>Posted-Date: Sun, 7 Nov 1999 23:51:23 -0600 (CST)
>Date: Mon, 8 Nov 1999 00:57:21 -0500
>Reply-To: "BLIND-DEV: Development of Adaptive Hardware & Software for the
> Blind/VI" <BLIND-DEV@MAELSTROM.STJOHNS.EDU>
>Sender: "BLIND-DEV: Development of Adaptive Hardware & Software for the
> Blind/VI" <BLIND-DEV@MAELSTROM.STJOHNS.EDU>
>From: "Gregory J. Rosmaita" <unagi69@CONCENTRIC.NET>
>Subject: Public Review of W3C/WAI User Agent Guidelines Ends 12/1/99
>X-cc: Jon Gunderson <jongund@uiuc.edu>, Judy Brewer <jbrewer@w3.org>,
> Ian Jacobs <ij@w3.org>
>To: BLIND-DEV@MAELSTROM.STJOHNS.EDU
>
>User Agent Accessibility Guidelines Final Working Draft Open to Public Review
>Until December 1, 1999
>
>INTRODUCTION
>The [1]Web Accessibility Initiative (WAI) of the [2]World Wide Web Consortium
>(W3C) is fielding public commentary on the final working draft of its [3]User
>Agent Accessibility Guidelines until December 1, 1999.
>
>The following announcement is a plain text image of the hypertext document
>located at:
> http://www.hicom.net/~oedipus/vicug/uagl_last_call.html
>if you have access to the web, you are strongly encouraged to use the
>hypertextualized version of this document, so as to take advantage of the
>hyperlinks to related resources and background materials embedded therein.
>This plain text notice was generated using Lynx, which was set to report
>hyperlinks as numbers. A list of hyperlink references follows the body of the
>document.
>
>This document is separated into three parts:
> Part 1. What Are the User Agent Accessibility Guidelines?
> Part 2. What Is Last Call?
> Part 3. Making Sure Your Voice Is Heard
> _________________________________________________________________
>
>Part 1: What Are the User Agent Accessibility Guidelines?
>
> The User Agent Accessibility Guidelines (UAGL) are part of a series of
> accessibility guidelines published by the W3C's [4]Web Accessibility
> Initiative. The series also includes the [5]Authoring Tool
> Accessibility Guidelines and the [6]Web Content Accessibility
> Guidelines.
>
> The User Agent Accessibility Guidelines provides guidance for
> developers of "user agents"--software which presents web-based content
> to an end user, such as yourself. While it is common for people to use
> the terms "user agent" and "browser" as synonyms, the term "user
> agent" encompasses much more than just web browsers, such as Lynx,
> Netscape Navigator, and Internet Explorer. The term "user agent" also
> describes Open eBook players, Digital Talking Book players, streaming
> media (such as RealAudio and RealVideo) players, and any other
> applications which enable you to retrieve and review documents or
> files which are encoded in what are usually thought of as web-based
> formats, such as HTML, XML, SMIL, and SVG, to name but a few. It
> also addresses the accessibility of multimedia players and plugins.
>
> The purpose of the User Agent Accessibility Guidelines, therefore, is
> to provide guidance for developers of "user agents" so that their
> products will be accessible to people with disabilities. The UAGL
> defines an "accessible user agent" as an application that allows users
> with disabilities to retrieve and review Web content or which enables
> access to web based content when the user agent is used in conjunction
> with assistive technologies. The UAGL therefore, not only discuss the
> accessibility of the user agent itself, but also how the user agent
> exposes information to, and communicates with, assistive technologies
> such as screen readers, screen magnifiers, braille displays, and voice
> input software.
>
> The Guidelines have been organized as follows:
> 1. There are eleven "guidelines" Each guideline includes:
> + a guideline number;
> + the statement of the guideline;
> + the rationale behind the guideline;
> + a list of checkpoint definitions.
> 2. Each guideline specifies one or more prioritized "checkpoints"
> that explain how developers of user agents can satisfy the
> guideline. Each checkpoint definition includes:
> + a checkpoint number;
> + the statement of the checkpoint;
> + the [7]priority of the checkpoint;
> + (in some cases) informative notes, clarifying examples, or
> cross references to related guidelines or checkpoints;
> + A link to a section of the Techniques Document where
> implementations and examples of the checkpoint are discussed;
> Each checkpoint is intended to be specific enough that it can be
> verified, while being sufficiently general to allow developers the
> freedom to use the most appropriate strategies to meet the
> checkpoint.
>
> The Guidelines document includes a [8]conformance statement that
> explains how programs that retrieve and render web-based content--such
> as a browser, a PC-based Digital Talking Book Player, or a multimedia
> player--can claim conformance to the User Agent Accessibility
> Guidelines.
>
> The Guidelines are also accompanied by another document, entitled
> "[9]Techniques for User Agent Accessibility Guidelines". The
> Techniques document explains in detail how software developers may
> implement the checkpoints enumerated in the Guidelines. It also
> includes references to other accessibility resources, such as
> platform-specific software accessibility guidelines, which give
> additional information on how a tool may satisfy each checkpoint.
> (Please note that the Techniques document, which continues to evolve,
> is not entering "last call", although comments about techniques are
> still welcome.)
>
> The Guidelines have been produced by the W3C's [10]User Agent
> Guidelines Working Group as part of the [11]Web Accessibility
> Initiative.
> ____________________________________________________
>
>Part 2: What is Last Call?
>
> The [12]User Agent Accessibility Guidelines have now entered "Last
> Call" status. Within the W3C, "Last Call" status signifies a final
> review period before a working draft becomes a "Proposed
> Recommendation". Once the "Last Call" period ends on December 1, 1999,
> the User Agent Accessibility Guidelines will then be circulated to
> [13]W3C Member organizations for review--the final step in deciding
> whether the Guidelines will or will not become a W3C Recommendation,
> and, hence, carry the same weight as the markup languages (such as
> HTML, SMIL, and StyleSheets) that form the foundation of the web.
>
> Once the "last call" period has ended, all comments have been
> evaluated, and the W3C Director, [14]Tim Berners-Lee, has reviewed the
> document, the Guidelines will become a [15]Proposed Recommendation.
> ____________________________________________________
>
>Part 3: Making Sure YOUR Voice Is Heard
>
> Since this is the last opportunity to comment on the User Agent
> Guidelines, you are strongly urged to take the time to [16]review the
> Last Call Draft of the UAGL, in order to ensure that the guidelines
> contained therein accurately reflect your concerns about the
> accessibility of user agents. The web shouldn't be a cyber-ghetto
> ringed with walls of silence, so let the [17]User Agent Guidelines
> Working Group know what features you need built into a user agent, so
> that you can use it obtain information from the web independently,
> efficiently, and expeditiously, and without recourse to stripped-down
> versions of web sites.
>
> Once you have reviewed the [18]User Agent Guidelines you can
> forward your comments to the User Agent Working Group by December 1,
> 1999, using the following eddress:
>
> <w3c-wai-ua@w3.org>
>
> All comments, and responses to them, will be [19]archived for public
> reference. Comments that you wish to keep private, and which will
> only be reviewed by W3C Members may be sent to:
>
> <w3c-wai-cg@w3.org>
>
> Please note that the "Last Call" period ends on December 1, 1999, and
> that the Working Group will not be able to incorporate "Last Call"
> comments which are received after that date.
>
> The User Agent Accessibility Guidelines Working Group requests that
> reviewers carefully consider the following unresolved issues:
>
> * Checkpoints 10.1 and 10.2 require user agents to make
> available to users information about the current input
> configuration (e.g., keyboard input). These checkpoints have been
> assigned different priorities: Priority 1 for user-specified
> configuration and Priority 2 for author-specified configuration
> (e.g., access keys). The Working Group did not reach consensus on
> whether these two checkpoints should be merged into a single
> checkpoint, and what the priority of such a checkpoint would be.
>
> * Checkpoint 6.1 (Priority 1) asks user agents to implement the
> accessibility features of supported specifications. In the
> [20]Authoring Tool Guidelines Proposed Recommendation, checkpoints
> that refer to content accessibility do so by "Relative Priority".
> This means that the priority of the checkpoint in the UAGL depends
> on how much you wish to conform to the [21]Web Content
> Accessibility Guidelines. There has been a suggestion to make this
> a checkpoint with a Relative Priority rather than Priority 1. The
> Working Group did not reach consensus on whether the burden of
> doing so (complicating the priority definition) outweighed the
> benefit of consistency among the three sets of Guidelines. Also,
> it is not clear that a Priority 3 requirement in WCAG would always
> be a Priority 3 requirement in UAGL (i.e., it may be more
> important to implement a feature than for the author to supply
> it). Comments on the proposal to make this checkpoint a Relative
> Priority checkpoint are welcome.
>
>Hyperlink References
>1. http://www.w3.org/WAI/
>2. http://www.w3.org/
>3. http://www.w3.org/TR/WD-WAI-USERAGENT-19990511
>4. http://www.w3.org/WAI/
>5. http://www.w3.org/TR/WAI-AUTOOLS/
>6. http://www.w3.org/TR/WAI-WEBCONTENT
>7. http://www.w3.org/TR/1999/WD-WAI-USERAGENT-19991105/#priorities
>8. http://www.w3.org/TR/1999/WD-WAI-USERAGENT-19991105/#conformance
>9. http://www.w3.org/TR/1999/WD-WAI-USERAGENT-TECHS-19991105/
>10. http://www.w3.org/WAI/UA/
>11. http://www.w3.org/WAI/
>12. http://www.w3.org/TR/1999/WD-WAI-USERAGENT-19991105
>13. http://www.w3.org/Consortium/Member/List
>14. http://www.w3.org/People/Berners-Lee/
>15. http://www.w3.org/Consortium/Process/#RecsPR
>16. http://www.w3.org/TR/1999/WD-WAI-USERAGENT-19991105
>17. http://www.w3.org/wai/ua/
>18. http://www.w3.org/TR/1999/WD-WAI-USERAGENT-19991105
>19. http://lists.w3.org/Archives/Public/w3c-wai-ua/
>20. http://www.w3.org/TR/1999/PR-WAI-AUTOOLS-19991026
>21. http://www.w3.org/TR/1999/WAI-WEBCONTENT-19990505
>--------------------------------------------------------
>He that lives on Hope, dies farting
> -- Benjamin Franklin, Poor Richard's Almanack, 1763
>--------------------------------------------------------
>Gregory J. Rosmaita <unagi69@concentric.net>
> WebMaster and Minister of Propaganda, VICUG NYC
> <http://www.hicom.net/~oedipus/vicug/index.html>
>--------------------------------------------------------
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