6.6 Conventional keyboard APIs. (P1) 
  1. Follow operating environment conventions when implementing APIs for the keyboard.
  2. If such APIs for the keyboard do not exist, implement publicly documented APIs for the keyboard.
(Techniques for 6.6) 		For user agent features      
Checkpoint 6.7 API character encodings. (P1) 
  1. For an API implemented to satisfy requirements of this document, support the character encodings required for that API.
(Techniques for 6.7) 		For both content and user agent      
Checkpoint 7.1 Focus and selection conventions. (P1) 
  1. Follow operating environment conventions that benefit accessibility when implementing the selection, content focus, and user interface focus.
(Techniques for 7.1) 		For user agent features      
Checkpoint 7.2 Respect input configuration conventions. (P1) 
  1. Ensure that default input configurations do not interfere with operating environment accessibility conventions (e.g., for keyboard accessibility).
(Techniques for 7.2) 		For user agent features      
Checkpoint 8.1 Implement accessibility features. (P1) 
  1. Implement the accessibility features of specifications (markup languages, style sheet languages, metadata languages, graphics formats, etc.). For the purposes of this checkpoint, an accessibility feature is either
    • one identified as such, or
    • one that allows the author to satisfy any requirement of the "Web Content Accessibility Guidelines 1.0" [WCAG10].
(Techniques for 8.1) 		For all content      
Checkpoint 9.1 Provide content focus. (P1) 
  1. Provide at least one content focus for each viewport (including frames) where enabled elements are part of the rendered content.
  2. Allow the user to make the content focus of each viewport the current focus.
(Techniques for 9.1) 		For all rendered content      
Checkpoint 9.2 Provide user interface focus. (P1) 
  1. Provide a user interface focus.
(Techniques for 9.2) 		For user agent features      
Checkpoint 9.3 Move content focus. (P1) 
  1. Allow the user to move the content focus to any enabled element in the viewport.
  2. If the author has not specified a navigation order, allow at least forward sequential navigation to each element, in document order.
  3. The user agent may also include disabled elements in the navigation order.
(Techniques for 9.3) 		For all rendered content      
Checkpoint 9.4 Restore history. (P1) 
  1. For user agents that implement a viewport history mechanism, for each state in a viewport's browsing history, maintain information about the point of regard, content focus, and selection.
  2. When the user returns to any state in the viewport history, restore the saved values for all of these state variables.
(Techniques for 9.4) 		For both content and user agent      
Checkpoint 10.1 Table orientation. (P1) 
  1. Make available to the user the purpose of each table (e.g., as expressed in a summary or table caption) and the relationships among the table cells and headers.
(Techniques for 10.1) 		For all rendered content      
Checkpoint 10.2 Highlight selection and content focus. (P1) 
  1. Provide a mechanism for highlighting the selection and content focus of each viewport.
  2. The highlight mechanism must not rely on color alone.
  3. Allow global configuration of selection and focus highlight styles.
  4. For graphical viewports, if the highlight mechanism involves colors or text decorations, allow the user to choose from among the full range of colors or text decorations offered by the conventional color and text decoration selection mechanisms of the operating environment.
(Techniques for 10.2) 		For all rendered content      
Checkpoint 10.3 Distinct default highlight styles. (P1) 
  1. Ensure that all of the default highlight styles for the selection, content focus, enabled elements, recently visited links, and fee links
    • do not rely on color alone, and
    • differ from each other, and not by color alone.
  2. This checkpoint not apply to those highlight styles inherited from the operating environment as default values, as long as the user can change the styles in the operating environment.
(Techniques for 10.3) 		For all rendered content      
Checkpoint 10.7 Highlight current viewport. (P1) 
  1. Provide a mechanism for highlighting the viewport with the current focus (including any frame that takes current focus).
  2. For graphical viewports, the default highlight mechanism must not rely on color alone.
  3. This default color requirement does not apply if the highlight mechanism is inherited from the operating environment as the default and the user can change it in the operating environment.
(Techniques for 10.7) 		For user agent features      
Checkpoint 11.1 Current user bindings. (P1) 
  1. Provide information to the user about current user preferences for input configurations.
  2. To satisfy this checkpoint, the user agent may make available binding information in a centralized fashion (e.g., a list of bindings) or a distributed fashion (e.g., by listing keyboard shortcuts in user interface menus).
(Techniques for 11.1) 		For user agent features      
Checkpoint 12.1 Accessible documentation. (P1) 
  1. Ensure that at least one version of the user agent documentation conforms to at least Level Double-A of the Web Content Accessibility Guidelines 1.0 [WCAG10].
(Techniques for 12.1) 		For user agent features      
Checkpoint 12.2 Document accessibility features. (P1) 
  1. Document all user agent features that benefit accessibility.
  2. For the purposes of this checkpoint, a user agent feature that benefits accessibility is one implemented to satisfy the requirements of this document (including the requirements of checkpoints 8.1 and 7.3).
  3. The user agent may satisfy this checkpoint either by
    • providing a centralized view of the accessibility features, or
    • integrating accessibility features into the rest of the documentation.
(Techniques for 12.2) 		For user agent features      
Checkpoint 12.3 Document default bindings. (P1) 
  1. Document the default user agent input configuration (e.g., the default keyboard bindings).
(Techniques for 12.3) 		For user agent features      

Priority 2 checkpoints

Checkpoints Content/
User Agent/
Both		 Labels Satisfied Comments
Checkpoint 2.7 Repair missing content. (P2) 
  1. Allow configuration to generate repair text when the user agent recognizes that the author has failed to provide conditional content that was required by the format specification.
  2. The user agent may satisfy this checkpoint by basing the repair text on any of the following available sources of information: URI reference, content type, or element type.
(Techniques for 2.7) 		For all content      
Checkpoint 3.6 Toggle redirects. (P2) 
  1. Allow configuration so that a "client-side redirect" (i.e., one initiated by the user agent, not the server) only changes content on explicit user request.
  2. Allow the user to access the new content on demand (e.g., by following a link or confirming a prompt).
  3. The user agent is not required to provide these functionalities for client-side redirects specified to occur instantaneously (i.e., after no delay).
(Techniques for 3.6) 		For all content      
Checkpoint 3.7 Toggle images. (P2) 
  1. Allow configuration not to render images.
  2. The user agent may satisfy this checkpoint by making images invisible, but this technique is not recommended.
(Techniques for 3.7) 		For all content      
Checkpoint 4.7 Slow other multimedia. (P2) 
  1. Allow the user to slow the presentation rate of audio and animations (including video and animated images) not covered by checkpoint 4.4.
  2. The same speed percentage requirements of checkpoint 4.4 apply.
(Techniques for 4.7) 		For all rendered content      
Checkpoint 4.8 Control other multimedia. (P2) 
  1. Allow the user to stop, pause, resume, fast advance, and fast reverse audio and animations (including video and animated images) not covered by checkpoint 4.5.
(Techniques for 4.8) 		For all rendered content      
Checkpoint 4.11 Control other volume. (P2) 
  1. Allow independent control of the volumes of audio sources synchronized to play simultaneously that are not covered by checkpoint 4.10.
(Techniques for 4.11) 		For all rendered content      
Checkpoint 4.15 Specific synthesized speech characteristics. (P2) 
  1. Allow configuration of the following synthesized speech characteristics: pitch, pitch range, stress, richness.
  2. Pitch refers to the average frequency of the speaking voice.
  3. Pitch range specifies a variation in average frequency.
  4. Stress refers to the height of "local peaks" in the intonation contour of the voice.
  5. Richness refers to the richness or brightness of the voice.
(Techniques for 4.15) 		For all content      
Checkpoint 4.16 Configure synthesized speech features. (P2) 
  1. Provide support for user-defined extensions to the synthesized speech dictionary, as well as the following functionalities:
    • spell-out: spell text one character at a time or according to language-dependent pronunciation rules;
    • speak-numeral: speak a numeral as individual digits or as a full number; and
    • speak-punctuation: speak punctuation literally or render as natural pauses.
(Techniques for 4.16) 		For all content      
Checkpoint 5.1 No automatic content focus change. (P2) 
  1. Allow configuration so that if a viewport opens without explicit user request, its content focus does not automatically become the current focus.
  2. Configuration is preferred, but is not required if the content focus can only ever be moved on explicit user request.
(Techniques for 5.1) 		For both content and user agent      
Checkpoint 5.2 Keep viewport on top. (P2) 
  1. For graphical user interfaces, allow configuration so that the viewport with the current focus remains "on top" of all other viewports with which it overlaps.
(Techniques for 5.2) 		For both content and user agent      
Checkpoint 5.3 Manual viewport open only. (P2) 
  1. Allow configuration so that viewports only open on explicit user request.
  2. In this configuration, instead of opening a viewport automatically, alert the user and allow the user to open it on demand (e.g., by following a link or confirming a prompt).
  3. Allow the user to close viewports.
  4. If a viewport (e.g., a frame set) contains other viewports, these requirements only apply to the outermost container viewport.
  5. Configuration is preferred, but is not required if viewports can only ever open on explicit user request.
  6. User creation of a new viewport (e.g., empty or with a new resource loaded) through the user agent's user interface constitutes an explicit user request.
(Techniques for 5.3) 		For both content and user agent      
Checkpoint 5.4 Selection and focus in viewport. (P2) 
  1. Ensure that when a viewport's selection or content focus changes, it is at least partially in the viewport after the change.
(Techniques for 5.4) 		For both content and user agent      
Checkpoint 5.5 Confirm form submission. (P2) 
  1. Allow configuration to prompt the user to confirm (or cancel) any form submission.
  2. Configuration is preferred, but it not required if forms can only ever be submitted on explicit user request.
(Techniques for 5.5) 		For all rendered content      
Checkpoint 5.6 Confirm fee links. (P2) 
  1. Allow configuration to prompt the user to confirm (or cancel) any payment that results from activation of a fee link.
  2. Configuration is preferred, but is not required if fee links can only ever be activated on explicit user request.
(Techniques for 5.6) 		For all rendered content      
Checkpoint 6.8 DOM CSS access. (P2) 
  1. For user agents that implement Cascading Style Sheets (CSS), provide programmatic access to those style sheets by conforming to the CSS module of the W3C Document Object Model (DOM) Level 2 Style Specification [DOM2STYLE] and exporting the interfaces it defines.
  2. For the purposes of satisfying this checkpoint, Cascading Style Sheets (CSS) are defined by either CSS Level 1 [CSS1] or CSS Level 2 [CSS2].
(Techniques for 6.8) 		For all content      
Checkpoint 6.9 Timely access. (P2) 
  1. Ensure that programmatic exchanges proceed in a timely manner.
(Techniques for 6.9) 		For both content and user agent      
Checkpoint 7.3 Operating environment conventions. (P2) 
  1. Follow operating environment conventions that benefit accessibility. In particular, follow conventions that benefit accessibility for user interface design, keyboard configuration, product installation, and documentation.
  2. For the purposes of this checkpoint, an operating environment convention that benefits accessibility is either
    • one identified as such in operating environment design or accessibility guidelines, or
    • one that allows the author to satisfy any requirement of the "Web Content Accessibility Guidelines 1.0" [WCAG10] or of the current document.
(Techniques for 7.3) 		For user agent features      
Checkpoint 7.4 Input configuration indications. (P2) 
  1. Follow operating environment conventions to indicate the input configuration.
(Techniques for 7.4) 		For user agent features      
Checkpoint 8.2 Conform to specifications. (P2) 
  1. Use and conform to either
    • W3C Recommendations when they are available and appropriate for a task, or
    • non-W3C specifications that enable the creation of content that conforms at level A or better to the Web Content Accessibility Guidelines 1.0 [WCAG10].
  2. When a requirement of another specification contradicts a requirement of the current document, the user agent may disregard the requirement of the other specification and still satisfy this checkpoint.
  3. A specification is considered available if it is published (e.g., as a W3C Recommendation) in time for integration into a user agent's development cycle.
(Techniques for 8.2) 		For all content      
Checkpoint 9.5 No events on focus change. (P2) 
  1. Allow configuration so that moving the content focus to or from an enabled element does not automatically activate any explicitly associated event handlers.
(Techniques for 9.5) 		For all rendered content      
Checkpoint 9.6 Show event handlers. (P2) 
  1. For the element with content focus, make available the list of input device event handlers explicitly associated with the element.
(Techniques for 9.6) 		For all content      
Checkpoint 9.7 Move content focus optimally. (P2) 
  1. Allow the user to move the content focus to any enabled element in the viewport.
  2. If the author has not specified a navigation order, allow at least forward and reverse sequential navigation to each element, in document order.
  3. The user agent must not include disabled elements in the navigation order.
(Techniques for 9.7) 		For all rendered content      
Checkpoint 9.8 Text search. (P2) 
  1. Allow the user to search within rendered text for a sequence of characters from the document character set.
  2. Allow the user to start a forward search (in document order) from any selected or focused location in content.
  3. When there is a match do both of the following:
    • move the viewport so that the matched text content is within it, and
    • allow the user to search for the next instance of the text from the location of the match.
  4. Alert the user when there is no match, when the search reaches the end of content, and prior to any wrapping. A wrapping search is one that restarts automatically at the beginning of content once the end of content has been reached.
  5. Provide a case-insensitive search option for text in scripts (i.e., writing systems) where case is significant.
(Techniques for 9.8) 		For all rendered content      
Checkpoint 9.9 Structured navigation. (P2) 
  1. Allow the user to navigate efficiently to and among important structural elements.
  2. Allow forward and backward sequential navigation to important structural elements.
(Techniques for 9.9) 		For all rendered content      
Checkpoint 10.4 Highlight special elements. (P2) 
  1. Provide a mechanism for highlighting all enabled elements, recently visited links, and fee links.
  2. Allow the user to configure the highlight styles. The highlight mechanism must not rely on color alone.
  3. For graphical viewports, if the highlight mechanism involves colors, fonts, or text decorations, allow the user to choose from among the full range of colors, fonts, or text decorations offered by the conventional color, font, and text decoration selection mechanisms of the operating environment.
  4. For an image map, the user agent must highlight the image map as a whole and should allow configuration to highlight each enabled region.
(Techniques for 10.4) 		For all rendered content      
Checkpoint 10.5 Outline view. (P2) 
  1. Make available to the user an "outline" view of content, composed of labels for important structural elements (e.g., heading text, table titles, form titles, etc.).
  2. What constitutes a label is defined by each markup language specification. A label is not required to be text only.
(Techniques for 10.5) 		For all content      
Checkpoint 11.2 Current author bindings. (P2) 
  1. Provide a centralized view of the current author-specified input configuration bindings.
  2. The user agent may satisfy this checkpoint by providing different views for different input modalities (keyboard, pointing device, voice, etc.).
(Techniques for 11.2) 		For all content      
Checkpoint 11.3 Override bindings. (P2) 
  1. Allow the user to override any binding that is part of the user agent default input configuration.
  2. The user agent is not required to allow the user to override conventional bindings for the operating environment (e.g., for access to help).
  3. The override requirement only applies to bindings for the same input modality (e.g., the user must be able to override a keyboard binding with another keyboard binding).
(Techniques for 11.3) 		For user agent features      
Checkpoint 11.4 Single key access. (P2) 
  1. Allow the user to override any binding in the user agent default keyboard configuration with a binding to either a key plus modifier keys or to a single-key. In this checkpoint, "key" refers to a physical key of the keyboard (rather than, say, a character of the document character set).
  2. For each functionality in the set required by checkpoint 11.5, allow the user to configure a single-key binding (i.e., one key press performs the task, with zero modifier keys).
  3. If the number of physical keys on the keyboard is less than the number of functionalities required by checkpoint 11.5, allow single-key bindings for as many of those functionalities as possible.
  4. The single-key binding requirements may be satisfied with a "single-key mode" (i.e., a mode where the current bindings are replaced by a set of single-key bindings).
  5. The user agent is not required to allow the user to override conventional bindings for the operating environment (e.g., for access to help).
  6. This checkpoint does not require single physical key bindings for character input, only for the activation of user agent functionalities.
(Techniques for 11.4) 		For user agent features      
Checkpoint 11.5 Default binding requirements. (P2) 
  1. Ensure that the user agent default input configuration includes bindings for the following functionalities required by other checkpoints in this document:
    • move focus to next enabled element, and move focus to previous enabled element;
    • activate focused link;
    • search for text;
    • search again for same text;
    • increase size of rendered text, and decrease size of rendered text;
    • increase global volume, and decrease global volume;
    • stop, pause, resume, fast advance, and fast reverse selected audio and animations (including video and animated images).
  2. If the user agent supports the following functionalities, the default input configuration must also include bindings for them:
    • next history state (forward), and previous history state (back);
    • enter URI for new resource;
    • add to favorites (i.e., bookmarked resources);
    • view favorites;
    • stop loading resource;
    • reload resource;
    • refresh rendering;
    • forward one viewport, and back one viewport;
    • next line, and previous line.
(Techniques for 11.5) 		For user agent features      
Checkpoint 11.6 User profiles. (P2) 
  1. For the configuration requirements of this document, allow the user to save user preferences in at least one user profile.
  2. Allow the user to choose from among available default profiles, profiles created by the same user, and no profile (i.e., the user agent default settings).
(Techniques for 11.6) 		For user agent features      
Checkpoint 12.4 Document changes. (P2) 
  1. Document changes from the previous version of the user agent to accessibility features, including accessibility features of the user interface.
  2. Accessibility features are those defined in checkpoint 12.2.
(Techniques for 12.4) 		For user agent features      
Checkpoint 12.5 Dedicated section on accessibility. (P2) 
  1. Provide a centralized view of all features of the user agent that benefit accessibility in a dedicated section of the documentation.
  2. The features that benefit accessibility are those defined in checkpoint 12.2.
(Techniques for 12.5) 		For user agent features      

Priority 3 checkpoints

Checkpoints Content/
User Agent/
Both		 Labels Satisfied Comments
Checkpoint 2.8 No repair text. (P3) 
  1. Allow at least two configurations for when the user agent recognizes that conditional content required by the format specification is present but empty:
    • generate no repair text, or
    • generate repair as described in checkpoint 2.7.
(Techniques for 2.8) 		For all content      
Checkpoint 2.9 Render conditional content automatically. (P3) 
  1. Allow configuration to render all conditional content automatically. The user agent is not required to render all conditional content at the same time in a single viewport.
  2. Provide access to this content according to format specifications or where unspecified, by applying one of the following techniques described in checkpoint 2.3: 1a, 2a, or 1b.
(Techniques for 2.9) 		For all content      
Checkpoint 2.10 Toggle placeholders. (P3) 
  1. Once the user has viewed the original author-supplied content associated with a placeholder, allow the user to turn off the rendering of the author-supplied content.
(Techniques for 2.10) 		For all rendered content      
Checkpoint 2.11 Alert unsupported language. (P3) 
  1. Allow configuration not to render content in unsupported natural languages (including scripts, i.e., writing systems).
  2. Indicate to the user in context that author-supplied content has not been rendered.
  3. This checkpoint does not require the user agent to allow different configurations for different natural languages.
(Techniques for 2.11) 		For all content      
Checkpoint 5.7 Manual viewport close only. (P3) 
  1. Allow configuration to prompt the user to confirm (or cancel) closing any viewport that starts to close without explicit user request.
(Techniques for 5.7) 		For both content and user agent      
Checkpoint 9.10 Configure important elements. (P3) 
  1. Allow configuration and control of the set of important elements required by checkpoint 9.9 and checkpoint 10.5.
  2. Allow the user to include and exclude element types in the set of elements.
(Techniques for 9.10) 		For all content      
Checkpoint 10.6 Provide link information. (P3) 
  1. To help the user decide whether to traverse a link, make available the following information about it:
    • link element content,
    • link title,
    • whether the link is internal to the resource (e.g., the link is to a target in the same Web page),
    • whether the user has traversed the link recently,
    • whether traversing it may involve a fee, and
    • information about the type, size, and natural language of linked Web resources.
  2. The user agent is not required to compute or make available information that requires retrieval of linked Web resources.
(Techniques for 10.6) 		For all rendered content      
Checkpoint 10.8 Indicate rendering progress. (P3) 
  1. Indicate the viewport's position relative to rendered content (e.g., the proportion of an audio or video clip that has been played, the proportion of a Web page that has been viewed, etc.).
  2. The user agent may calculate the relative position according to content focus position, selection position, or viewport position, depending on how the user has been browsing.
  3. For two-dimensional renderings, relative position includes both vertical and horizontal positions.
  4. The user agent may indicate the proportion of content viewed in a number of ways, including as a percentage, as a relative size in bytes, etc.
(Techniques for 10.8) 		For all content      
Checkpoint 11.7 Configure tool bars. (P3) 
  1. For graphical user interfaces, allow the user to configure the position of controls on tool bars of the user agent user interface, to add or remove controls for the user interface from a predefined set, and to restore the default user interface.
(Techniques for 11.7) 		For user agent features      

References

For the latest version of any W3C specification please consult the list of W3C Technical Reports at http://www.w3.org/TR.

[CSS1]
"CSS, level 1 Recommendation", B. Bos, H. Wium Lie, eds., 17 December 1996, revised 11 January 1999. This W3C Recommendation is http://www.w3.org/TR/1999/REC-CSS1-19990111.
[CSS2]
"CSS, level 2 Recommendation", B. Bos, H. Wium Lie, C. Lilley, and I. Jacobs, eds., 12 May 1998. This W3C Recommendation is http://www.w3.org/TR/1998/REC-CSS2-19980512/.
[DOM2CORE]
"Document Object Model (DOM) Level 2 Core Specification", A. Le Hors, P. Le Hégaret, L. Wood, G. Nicol, J. Robie, M. Champion, S. Byrne, eds., 13 November 2000. This W3C Recommendation is http://www.w3.org/TR/2000/REC-DOM-Level-2-Core-20001113/.
[DOM2STYLE]
"Document Object Model (DOM) Level 2 Style Specification", V. Apparao, P. Le Hégaret, C. Wilson, eds., 13 November 2000. This W3C Recommendation is http://www.w3.org/TR/2000/REC-DOM-Level-2-Style-20001113/.
[RFC2046]
"Multipurpose Internet Mail Extensions (MIME) Part Two: Media Types", N. Freed, N. Borenstein, November 1996.
[UAAG10]
"User Agent Accessibility Guidelines 1.0", I. Jacobs, J. Gunderson, E. Hansen, eds. The latest draft of the guidelines is available at http://www.w3.org/WAI/UA/UAAG10/.
[WCAG10]
"Web Content Accessibility Guidelines 1.0", W. Chisholm, G. Vanderheiden, and I. Jacobs, eds., 5 May 1999. This W3C Recommendation is http://www.w3.org/TR/1999/WAI-WEBCONTENT-19990505/.

[guidelines]   [linear checklist]