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Scalable Vector Graphics (SVG) offers a number of features to make graphics on the Web more accessible than is currently possible, to a wider group of users. Users who benefit include users with low vision, color blind or blind users, and users of assistive technologies. A number of these SVG features can also increase usability of content for many users without disabilities, such as users of personal digital assistants, mobile phones or other non-traditional Web access devices.
Accessibility requires that the features offered by SVG are correctly used and supported. This Note describes the SVG features that support accessibility and illustrates their use with examples.
This document is a Note made available by the W3C for discussion only. Publication of this Note by W3C indicates no endorsement by the W3C Team or any W3C Members. The Note is based on the SVG Candidate Recommendation [SVG]. This Note is made available at the same time as the SVG Candidate Recommendation in order to provide information on potential implementation considerations.
This version of the Note has received some review but not yet endorsement from the SVG Working Group and the Protocols and Formats Working Group. These groups, together with the Education and Outreach Working Group, the WAI Interest Group, and others are invited to review this document, in particular, during the SVG Candidate Recommendation period.
The authors plan to publish an updated version of this Note in any of the following circumstances:
Please send comments to the WAI Education and Outreach Working Group mailing list w3c-wai-eo@w3.org, which is archived publicly at http://lists.w3.org/Archives/Public/w3c-wai-eo/. This document has been produced as part of the WAI Technical Activity. A list of current W3C technical reports and publications, including Working Drafts and Notes, can be found at http://www.w3.org/TR.
Images, sound, text and interaction all play a role in conveying information on the Web. In many cases, images have an important role in conveying, clarifying, and simplifying information. In this way, multimedia itself benefits accessibility. However the information presented in images must be accessible to all users, including users with non-visual devices. Furthermore, in order to have full access to the Web, it is important that authors with disabilities can create Web content, including images as part of that content.
The working context of people with (or without) disabilities can vary enormously. Many users or authors:
Increasing the accessibility of images can benefit a wide variety of users and authors including many people who do not have a disability but who have similar needs. For example, someone may be working in an eyes-busy environment and thus may require an audio equivalent for information they cannot view. Users of small mobile devices (with small screens, no keyboard, and no mouse) have similar functional needs to users with certain disabilities. For some further information on how people with disabilities use the Web, refer to "How People with Disabilities Use the Web" [USENOTE].
Scalable Vector Graphics [SVG] is an Extensible Markup Language (XML) application for producing Web graphics. SVG provides many accessibility benefits to disabled users, some originating from the vector graphics model, some inherited because SVG is built on top of XML, and some in the design of SVG itself, for example, SVG-specific elements for alternative equivalents.
SVG images are scalable - they can be zoomed and resized by the reader as needed. Scaling can help users with low vision and users of some assistive technologies (e.g., tactile graphic devices, which typically have a very low resolution).
The following example illustrates the scalability of a vector graphics image. The first row shows a small PNG and a corresponding SVG image, which look the same. The second row shows an enlargement of both. The enlarged PNG version of the image has suffered a significant loss of quality, while the enlarged SVG version looks smooth and shows more details than before. Scalable graphics can help users with low vision make sense of an image at a size that best suits their needs.
| Small PNG image:
|
Small SVG image:
|
| Enlarged PNG image:
|
Enlarged SVG image:
|
The most common way authors make a raster image (e.g., GIF or PNG images) accessible on the Web is to provide a text equivalent that may be rendered with or without the image. Often, this text equivalent is the only information available for non-visual rendering, as the raster image is stored as a matrix of colored dots, generally with no structural information. Structural information can be added to any image as metadata, but managing it separately from the visible image is tedious, making it less likely that authors will create and use it with careful attention. SVG's vector-graphics format stores structural information about graphical shapes as an integral part of the image. As we discuss below, this information can be used by assistive technologies to increase accessibility, especially when this structural information is complemented by alternative equivalents and metadata.
In addition to image structure, SVG allows for alternative equivalents - content that users can access to help them understand the image. In particular, SVG authors to include a text description for each logical component of an image, and a text title to explain the component's role in the image as a whole. Text is considered very accessible to users with a range of disabilities (e.g., some vision impairments and some cognitive disabilities) since it may be rendered on screen, as speech, or as Braille using readily available assistive technology.
One major accessibility benefit derived from XML is that an SVG image is encoded as plain text. Authors can create and edit it with a text-processor or XML authoring tool (there are other properties of SVG that make this easier than it might seem at first). A number of popular Web design tools are in fact enhanced text-editing applications, and for users with certain types of disabilities, these are much easier to use. Naturally, it is also possible to use graphic SVG authoring tools that require very little reading and writing, which helps people with other types of disabilities.
Plain text encoding also means that people may use relatively simple, text-based XML user agents to render SVG as text, braille, or audio. This can help users with visual impairments, and can be used to supplement graphical rendering.
The separation of style from the rest of the content is very important for accessibility. Authors may use CSS or XSL style sheets to control the rendering of SVG images, a feature common to all markup languages written in XML. Users who might otherwise be unable to access content can define stylesheets to control the rendering of SVG images, meeting their needs without losing additional author-supplied style.
SVG offers a number of style features beyond the properties defined in CSS to provide specific graphic effects for controlling how images are rendered. These style features can help authors to create content that can be easily adapted to the needs of users with low vision, color deficiencies, or users with assistive technologies. Features such as masking, filters, and the ability to define highly sophisticated fonts are all available in SVG.
Another benefit of using XML is that interaction can be made accessible through the Document Object Model (DOM). The DOM interface can enable the use of many assistive technologies with SVG images. SVG allows access to both stylesheet and XML content as it uses DOM version 2 (DOM2) [DOM2].
SVG documents may be included in documents written in other XML languages, and may also include markup from other XML languages. Mixing markup language can increase accessibility because authors may use the markup language most suited to each part of a document (refer to the Web Content Accessibility Guidelines 1.0 [WCAG10], Guideline 3). For instance, a MathML document could use SVG for both laying out equations and drawing graphs of those equations. In examples below, we show how to describe SVG components and their relationships by embedding RDF metadata and SMIL markup in the SVG.
This document highlights the features in SVG that support accessibility. In Sections 2, 3, 4, 5 and 6 we discuss the accessibility features of SVG (including the use of stylesheets). Section 7 explains the accessibility benefits that originate from XML.
This document makes extensive reference to the accessibility requirements specified in the Authoring Tool Accessibility Guidelines 1.0 Recommendation (ATAG10) [ATAG10], the Web Content Accessibility Guidelines 1.0 Recommendation (WCAG10) [WCAG10], and the User Agent Accessibility Guidelines Working Draft (UAAG10) [UAAG10]. It also makes extensive reference to Cascading Style Sheets Level 2 (CSS2) [CSS2]. A reader who has a basic knowledge of HTML or XML and of CSS (level one or two) should be able to understand enough of the markup to make sense of the examples. Even without that knowledge, it is worth reading the examples to see how they work - as well as illustrating accessible design in many cases they demonstrate good general design practices.
To illustrate how to create accessible SVG graphics, we design an SVG diagram of a computer network, built up from example to example. Examples use strong emphasis to highlight changes from example to example, or important features of an example.
Providing an alternative equivalent for inaccessible content is one of the primary ways authors can make their documents accessible to people with disabilities. The alternative content fulfills essentially the same function or purpose for users with disabilities as the primary content does for users without any disability. Text equivalents are always required for graphic information (refer to [WCAG10], Checkpoint 1.1, and Guideline 1 in general). In SVG, providing a hierarchy of text equivalents can also convey the hierarchical structure of the graphic components. This Note describes a number of ways to include and use equivalent alternatives.
The simplest way to specify a text equivalent for an SVG graphic is to include the following elements in any SVG container or graphics element:
titletitle element may be rendered by a graphical user agent as
a tooltip. It may be rendered as speech by a speech synthesizer.descThe following example (2.1) is a simple SVG document that includes a title and a description for an image of a computer network. The graphic components that can actually be drawn will be added to the image in later sections.
Example 2.1: A simple SVG
document with title and desc elements (download structure in 2.1).
<?xml version="1.0"?><!DOCTYPE svg PUBLIC "-//W3C//DTD SVG 20000802//EN" "http://www.w3.org/TR/2000/CR-SVG-20000802/DTD/svg-20000802.dtd"> <svg width="6in" height="4.5in" viewBox="0 0 600 450"> <title>Network</title> <desc>An example of a computer network based on a hub</desc> </svg>
An SVG image may consist of several components combined hierarchically, each of which may have a title and a description. The combination of the hierarchy and alternative equivalents can help a user who cannot see to create a rough mental model of an image. SVG authors should therefore build the hierarchy so that it reflects the components of the object illustrated by the image. Some guidance for using structure can be found in WCAG10 (refer to [WCAG10], Guidelines 3 and 12).
The component hierarchy with alternative equivalents can be used in different ways by different user agents. For instance, a simple non-visual user agent can provide access to the component hierarchy and allow the user to navigate up and down or at a certain level of the structure, giving the equivalent description of each encountered component (refer to UAAG10 [UAAG10], Checkpoints 7.6 and 7.7 and Guidelines 7 and 8). A standard XML browser, which does not render SVG as graphics, may also do this. A multimedia-capable user agent might name each component that has focus through speech output, much as some Web browsers render alternative text for images as tooltips.
The following example (2.2) extends the network image component introduced in example 2.1 by introducing six subcomponents:
Each subcomponent is included as a container element (g) with
an id attribute and a text equivalent, specified with
title and desc elements.
Example 2.2: A structured SVG document with alternative equivalents (download structure in 2.2).
<?xml version="1.0"?>
<!DOCTYPE svg PUBLIC "-//W3C//DTD SVG 20000802//EN"
"http://www.w3.org/TR/2000/CR-SVG-20000802/DTD/svg-20000802.dtd">
<svg width="6in" height="4.5in" viewBox="0 0 600 450">
<title>Network</title>
<desc>An example of a computer network based on a hub</desc>
<!-- add graphic content here, and so on for the other components-->
</g>
<g id="ComputerA">
<title>Computer A</title>
<desc>A common desktop PC</desc>
</g>
<g id="ComputerB">
<title>Computer B</title>
<desc>A common desktop PC</desc>
</g>
<g id="CableA">
<title>Cable A</title>
<desc>10BaseT twisted pair cable</desc>
</g>
<g id="CableB">
<title>Cable B</title>
<desc>10BaseT twisted pair cable</desc>
</g>
<g id="CableN">
<title>Cable N</title>
<desc>10BaseT twisted pair cable</desc>
</g>
</svg>One simple way a user agent could render the image in Example 2.2 is to
show the alternative equivalents as text, as in the next figure (2.3). Example 4.2 in Section 4 shows how to
attach CSS2 [CSS2] style information to the
title and desc elements of the image. Note that
without definitions for these elements, a user agent would render nothing to
the user.
Figure 2.3: Textual representation of Example 2.2 when it is rendered with the stylesheet in Example 4.2.
Network An example of a computer network based on a hub
Hub A typical 10baseT/100BaseTX network hub
Computer A A common desktop PC
Computer B A common desktop PC
Cable A 10BaseT twisted pair cable
Cable B 10BaseT twisted pair cable
Cable N 10BaseT twisted pair cable
Users examining images visually can divide them into components and connections between these components. The author guides the division by using visual means, such as the adjacency, colors, patterns, sizes and shapes of the components. When the image cannot be clearly seen other available information must be used. For instance, with certain kinds of graphic images the author can also provide a well-constructed component structure. From that users can easily discover which graphical elements are included in each component, and what components are reused in the image.
With some images the rendering order may make it impossible to follow a
logical component structure. In this case the structure needs to be clearly
explained in the desc element. The structural information does
not remove the need for author-provided equivalent information. But it can
help a user to gain deeper understanding of the image. Authoring tools can
support authors to provide a good structure that is easy to understand by
providing ways to visualize the component hierarchy (refer to Authoring Tool
Accessibility Guidelines [ATAG10], checkpoint 3.2).
The reuse of components saves time as users only need to examine the same component once. The ability to reuse structured components also helps authors, including authors with disabilities, because changing images becomes easier to manage. The structure of an image can also help the author when it is used for editing purposes. This is a requirement of the Authoring Tool Accessibility Guidelines (refer to to [ATAG10], Checkpoint 7.5). Because image components can include alternative equivalents, it is also possible to build up libraries of annotated multimedia (refer to to [ATAG10], Checkpoint 3.5).
SVG allows authors to create familiar basic shapes such as rectangles, circles, ellipses and polygons. Manipulating these shapes is often easier than drawing in free space (which is why it is a common feature of image authoring tools), and SVG allows the information that there is a square or an ellipse to be encoded in the image. This allows easy editing of the shapes as shapes. As we show in section 4.1 the use of stylesheets can make it easy to at least list the basic shape or shapes used to represent an object. In the following example (3.1) we create the basis of the hub for the network image. We have two rectangles, one inside the other, and a small circle inside the larger rectangle.
Example 3.1: Adding some shapes to form an image of a Hub (download hub image in 3.1).
<?xml version="1.0"?>
<?xml-stylesheet href="svg-basic-style.css" type="text/css"?>
<!DOCTYPE svg PUBLIC "-//W3C//DTD SVG 20000802//EN"
"http://www.w3.org/TR/2000/CR-SVG-20000802/DTD/svg-20000802.dtd">
<svg width="6in" height="4.5in" viewBox="0 0 600 450">
<g transform="translate(10 10)">
<title>Hub</title>
<desc>A typical 10BaseT/100BaseTX network hub</desc>
<rect width="253" height="84"/>
<rect width="230" height="44" x="12" y="10"/>
<circle cx="227" cy="71" r="7"/>
</g>
</svg>Figure 3.2: Visual rendering of Example 3.1.
Images often include text that explains or names the elements presented in
the image. In raster formats the text is converted to pixels and is no longer
available to assistive technologies, but with SVG the text is contained in
text elements that keep the textual form intact. Furthermore, the
text from other elements, such as text equivalents, can be reused. This helps
in managing text as it only needs to be changed at one place.This can help
authors for whom entering content is difficult, and helps by ensuring that
when one piece of text changes other text that depends on it will
automatically be updated..
In the following example (3.3), we add a text element to the
image of the Hub that was described in Example 3.1.
This text element reuses the title text of the Hub
image by referring to it with a tref element and rendering it as
part of the text element. An id attribute is added
to the title element so that it can be referenced.
Example 3.3: Reusing
the title as text in the Hub image (download hub image in 3.3).
<?xml version="1.0"?>
<?xml-stylesheet href="svg-basic-style.css" type="text/css"?>
<!DOCTYPE svg PUBLIC "-//W3C//DTD SVG 20000802//EN"
"http://www.w3.org/TR/2000/CR-SVG-20000802/DTD/svg-20000802.dtd">
<svg width="6in" height="4.5in" viewBox="0 0 600 450">
<g transform="translate(10 30)">
<title id="hub">Hub</title>
<desc>A typical 10BaseT/100BaseTX network hub</desc>
<!-- Re-use the text in the title element -->
<text x="0" y="-10">
<tref xlink:href="#hub"/>
</text>
<rect width="253" height="84"/>
<rect width="230" height="44" x="12" y="10"/>
<circle cx="227" cy="71" r="7"/>
</g>
</svg>Figure 3.4: Visual rendering of Example 3.3.
SVG allows the construction and reuse of graphic components. This makes it easier to understand the structure of complex images as the reusable components are defined only once and therefore need to be studied and understood only once. This helps especially if the alternative means of examining the image are more time consuming. Serial means of inspecting information (for example speech output or braille) have often been compared to reading through a soda straw. It can take a lot longer to understand context and relationships than it does by visual inspection since it is a slower means of receiving the information, and a mental model of the relationships must often be assembled without the benefit of a visual representation of the structure.
An authoring tool may also utilize this feature to help to create and modify graphics with standard components. This can also help authors who have difficulties with fine motor control as there is less drawing and writing required.
In the following example (3.5) we define a socket, and add several of them to the hub defined earlier:
Example 3.5: Adding sockets to the Hub in Example 3.3 (download hub image in 3.5).
<?xml version="1.0"?>
<?xml-stylesheet href="svg-basic-style.css" type="text/css"?>
<!DOCTYPE svg PUBLIC "-//W3C//DTD SVG 20000802//EN"
"http://www.w3.org/TR/2000/CR-SVG-20000802/DTD/svg-20000802.dtd">
<svg width="6in" height="4.5in" viewBox="0 0 600 450">
<g transform="translate(10 30)">
<!-- Define a socket -->
<defs>
<symbol id="hubPlug">
<desc>A 10BaseT/100baseTX socket</desc>
<path d="M0,5 h5 v-9 h12 v9 h5 v16 h-22 z"/>
</symbol>
</defs>
<title id="hub">Hub</title>
<desc>A typical 10BaseT/100BaseTX network hub</desc>
<text x="0" y="-10">
<tref xlink:href="#hub"/>
</text>
<rect width="253" height="84"/>
<rect width="229" height="44" x="12" y="10"/>
<circle cx="227" cy="71" r="7"/>
<!-- five groups each using the defined socket -->
<g transform="translate(25 25)" id="sock1">
<title>Socket 1</title>
<use xlink:href="#hubPlug"/>
</g>
<g transform="translate(70 25)" id="sock2">
<title>Socket 2</title>
<use xlink:href="#hubPlug"/>
</g>
<!-- (and three more) -->
</g>
</svg>Figure 3.6: A visual rendering of Example 3.5.
SVG images can also include components or complete images from other documents using XML Linking Language [XLINK]. Xlink enables easy construction and re-use of libraries of known images which can be available locally or on the Web. For authors, this means being able to use a known graphic component even when it cannot be seen. For users who cannot see, a library of described images or image components can be used to help identify standard graphic components.
The following example (3.7) adds images and symbols from the web, a
text element and some graphics to the Network structure presented
earlier.
Example 3.7: Adding graphics to the Network components presented in Example 2.2 (download network image in 3.7).
<?xml version="1.0"?>
<?xml-stylesheet href="svg-style.css" type="text/css"?>
<!DOCTYPE svg PUBLIC "-//W3C//DTD SVG 20000802//EN"
"http://www.w3.org/TR/2000/CR-SVG-20000802/DTD/svg-20000802.dtd">
<svg width="6in" height="4.5in" viewBox="0 0 600 450">
<title id="mainTitle">Network</title>
<desc>An example of a computer network based on a hub</desc>
<!-- Draw text. -->
<text x="0" y="-10">
<tref xlink:href="#mainTitle"/>
</text>
<!-- Use the hub image and its title and description information. -->
<g id="hub" transform="translate(180 200)">
<image width="600" height="450" xlink:href="hub.svg"/>
</g>
<!-- Use an external computer symbol. Scale to fit. -->
<g id="ComputerA" transform="translate(20 170)">
<title>Computer A</title>
<use xlink:href="computer.svg#terminal"
transform="scale(0.5)"/>
</g>
<!-- Use the same computer symbol. -->
<g id="ComputerB" transform="translate(300 170)">
<title>Computer B</title>
<use xlink:href="computer.svg#terminal"
transform="scale(0.5)"/>
</g>
<g id="CableA" transform="translate(107 88)">
<title>Cable A</title>
<desc>10BaseT twisted pair cable</desc>
<!-- Draw Cable A. -->
<path d="M0,0c100,140 50,140 -8,160"/>
</g>
<!-- (and the other two cables) -->
</svg>Note that we did not add title or desc elements
for the hub component, since it refers to an SVG image that
already contains those elements, and has its own Document Object Model (this
would not be the case if the hub had been a raster image format). According to
Checkpoint 2.1 of the User Agent Accessibility Guidelines [UAAG10]] these equivalents should be made available to the
user by a user agent. Similarly each computer image already has a
desc element defined as part of the symbol element so it
does not need to be repeated. But each computer needs an individual
title to describe the role it plays in the network image.
Figure 3.8: A visual rendering of Example 3.7.
One of the main themes in the Web Content Accessibility Guidelines is the separation of structure and information from style and presentation (refer to [WCAG10], Checkpoint 3.3 and Guideline 3). When the author separates structure from the description of how it is to be rendered, users can more easily adapt the rendering to meet their needs. Furthermore, an author working with a graphic editor can adjust the presentation to suit their needs for authoring and provide a different presentation for publishing as required by Authoring Tool Accessibility Guidelines [ATAG10] Checkpoint 7.2.
Positioning graphic elements is so fundamental to most images that it is generally included in the SVG elements themselves, but stylesheets can be used for all other style definitions.
There are some style properties that are unique to SVG such as
fill, stroke and stroke-width, and the
extensions for using effects written in SVG, but the syntax is the same.
Importantly, SVG uses the CSS2 [CSS2] version of the
Cascade, providing the user with the final say over presentation.
In the following sections we look at different aspects of separating style and content in SVG. We start with adding simple style definitions to SVG elements. We then look at using classes to add more semantics and grouping to the elements, and providing style definitions for different media. Finally, we illustrate how SVG allows authors to define their own style effects to be used for fonts, masks, filters, fills, etc. In this way it is often possible to prevent the loss of important information that might otherwise be mixed with style definitions.
SVG uses CSS syntax and properties or XSL to specify formatting effects with stylesheets. Stylesheets give the author a means to specify rich presentations, while ensuring that the different presentation-related needs of users can be met (refer to [WCAG10], Checkpoint 3.3 and Guideline 3 in general and to Accessibility Features of CSS2 [CSS-access]).
Although it is possible to specify style as attributes of particular
elements, or as part of a style element, we have chosen to
demonstrate mostly external linked stylesheets. The User Agent Guidelines [UAAG10] require that a user can select among stylesheets,
including user stylesheets, and with external stylesheets authors can more
easily supply a set of alternative stylesheets. An external stylesheet or a
separate style element helps the author to make style changes to selected
elements in one place.
Style rules using element or class selectors should generally be preferred
over the styles based on id attribute selectors or inline style
attributes. Classes can be valuable, for instance if the graphical elements or
their combinations have different semantic meanings (see examples in Section
4.2). Inline style attributes or id-based style rules mean each
element's style needs to be changed separately. Although this may be managed
for authors by their authoring tools, inline styles are also more difficult to
override for users with disabilities or with restrictions in their environment
or the devices that they are using. This is especially true if the inline
style definitions illustrate an implicit semantic grouping of the elements
with no class definitions to support it.
If a particular set of inline style properties is used consistently it can
be a good clue that the set of properties are being used to identify a class
of objects. Instead the objects should have an appropriate class
attribute and a stylesheet should be used to provide presentation
information.
In SVG, the default rendering of graphic elements is a black fill, so without a stylesheet all the presented shapes would be solid black. To avoid that, the previous examples provide a link to the simple stylesheet presented in the next example (4.1). It contains simple style definitions for rendering simple graphic elements like rectangles, circles and paths.
Example 4.1: A simple stylesheet for presenting rectangle, circle, and path elements (download stylesheet in 4.1).
rect { fill: white; stroke: black;
stroke-width: 1
}
circle { fill: red; stroke: black;
stroke-width: 1
}
path { fill: white; stroke: black;
stroke-width: 1
}The content of title and desc elements may not be
rendered by default in many circumstances. The following example (4.2) gives a
simple CSS stylesheet that can be used with a structured set of text
alternatives, such as in figure 2.2, to render the
content as text. The stylesheet makes only the title and
desc elements visible, as a block. Furthermore, the
title element directly inside the svg element will
be bigger and bolder than the other titles. The !important
declaration is used after each definition to make sure that when a user
applies this stylesheet it can override author-supplied style. The result has
been shown in figure 2.3 above.
Example 4.2: A simple
stylesheet to present title and desc elements as
text (download stylesheet in 4.2).
svg { visibility: hidden !important }
title { visibility: visible !important }
desc { visibility: visible !important }
g { display: block !important }
svg > title {
font-size: 120% !important;
font-weight: bolder !important
}To give the user a rough idea of the graphics shapes used in an image we
can use the following stylesheet (example 4.3). It will render the types of
common graphics elements as text in between the title and
desc renderings. We can use the stylesheet, for instance, to give
some information of the graphical shapes used in the Hub in Examples 3.1 and
3.2.
With CSS alone we cannot describe how the shapes are positioned in respect of one another, but it is possible to create specialized user agents that can read the SVG and describe the image in terms of shapes positioned above, below, inside each other. This information can be very helpful in interpreting some types of images for particular purposes, for example in describing construction of simple objects.
Example 4.3: A simple stylesheet with text for graphical shapes (download stylesheet in 4.3).
svg { visibility: hidden !important }
title { visibility: visible !important }
desc { visibility: visible !important }
g { display: block !important }
svg > title {
font-size: 120% !important;
font-weight: bolder !important;
}
rect:before {
visibility: visible;
content: "rectangle " !important
}
ellipse:before {
visibility: visible;
content: "ellipse " !important
}
circle:before {
visibility: visible;
content: "circle " !important
}
path[d ~= z]:before,
polygon:before {
visibility: visible;
content: "closed shape " !important
}As discussed earlier, with graphic images it is often necessary or helpful
to use classes to add semantics that can be used with style definitions. In
the next example we define an image of a computer to be used in the network we
have been building. The stylesheet for this image uses class
attributes to define styles for various types of image components. In
particular the class outline defines an outline that can be
rendered with minimal graphical details. (We also define a component with a
class of outline-only which is not rendered by the default
stylesheet).
Example 4.4: A computer image (download computer image in 4.4).
<?xml version="1.0"?><?xml-stylesheet href="svg-style.css" type="text/css"?>
<!DOCTYPE svg PUBLIC "-//W3C//DTD SVG 20000802//EN"
"http://www.w3.org/TR/2000/CR-SVG-20000802/DTD/svg-20000802.dtd">
<svg width="6in" height="4.5in" viewBox="0 0 600 450">
<defs>
<symbol id="terminal">
<desc>A common desktop PC</desc>
<g id="monitorStand" transform="translate(35 101)">
<title>Monitor stand</title>
<desc>One of those cool swiveling monitor stands
that sit under the monitor</desc>
<rect class="outline-only" width="80" height="20" x="5" y="0" />
<path d="m5 0 S 15 10 45 12"/>
<path d="m85 0 S 75 10 45 12"/>
<path d="m5 20 L 15 10 S 45 12 75 10 L 85 20z"/>
</g>
<g id="monitor" transform="translate(0 -20)">
<title>Monitor</title>
<desc>A very fancy monitor</desc>
<rect class="outline" width="160" height="120"/>
<rect class="screen" width="138" height="95" x="11" y="12" />
</g>
<g id="processor" transform="translate(0 122)">
<title>The computer</title>
<desc>A desktop computer - broad flat box style</desc>
<rect class="outline" width="160" height="60" />
<g id="discDrive" transform="translate(70 8)">
<title>disc drive</title>
<desc>A built-in disc drive</desc>
<rect class="disc" width="58" height="3" x="12" y="8" />
<rect class="light" width="8" height="2" x="12" y="15" />
</g>
<circle cx="135" cy="40" r="5"/>
</g>
</symbol>
</defs>
<g id="Computer" transform="translate(180 85)">
<title>Computer</title>
<use xlink:href="#terminal"/>
</g>
</svg>Figure 4.5: A visual rendering of the computer in Example 4.4
The following stylesheet defines some styles for the computer and its components.
Example 4.6: A stylesheet for the computer image in Example 4.4 (download stylesheet in 4.6).
/* Some style for the computer */
svg {
/* Default styles to be inherited */
fill: beige;
stroke: black;
stroke-width: 0.3}
.outline-only {visibility: hidden}
.light { fill: lightgreen}
.screen {fill: grey}The rendering of SVG images can be defined differently for different media. This is beneficial for accessibility as people with disabilities often use assistive technologies. For instance some media such as screens are suited to high-resolution graphics, while other media such as braille are better suited to lower resolution graphics, and some people use audio instead of graphics. Authors are therefore encouraged to provide a variety of ready-made stylesheets to cover different user needs (for example audio rendering). CSS can be used to provide an appropriate default presentation for all these different devices.
In the following example (4.7) we expand the stylesheet presented in the
last example (4.6) to provide a simplified version of the image for
low-resolution media, such as embossed, braille, handheld, or projection
devices using the outline and outline-only classes
defined in example 4.4. The appropriate set of style
definitions for those devices are selected by using CSS @media
rules [CSS2]. Within the simplified version only the text
and the outline of graphics components will be rendered, while the screen
media definitions use the default style presented in the previous example
(4.6).
Example 4.7: Extending stylesheet in Example 4.5 for different media (download full stylesheet in 4.7).
/* some style for low-resolution media */
@media embossed, braille, handheld {
svg { visibility: hidden }
.outline, .outline-only {
visibility: visible;
fill: none;
stroke: black;
stroke-width: 5
}
text { visibility: visible }
}
@media screen {
/* Some style for the computer */
}Text is important for accessibility as it can be transformed to many senses by using assistive technologies. However, authors often want to control the presentation of the text, for example for branding and visual communication purposes. In the past this has been done on the Web by providing an image of the desired text in a raster format. Instead, SVG enables this level of control by providing support for using already existing fonts or creating new fonts by using the graphics elements of SVG. This provides authors with a powerful mechanism for offering new sophisticated and extremely specialized fonts. At the same time the actual text rendered in those fonts can be accessed directly by the user agent.
The style definitions are gathered together and referenced through the classes in the elements instead of using a style attribute. This makes it easier for a user to override styles for different classes of elements when necessary. For instance, users with low vision or with color deficiencies might need to override style properties to read the text.
The following example uses a font named BaseTwelve to create the W3C logo. If the user does not have the BaseTwelve font then another (in this case system default) font will be used to render the text. Because the font is referenced from a CSS style declaration a user can also easily override it. Of course because this is an XML document a stylesheet can also be used to render the content (the letters "W 3 C") as a text-based presentation.
Example 4.8: Using text and fonts to form an image of W3C logo (download W3C logo in 4.8).
<?xml version="1.0"?>
<!DOCTYPE svg PUBLIC "-//W3C//DTD SVG 20000802//EN"
"http://www.w3.org/TR/2000/CR-SVG-20000802/DTD/svg-20000802.dtd">
<svg width="1.5in" height="1in" viewBox="0 0 150 100">
<defs>
<mask id="shadowMask">
<text class="masktext" transform="translate(-3,-4)">C</text>
</mask>
<style type="text/css">
svg { font:BaseTwelve; font-size:45; stroke-width:1 }
.w3crect { fill:white; stroke:none }
.w3cline { fill:black; stroke:black }
.bluetext { fill:blue; stroke:blue }
.masktext { fill:white; stroke:white }
.shadowtext { fill:black; stroke:black;
mask: url(#shadowMask)}
</style>
</defs>
<g id="w3clogo" transform="translate(10,10)scale(1.2)">
<title id="logotitle">W3C</title>
<rect class="w3crect" x="-2" y="0" width="80" height="59"/>
<g transform="translate(0,47)">
<desc>blue W and 3 and white C with a shadow</desc>
<text>
<tspan class="bluetext">W3</tspan>
<tspan class="shadowtext">C</tspan>
</text>
</g>
<g transform="translate(-2,0)">
<desc>line below and on top of W3C</desc>
<path class="w3cline" d="M0,0H80"/>
<path class="w3cline" d="M0,59H80"/>
</g>
</g>
</svg>
a)  |
b)  |
Often a particular font that users are not likely to have will be desired
for a logo. In SVG a new font can be defined by using the font
element. The following example defines a font named w3clogofont. It includes
the glyphs for the characters W, 3, and C. Each glyph element has a
human-readable title, and the letter C has a description of the special effect
provided for it.
Note that in the previous code example (4.9), the special shadow effect was defined with a mask, whereas in the following example (4.10) the character is defined directly. Authoring tools may choose to use either method for SVG fonts, depending on performance considerations. However it is important that the text content is in fact the required text - it would be possible to get the mask effect by placing a white "C" over the black one, but the text content would then be "W3CC" which is wrong. Use of SVG fonts allows designers to create very sophisticated or individual fonts while keeping the content as text.
Example 4.10: Defining a special font for the W3C logo (download W3C logo in 4.10).
<?xml version="1.0"?>
<!DOCTYPE svg PUBLIC "-//W3C//DTD SVG 20000802//EN"
"http://www.w3.org/TR/2000/CR-SVG-20000802/DTD/svg-20000802.dtd">
<svg width="1.5in" height="1in" viewBox="0 0 150 100">
<defs>
<style type="text/css">
svg { font:w3clogofont; font-size:45; stroke-width:1 }
.w3crect { fill:white; stroke:none }
.w3cline { fill:black; stroke:black }
.bluetext { fill: rgb(0,90,156); ;stroke:rgb(0,90,156); }
.whitetext { fill:white; stroke:white }
.shadowtext { fill:black; stroke:black}
glyph { fill: rgb(0,90,156) }
</style>
<font>
<font-face id="w3clogofont" units-per-em="55"
cap-height="39.604" x-height="25"
ascent="23" descent="12"
baseline="0" centerline="20"
topline="43" mathline="20" horiz-adv-x="2"
ideographic="5" hanging="0" />
<desc>w3clogofont</desc>
<missing-glyph>
<text>*</text>
</missing-glyph>
<glyph unicode="W" horiz-adv-x="39.1157">
<title>W</title>
<path d="M 19.8022,0 L 26.8921,24.105 33.9819,0 39.1157,0
L 27.3809,39.604 26.8921,39.604 19.5576,15.0596
L 12.2236,39.604 11.7349,39.604 0,0 5.13379,0
L 12.2236,24.105 17.0151,7.87262 14.6685,0z"/>
</glyph>
<glyph unicode="3" horiz-adv-x="19.9981">
<title>3</title>
<path d="M 19.9981,26.893
C 19.9981 30.479 19.0445 33.494 17.1377 35.938
C 15.2305 38.383 12.7613 39.604 9.73001 39.604
C 19.3457 21.466 19.9981 23.992 19.9981 26.893z"/>
<!-- (note that some path data has been removed from this example) -->
</glyph>
<glyph unicode="C" horiz-adv-x="20.416">
<title>C</title>
<desc>the shadow of a raised letter C</desc>
<path d="M 19.306,0
C 19.306 0 20.138 5.05597 20.138 5.05597
C 20.138 5.05597 17.194 10.688 17.194 10.688
C 19.953 33.412 20.416 32.513 20.416 32.513z"/>
<!-- some more path data ... -->
</glyph>
<hkern u1="W" u2="3" k="4.207"/>
</font>
</defs>
<g id="w3clogo" transform="translate(10,10) scale(1.2)">
<title id="logotitle">W3C</title>
<rect class="w3crect" x="-2" y="0" width="80" height="59"/>
<g transform="translate(0, 47)">
<desc>W3C logo</desc>
<text>
<tspan class="bluetext">W3</tspan>
<tspan class="shadowtext">C</tspan>
</text>
</g>
<g transform="translate(-2,0)">
<desc>line below and on top of W3C</desc>
<path class="w3cline" d="M0,0H80"/>
<path class="w3cline" d="M0,59H80"/>
</g>
</g>
</svg>In this way the possible range of style effects can be easily extended. At the same time they can still be clearly separated in parsing and processing from the information being presented, as required by Web Content Accessibility Guidelines [WCAG10] Checkpoint 3.3. In the following example (4.11) we create some stylistic effects for the computer defined in example 4.4 that are written in SVG but used from a stylesheet in the rendering process. This means a user can override the effects with another stylesheet if required, as discussed above. In this example we have defined gradient effects in a separate document, although it is also possible to define them within the image that they are first used in. In either case, they can then be reused in many documents, in the same way as a stylesheet or a known graphic component, and known patterns can be reused by an author who may have great difficulty in creating them.
Example 4.11: Defining some style values (download style values in 4.11).
<?xml version="1.0"?>
<!DOCTYPE svg PUBLIC "-//W3C//DTD SVG 20000802//EN"
"http://www.w3.org/TR/2000/CR-SVG-20000802/DTD/svg-20000802.dtd">
<svg width="6in" height="4.5in" viewBox="0 0 600 450">
<defs>
<radialGradient id="screenGrad" cx="0" cy="0" r="200">
<stop class="s100" offset="100%"/>
<stop class="s0" offset="0%"/>
</radialGradient>
<linearGradient id="discGrad">
<stop class="s100" offset="100%"/>
<stop class="s0" offset="0%"/>
</linearGradient>
</defs>
</svg>The following example (4.12) is an extended version of the stylesheet presented in Example 4.7 that uses the gradients to provide additional style for the computer in Example 4.4.
Example 4.12: An alternative stylesheet for the computer image in Example 4.4 (download stylesheet in 4.12).
/* Some style for the computer */
#screenGrad .s100 {stop-color:#AAA9A9 }
#screenGrad .s0 {stop-color:black }
#discGrad .s100 {stop-color:beige }
#discGrad .s0 {stop-color:black }
svg {
/* Default styles to be inherited */
fill: white;
stroke: black;
stroke-width: 0.3}
.outline-only { visibility: none}
.computer { fill: beige}
.screen { fill: url(style-values.svg#screenGrad)}
.disc { fill: url(style-values.svg#discGrad)}
.light { fill:lightgreen}Users must be able to use all the available functionality of a multimedia document regardless of the physical characteristics of the user agent or assistive technology used. In particular, the User Agent Accessibility Guidelines [UAAG10] require that the user can activate all the active elements in a document. SVG supports the use of the Document Object Model (DOM) and device-independent events, and they are highly recommended.
SVG also supports declarative definition of animations. These offer users better means to understand what is being changed and how than the use of scripting languages, such as Javascript or ECMAscript. For instance, it is easier to ensure that a user can turn off animations while still being presented with appropriate content, which is important for accessibility.
Finally, the users should be able to interact with links and other navigation means embedded in SVG images either serially, by using text equivalents, or spatially with more visual means.
SVG uses the new event set provided in DOM 2 [DOM2],
which supports device-independent interactive content. This allows authors of
SVG to to ensure that interactive content does not rely on a user having a
particular type of device. Good authoring practice will normally use the
focusin, focusout and activate events
rather than the device specific events for gaining and losing the focus on an
element or activating the element. In the next example (5.1) the animation is
triggered by an activate event, using different parameters for
different types of activations. Device-independent scripting is required by
Web Content Accessibility Guidelines [WCAG10]
checkpoints 9.3 and 6.4.
An accessible user agent will allow the triggering events to be generated from a mouse or other pointer device (where available) as well as from a keyboard. According to the User Agent Accessibility Guidelines [UAAG10], Guideline 1 and especially Checkpoint 1.1, user agents must provide device-independent ways of activating all application functions and indicate how those functions are activated (for example a text-based system could provide a "context menu" listing available actions to the user).
Animation can often clarify a graphic presentation or add eye-catching
movement to highlight important points. But animation may also prevent users
from reading adjacent information in the page, and animations with a certain
refresh rate can trigger discomfort or seizures in users with photosensitive
epilepsy. Users may also have difficulties in making selections fast enough if
they are embedded in the animation. Therefore animations need to be designed
carefully so that they do not affect accessibility or usability of the
presentation. The Web Content Accessibility Guidelines require that until user
agents allow the user to freeze or control the rate of an animation authors
should ensure that users can pause or stop moving content (refer to [WCAG10], Checkpoint, 3.5, 3.6, 3.8 and 7.3, and Guidelines
3 and 7), and the User Agent Accessibility Guidelines require that the
necessary functionality is provided by user agents (refer to [UAAG10] Checkpoints 1.1, 7.3 and Guideline 5) Note that it
is primarily a user agent rather than an authoring responsibility to provide
this functionality. SVG also provides means, such as the switch
element, to control the rendering of images containing animation for static
media such as print-output devices. We discuss switch in Section 6 below.
The animation model in SVG has been jointly developed by the SVG and the Synchronized Multimedia (SYMM) working groups, and is based on the SMIL-Boston animation specification [SMIL-animation]. The model offers a declarative approach for creating dynamic Web content. In many cases, this is simpler to understand and use than the programmatic model used in scripting languages such as ECMAscript or Javascript, when a non-graphic presentation is required. The animation model aims to allow user agents to provide information about what an animation is supposed to do even when the rendering device or environment does not have the media capabilities presumed by the author.
Because SVG is XML it provides user agents with a Document Object Model
(DOM), as discussed in Section 7 below. The
animate elements are included in the DOM, and are therefore
directly accessible to User Agents. As the animation effects do not produce
any changes in the DOM, the presentation related to animations can be handled
separately. A non-visual user agent can interpret the declarative description
of the animation and render it in the most appropriate manner. The User Agent
Accessibility guidelines require that a user agent provide assistive
technology with access to the DOM (refer to [UAAG10],
Checkpoints 5.1, 5.4 and Guideline 5 in general), so assistive technologies
can also provide an appropriate presentation of the animation effect when used
in conjunction with an SVG browser.
In the following example we use animation to highlight the path of messages
from Computer A to the outside world, or between computer A and computer B.
For some components we are animating style properties of the components. But
for some we also want to update the text equivalents, so we define two symbols
with different desc elements and class attributes,
and the animation effect swaps between them.
Figure 5.1: Animations when computer A is activated (download network animation in 5.1).
<?xml version="1.0"?> <?xml-stylesheet href="svg-style.css" type="text/css"?> <!DOCTYPE svg PUBLIC "-//W3C//DTD SVG 20000802//EN" "http://www.w3.org/TR/2000/CR-SVG-20000802/DTD/svg-20000802.dtd"> <svg width="6in" height="4.5in" viewBox="0 0 600 450"> <title id="mainTitle">Network</title> <desc>An example of a computer network based on a hub</desc> <!-- define symbols with class and descriptions to be animated --> <defs> <symbol id="CableA"> <desc> A 10BaseT ethernet cable</desc> <!-- Draw Cable A. --> <path d="M107,88c100,140 50,140 -8,160"/> </symbol> <symbol id="activeCableA"> <desc>The 10BaseT ethernet cable is active</desc> <!-- Draw Cable A highlighted --> <path class="highlight" d="M107,88c100,140 50,140 -8,160"/> </symbol> <!-- (and similarly for the other cables) --> </defs> <!-- animation to illustrate messages traveling to the outside net--> <animate xlink:href="#ComputerA" attributeName="class" to="highlight" begin="id(ComputerA).(activate(2))" dur="2s" fill="remove"/> <animate xlink:href="#CableAref" attributeName="xlink:href" to="#activeCableA" begin="id(ComputerA).(activate(2))(+2s)" dur="2s" fill="remove"/> <animate xlink:href="#hub" attributeName="class" to="highlight" begin="id(ComputerA).(activate(2))(+4s)" dur="2s" fill="remove"/> <animate xlink:href="#CableNref" attributeName="xlink:href" to="#activeCableN" begin="id(ComputerA).(activate(2))(+6s)" dur="2s" fill="remove"/> <!-- illustrate messages traveling between computer A and B --> <animate xlink:href="#ComputerA" attributeName="class" to="highlight" begin="id(ComputerA).(activate)" dur="2s" fill="remove"/> <!-- and so on --> <!-- Draw text. --> <text x="0" y="-10"> <tref xlink:href="#mainTitle"/> </text> <!-- Use the hub image and its title and description information. --> <g id="hub" transform="translate(180 200)"> <image width="600" height="450" xlink:href="hub.svg"/> </g> <!-- Use an external computer symbol. Scale to fit. --> <g id="ComputerA" transform="translate(20 170)"> <title>Computer A</title> <use xlink:href="computer.svg#terminal" transform="scale(0.5)"/> </g> <!-- (Use the same computer symbol again for computer B) --> <g> <title>Cable A</title> <use id="CableAref" xlink:href="#CableA" width="600" height="450"/> </g> <!-- (and similarly for the other cables) --></svg>
With SVG it is easy to add links to various parts of images. This is done
by including the graphics component inside an a element. The
a element should include an xlink:title attribute
that explains the target of the link and appropriate title and
desc elements should describe the graphical object that is being
linked to the target. The textual explanations are very important for the
users with blindness or low vision as they often navigate through the document
by moving from link to link and reading the link text or its text equivalent.
It is therefore important that the link (and its text equivalent) make sense
on its own (refer to [WCAG10], Checkpoint 13.3). Unless
SVG User Agents make this textual information available, authors will need to
include text-based links to content as well (refer to [WCAG10] checkpoint 1.5, although this should not apply to
newer user agents such as those designed for SVG).
Users relying heavily on visual information, such as some users with cognitive disabilities, may also need graphical links to be easily identified by visual means. For graphical links there is no default highlighting convention as underline is for textual links. These may be highlighted by expanding the size or color of the linked component, or adding a graphic mark near the component. We may also highlight the component only when it gets focus or when the user asks to see the links. Authors and user agents should aim for consistency when offering default highlighting styles. It is also important that users can easily change the highlighting according to their needs. This can be provided in user agents by implementing the relevant stylesheet features, for example in CSS [CSS2].
As many users who cannot use a pointing device navigate through links in serial order they need to be able to create a good mental model of the structures and shortcuts that make navigation more effective (refer to [WCAG10], Checkpoints 13.4, 13.5, and Guideline 3 in general). Such users will benefit if links can be traversed in an order that corresponds to the graphic structure, or if links related to a certain structure (for example all the buttons included in a cockpit radio panel) are grouped and can be easily skipped (refer to [WCAG10], Checkpoint 13.6).
It is possible in SVG to provide alternatives based on whether a feature is
supported (for example animation). This is done with the switch
element using requiredFeatures or systemLanguage
attributes. The following example (6.1) extends the previous animated example
(5.1). It uses the switch element to test whether a system
supports animation, and if not provides an alternative explanation of how the
network passes messages. The systemLanguage attribute could be
used instead (or as well) to provide multiple versions of text according to
the language, or to provide a sign-language version of descriptive text.
Figure 6.1: Providing
alternative content for an animation with switch element (download whole network in 6.1).
<?xml version="1.0"?>
<?xml-stylesheet href="svg-style.css" type="text/css"?>
<!DOCTYPE svg PUBLIC "-//W3C//DTD SVG 20000802//EN"
"http://www.w3.org/TR/2000/CR-SVG-20000802/DTD/svg-20000802.dtd">
<svg width="6in" height="4.5in" viewBox="0 0 600 450">
<title id="mainTitle">Network</title>
<desc>An example of a computer network based on a hub</desc>
<!-- define symbols to be animated --> <defs>
<symbol id="CableA">
<!-- (and the rest of the symbols) -->
</symbol>
</defs>
<switch>
<g requiredFeatures="org.w3c.svg.dynamic">
<!-- If this is a dynamic player use an animation effect -->
<animate xlink:href="#ComputerA" attributeName="class"
to="highlight" begin="id(ComputerA).(activate(2))"
dur="2s" fill="remove"/>
<!-- (the rest of the animation is cut out) -->
</g>
<g x="0" y="450">
<!-- Otherwise provide a different form of the same content-->
<a xlink:href="desc51a.html" xlink:title="description">
<text>How does it work?</text>
</a>
</g>
</switch>
<!-- Draw text. -->
<text x="0" y="-10">
<tref xlink:href="#mainTitle"/>
</text>
<!-- Use the hub image and its title and description information. -->
<g id="hub" transform="translate(180 200)">
<image width="600" height="450" xlink:href="hub.svg"/>
</g>
<!-- (and the rest of the network image) -->
</g>
</svg>All markup languages written in XML automatically have some accessibility benefits. This is true also with SVG. In this section we explain how these features of XML can be used to increase the accessibility of SVG documents.
The more information the author can provide about an SVG image and its components the better it is for accessibility. Adding metadata to a document can help the user search for information, for example documents with a suitable accessibility rating. In the following example we have used it to describe the image further - although reading the XML structure shows that the network consists of a hub, some cables and some computers, it does not explain which are connected to which. We have included an automatically generated image of the relationships described by the metadata - the same information can be generated by an assistive technology. Combining the information with the equivalent alternatives included in the image can be used to provide a navigable, described network in text, audio, or even using substituted icons ( [WCAG10] Checkpoint 13.2 requires metadata, 14.2 requires illustration of information and Guideline 1 requires text equivalents). The following example (7.1) uses XML namespaces [NAMESPACE] and the Resource Description Framework [RDF] to add some metadata about the cables connecting the computers and the hub in the earlier network image.
Example 7.1: Additional metadata for the Network and its components (Download complete SVG from example 7.1).
<?xml version="1.0"?>
<?xml-stylesheet href="svg-style.css" type="text/css"?>
<svg width="6in" height="4.5in" viewBox="0 0 600 450"
xmlns="http://www.w3.org/2000/svg-20000802">
<metadata>
<rdf:RDF xmlns:rdf="http://www.w3.org/1999/02/22-rdf-syntax-ns#"
xmlns:connect="http://www.w3.org/1999/08/29-svg-connections-in-RDF">
<rdf:Description about="#CableN">
<connect:ends rdf:resource="#socket5"/>
<connect:ends>Everything</connect:ends>
</rdf:Description>
<rdf:Description about="#CableA">
<connect:ends rdf:resource="#socket1"/>
<connect:ends rdf:resource="#ComputerA"/>
</rdf:Description>
<rdf:Description about="#CableB">
<connect:ends rdf:resource="#socket2"/>
<connect:ends rdf:resource="#ComputerB"/>
</rdf:Description>
<rdf:Description about="#hub">
<connect:ends rdf:resource="#socket1"/>
<connect:ends rdf:resource="#socket2"/>
<connect:ends rdf:resource="#socket3"/>
<connect:ends rdf:resource="#socket4"/>
<connect:ends rdf:resource="#socket5"/>
</rdf:Description>
</rdf:RDF>
</metadata>
<title id="mainTitle">Network
<desc>An example of a computer network based on a hub
<!-- Draw text. -->
<text x="0" y="-10">
<tref xlink:href="#mainTitle"/>
</text>
<!-- Use the hub image and its title and description information. -->
<g id="hub" transform="translate(180 200)">
<image width="600" height="450" xlink:href="hub.svg"/>
</g>
<!-- Use an external computer symbol. Scale to fit. -->
<g id="ComputerA" transform="translate(20 170)">
<title>Computer A</title>
<use xlink:href="computer.svg#terminal" transform="scale(0.5)"/>
</g>
<!-- And so on to add the rest of the network... -->
</svg>Figure 7.2: A graphic representation of the metadata that has been added. This has been generated by an automatic service [RUDOLF] based on the RDF metadata included in the document. It shows the connections between the various elements, so it is possible to trace the links from any one component to the others.
The SVG specification allows the use of XML namespaces [NAMESPACE] to introduce elements from other XML
languages. In particular, the text, title and
desc elements contain structured content, which can be marked up
using extensions to the SVG DTD or using another namespace. In the following
example we include some SMIL [SMIL] to provide richer
descriptions of the image in Figure 5.1 (the example assumes that a stylesheet
provides positioning for the textstream).
Figure 7.3: An example of mixing namespaces to provide rich multimedia alternative equivalents.
<?xml-stylesheet href="http://www.w3.org/1999/09/SVG-access/svg-style"
type="text/css"?>
<svg width="6in" height="4.5in" viewBox="0 0 600 450"
xmlns="http://www.w3.org/2000/svg-20000802">
<!-- define descriptions to be animated -->
<title id="mainTitle">Network</title>
<desc>An example of a computer network based on a hub
<smil xmlns="http://www.w3.org/TR/REC-SMIL/">
<par>
<audio src="describe.au" title="The network described in audio"/>
<textstream src="describe.ts" title="how the network works"/>
</par>
</smil>
</desc>
<!-- Draw text. -->
<text x="0" y="-10">
<tref xlink:href="#mainTitle"/>
</text>
<!-- Use the hub image and its title and description information. -->
<g id="hub" transform="translate(180 200)">
<image width="600" height="450" xlink:href="hub.svg"/>
</g>
<!-- Rest of the example is cut out. -->
</svg> SVG supports a Document Object Model [DOM2] which provides a standard interface (Application Programming Interface or API) to examine and manipulate document structure. It can be used by various tools and technologies. DOM is particularly beneficial to assistive technologies as they are often used in conjunction with "standard" tools such as common user agents. For example, a screen reader which provides voice output from a variety of applications can be customized to take advantage of the DOM interface. This can provide better access than would be possible if it were relying entirely on the standard rendering engine (perhaps a graphics editor, or a browser plug-in) for getting the data. An assistive technology can also use the DOM interface to change an SVG image to suit the needs of a user. Note that the User Agent Accessibility Guidelines require that user agents implement the DOM and export interfaces to assistive technologies (refer to [UAAG10], Checkpoint 1.3, and Guidelines 1 and 5). See also section 5.2 on accessible events - these are inherited from the DOM 2 specification [DOM2].
The first source for information about SVG is the specification itself [SVG]. The specification helps accessibility by requiring conformance to accessibility guidelines as part of conformance for tools. See in particular the appendix on accessibility. In addition, the public Web page of the W3C SVG working group [SVG-page] is a good source of information, including articles and papers about SVG, news of implementations, etc.
W3C's Web Accessibility Initiative (WAI) addresses accessibility of the Web through five complementary activities that:
WAI's International Program Office enables partnering of industry, disability organizations, accessibility research organizations, and governments interested in creating an accessible Web. WAI sponsors include the US National Science Foundation and Department of Education's National Institute on Disability and Rehabilitation Research; the European Commission's DG XIII Telematics Applications Programme for Disabled and Elderly; Government of Canada, Industry Canada; IBM, Lotus Development Corporation, Microsoft, and Verizon. Additional information on WAI is available at http://www.w3.org/WAI.
The W3C was created to lead the Web to its full potential by developing common protocols that promote its evolution and ensure its interoperability. It is an international industry consortium jointly run by the Laboratory for Computer Science (LCS) at Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT) in the USA, the National Institute for Research in Computer Science and Control (INRIA) in France and Keio University in Japan. Services provided by the Consortium include: a repository of information about the World Wide Web for developers and users; reference code implementations to embody and promote standards; and various prototype and sample applications to demonstrate use of new technology. In July 2000, 433 organizations are Members of the Consortium. For more information about the World Wide Web Consortium, see http://www.w3.org/.
onactivate etc). Most systems use the content focus to
navigate active elements and identify which is to be activated. An
active element's behavior may be triggered through any number of
mechanisms, including the mouse, keyboard, an Application Programming Interface (API),
etc. The effect of activation depends on the element. For instance, when
a link is activated, the user agent generally retrieves the linked
resource.Examples of assistive technologies that are important in the context of this document include the following:
Beyond this document, assistive technologies consist of software or hardware that has been specifically designed to assist people with disabilities in carrying out daily activities, such as wheel chairs, reading machines, devices for grasping, text telephones, vibrating pagers, etc.
We would like to thank the following people who have contributed substantially to this document:
Judy Brewer, Dan Brickley, Daniel Dardailler, Jon Ferraiolo, Ian Jacobs, Chris Lilley, Eric Prud'hommeaux, Ralph Swick, Dave Woolley, the SVG Working Group and the WAI Protocols and Formats Working Group.