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_________________________________________________________________
W3C
User Agent Accessibility Guidelines 1.0
W3C Candidate Recommendation, 12 September 2001
This version:
http://www.w3.org/TR/2001/CR-UAAG10-20010912/
(Formats: single HTML, plain text, gzip PostScript, gzip PDF,
gzip tar file of HTML, zip archive of HTML)
Latest version:
http://www.w3.org/TR/UAAG10/
Previous version:
http://www.w3.org/TR/2001/WD-UAAG10-20010622/
Editors:
Ian Jacobs, W3C
Jon Gunderson, University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign
Eric Hansen, Educational Testing Service
Authors and Contributors:
See acknowledgements.
Copyright © 1999 - 2001 W3C^® (MIT, INRIA, Keio), All Rights Reserved.
W3C liability, trademark, document use and software licensing rules
apply.
_________________________________________________________________
Abstract
This document provides guidelines for designing user agents that lower
barriers to Web accessibility for people with disabilities (visual,
hearing, physical, and cognitive). User agents include HTML browsers
and other types of software that retrieve and render Web content. A
user agent that conforms to these guidelines will promote
accessibility through its own user interface and through other
internal facilities, including its ability to communicate with other
technologies (especially assistive technologies). Furthermore, all
users, not just users with disabilities, are expected to find
conforming user agents to be more usable.
In addition to helping developers of HTML browsers, media players,
etc., this document will also benefit developers of assistive
technologies because it explains what types of information and control
an assistive technology may expect from a conforming user agent.
Technologies not addressed directly by this document (e.g.,
technologies for braille rendering) will be essential to ensuring Web
access for some users with disabilities.
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 is the 12 September 2001 Candidate Recommendation of "User Agent
Accessibility Guidelines 1.0". W3C publishes a technical report as a
Candidate Recommendation to indicate that the document is believed to
be stable, and to encourage implementation by the developer community.
Candidate Recommendation status is described in section 5.2.3 of the
Process Document. The UAWG resolved to request to advance to Candidate
Recommendation at its 30 August 2001 teleconference.
The User Agent Accessibility Guidelines Working Group (UAWG) expects
to request that the Director advance this document to Proposed
Recommendation once the Working Group has demonstrated two
implementations of each requirement. The UAWG, working closely with
the developer community, expects to show these implementations by the
end of December 2001. This estimate is based on the UAWG's initial
implementation report. The UAWG expects to revise this report over the
course of the implementation period.
This document incorporates resolutions of the User Agent Accessibility
Guidelines Working Group to all issues raised during the third last
call review of the 9 April 2001 version. A snapshot of the third last
call issues list is available, as is the disposition of comments
(which includes objections).
A list of changes to this document is available.
Publication as a Candidate Recommendation does not imply endorsement
by the W3C Membership. This is a draft document and may be updated,
replaced or obsoleted by other documents at any time. It is
inappropriate to cite this document as other than "work in progress."
Please send comments about this document to the public mailing list
w3c-wai-ua@w3.org; public archives are available.
This document is part of a series of accessibility documents published
by the Web Accessibility Initiative (WAI) of the World Wide Web
Consortium (W3C). WAI Accessibility Guidelines are produced as part of
the WAI Technical Activity. The goals of the User Agent Accessibility
Guidelines Working Group are described in the charter.
A list of current W3C Recommendations and other technical documents
can be found at the W3C Web site.
Table of contents
* Abstract
* Status of this document
* 1. Introduction
+ 1.1 Relationship to WAI accessibility guidelines
+ 1.2 Target user agents
+ 1.3 Known limitations of this document
+ 1.4 Relationship to general software design guidelines
* 2. The user agent accessibility guidelines
+ 1. Support input and output device-independence.
+ 2. Ensure user access to all content.
+ 3. Allow configuration not to render some content that may
reduce accessibility.
+ 4. Ensure user control of rendering.
+ 5. Ensure user control of user interface behavior.
+ 6. Implement interoperable application programming
interfaces.
+ 7. Observe operating environment conventions.
+ 8. Implement specifications that benefit accessibility.
+ 9. Provide navigation mechanisms.
+ 10. Orient the user.
+ 11. Allow configuration and customization.
+ 12. Provide accessible user agent documentation and help.
* 3. Conformance
+ 3.1 Unconditional conformance
+ 3.2 Conditional conformance
+ 3.3 Conformance details
+ 3.4 Conformance levels
+ 3.5 Content type labels
+ 3.6 Input modality labels
+ 3.7 Selection label
+ 3.8 Checkpoint applicability
+ 3.9 Well-formed conformance claims
+ 3.10 Validity of a claim
* 4. Glossary
* 5. References
+ 5.1 How to refer to this document
+ 5.2 Normative references
+ 5.3 Informative references
* 6. Acknowledgments
An appendix to this document [UAAG10-SUMMARY] summarizes the
document's principal goals and structure.
Another appendix to this document [UAAG10-CHECKLIST] lists all
checkpoints for convenient reference (e.g., as a tool for developers
to evaluate software for conformance).
Note: With a user agent that implements HTML 4 [HTML4] access keys,
readers may navigate directly to the table of contents via the "c"
character. Users may have to use additional keyboard strokes depending
on their operating environment.
Related resources
A separate document, entitled "Techniques for User Agent Accessibility
Guidelines 1.0" [UAAG10-TECHS], provides suggestions and examples of
how each checkpoint might be satisfied. It also includes references to
other accessibility resources (such as platform-specific software
accessibility guidelines) that provide additional information on how a
user agent may satisfy each checkpoint. The techniques provided in
"Techniques for User Agent Accessibility Guidelines 1.0" are
informative examples only, and other strategies may be used or
required to satisfy the checkpoints. The Techniques document is
expected to be updated more frequently than the current guidelines.
Developers, W3C Working Groups, users, and others are encouraged to
contribute techniques for incorporation into the Techniques document.
The Web Accessibility Initiative provides other resources and
educational materials to promote Web accessibility. Resources include
information about accessibility policies, links to translations of WAI
materials into languages other than English, information about
specialized user agents and other tools, accessibility training
resources, and more.
_________________________________________________________________
1. Introduction
This document specifies requirements that, if satisfied by user agent
developers, will lower barriers to accessibility. This introduction
(section 1) provides context for understanding the guidelines listed
in section 2. Section 1 explains the relationship of this document to
other accessibility guidelines published by the Web Accessibility
Initiative, which user agents are expected to conform, known
limitations of this document, and the relationship of this document to
other software design guidelines. Section 3 explains how to make
claims that software conforms to these guidelines and details about
the applicability of the requirements for different kinds of user
agents.
1.1 Relationship to WAI accessibility guidelines
"User Agent Accessibility Guidelines 1.0" (UAAG 1.0) is part of a
series of accessibility guidelines published by the Web Accessibility
Initiative (WAI). The documents in this series reflect an
accessibility model in which Web content authors, format designers,
and software developers have roles in ensuring that users with
disabilities have access to the Web. These stakeholders intersect and
complement each other as follows:
* Protocol (e.g., HTTP) and content format (e.g., HTML, XHTML, XML,
SVG, SMIL, MathML, etc.) specifications allow communication on the
Web. Format designers include features that authors should use to
create accessible content, and features that user agents should
support through an accessible user interface.
* Authors make use of the accessibility features of different format
specifications, use markup appropriately, write in clear and
simple language, organize a Web site consistently, etc. The "Web
Content Accessibility Guidelines 1.0" [WCAG10] explains the
responsibilities of authors in meeting the needs of users with
disabilities. The "Web Content Accessibility Guidelines (WCAG)
1.0" is considered the reference for what defines accessible Web
content. The "Authoring Tool Accessibility Guidelines 1.0"
[ATAG10] explains the responsibilities of authoring tool
developers. An accessible authoring tool facilitates the creation
of accessible Web content and may be operated by users with
disabilities.
* User agent developers design software that conforms to
specifications (including implementation of their accessibility
features), provides an accessible user interface, accessible
documentation, and communicates with other software (notably
assistive technologies).
This document explains the responsibilities of user agents in meeting
the needs of users with disabilities. The requirements of this
document interact with those of the "Web Content Accessibility
Guidelines 1.0" [WCAG10] in a number of ways:
* UAAG 1.0 checkpoint 8.1 requires implementation of the
accessibility features of all implemented specifications. Features
are those identified as such and those that satisfy all of the
requirements of WCAG 1.0 [WCAG10].
* UAAG 1.0 checkpoint 12.1 requires conformance to WCAG 1.0 for user
agent documentation.
* UAAG 1.0 also incorporates some terms and concepts from WCAG 1.0,
a natural consequence of fact that the documents were designed to
complement one another.
Formats, authors, and designers all have limitations. Formats
generally do not enable authors to encode all of their knowledge in a
way that a user agent can recognize 100%. A format may lack features
required for accessibility. An author may not make use of the
accessibility features of a format or may misuse a format (which can
cause problems for user agents). A user agent designer may not
implement a format specification correctly or completely. Some
requirements of this document take these limitations into account.
* UAAG 1.0 includes requirements to satisfy the expectations set by
WCAG 1.0 "until user agent" clauses. These clauses make additional
requirements of authors in order to compensate for some
limitations of deployed user agents.
* UAAG 1.0 includes several repair requirements (e.g., checkpoints
checkpoint 2.7 and checkpoint 2.11) for cases where content does
not conform to WCAG 1.0. Furthermore, this document includes some
requirements to address certain widespread authoring practices
that are discouraged because they may cause accessibility or
usability problems (e.g., some uses of HTML frames).
* Except for the indicated repair checkpoints, UAAG 1.0 only
requires user agents to handle what may be recognized through
protocols and formats. For example, user agents are not expected
to recognize that the author has used "clear and simple" language
to express ideas. Please see the section on checkpoint
applicability for more information about what the user agent is
expected to recognize.
1.2 Target user agents
This document was designed specifically to improve the accessibility
of user agents with multimedia capabilities running in the following
type of environment (typically that of a desktop computer):
* The operating environment includes a keyboard;
* Assistive technologies may be used in the operating environment
and may communicate with the conforming user agent;
This document is not designed so that user agents on other types of
platforms (e.g., handheld devices, kiosks, etc.) will readily conform.
This document does not forbid conformance by any user agent, but some
requirements (e.g., implementation of certain APIs) are not likely to
be satisfied on environments other than the target environment. Future
work by the UAWG may address the accessibility of user agents running
on handheld devices, etc.
The target user agent is one designed for the general public to handle
general-purpose content in ordinary operating conditions. It is
expected that a conforming user agent will typically consist of a Web
browser, one or more media players, and possibly other components.
This document was designed to improve the accessibility of target user
agents for users with one or more disabilities (including visual,
hearing, physical, and cognitive) in two ways:
1. through its own user interface, and
2. through other internal facilities, including its ability to
communicate with other technologies (especially assistive
technologies).
Technologies not addressed directly by this document (e.g., those for
braille rendering) will be essential to ensuring Web access for some
users with disabilities. Note that the ability of conforming user
agents to communicate well with assistive technologies will depend in
part on the willingness of assistive technology developers to follow
the same standards and conventions for communication.
This document allows a certain amount of flexibility in the features a
user agent must support in order to conform. For example, some user
agents may conform even though they do not support certain content
types (such as video or audio) or input modalities (such as mouse or
voice). See the section on conformance for more information.
1.3 Known limitations of this document
People with (or without) disabilities access the Web with widely
varying sets of capabilities, software, and hardware. Some users with
disabilities:
* May not be able to see, hear, move, speak, or may not be able to
process some types of information easily or at all.
* May have difficulty reading or comprehending text.
* May not have or be able to use a keyboard or pointing device.
This document does not include requirements to meet all known
accessibility needs. Some known limitations of this document include
the following:
* Input modalities. This document only includes requirements for
keyboard, pointing device, and voice input modalities. This
document includes several checkpoints related to voice input as
part of general input requirements (e.g., the checkpoints of
guideline 7 and guideline 11) but does not otherwise address
voice-based navigation or control. Note: The UAWG intends to
coordinate further work on the topics of voice input and
synthesized speech rendering with groups in W3C's Voice Browser
Activity.
* Output modalities. This document does not include requirements for
braille rendering. Some requirements are specific to graphical
rendering and others specific to synthesized speech rendering
(speech rendering requirements are made by checkpoint 4.12 to
checkpoint 4.16). Many of the requirements of this document are
generic enough to apply to any output modality (including
braille). User agents conform to this document by supporting some
combination of graphical and audio/speech rendering output; see
the section on content type labels for more information.
* Size and color of non-text content. This document includes some
checkpoints to ensure that the user is able to control the size
and color of visually rendered text content (checkpoints 4.1 and
4.3). This document does not in general address control of the
size and color of visually rendered non-text content. Note:
Resizing capabilities may be required for conformance to other
specifications (e.g., SVG [SVG]).
* Background image interference. The requirement of checkpoint 3.1
to allow the user to turn off rendering of background images does
not extend to multi-layered rendering.
* User control of every user interface component. This document
includes some requirements for user control of user interface
components that may be changed through content (see guideline 5).
However, these requirements do not account for every user
interface component that the author may affect (e.g., the author
might supply a script that causes text to scroll in the status
bar). User agents are required to follow software usability
guidelines (see checkpoint 7.3), which are also expected to
include requirements for user control over user interface
behavior. Note. It is more difficult for users to distinguish
content from user interface when both are rendered as sound in one
dimension, than it is when both are rendered visually in two
dimensions. Developers of aural user agents are therefore strongly
encouraged to apply the requirements of this document to both
content and user agent components.
* Time. This document includes requirements for control of some time
parameters (including checkpoint 2.4, checkpoint 4.4, checkpoint
4.5, and checkpoint 4.12). The requirements are for time
parameters that the user agent recognizes and controls. This
document does not include requirements for control of time
parameters managed on the server.
* Security. This document does not address security issues that may
arise as a result of these requirements. For instance,
requirements that software be able to read and write content and
user interface information through APIs raise security issues. See
the section on restricted functionality and conformance.
* Intellectual property. This document does not address intellectual
property issues that may arise as a result of these requirements.
Note: The User Agent Accessibility Guidelines Working Group may
address these topics in a future version of the User Agent
Accessibility Guidelines. Even though UAAG 1.0 does not address these
topics, user agent developers are encouraged to consider them in their
designs.
1.4 Relationship to general software design guidelines
Considerable effort has been made to ensure that the requirements of
this document are compatible with other good software design
practices. However, this document does not purport to be a complete
guide to good software design. For instance, the general topic of user
interface design for computer software exceeds the scope of this
document, though some user interface requirements have been included
because of their importance to accessibility. The "Techniques for User
Agent Accessibility Guidelines 1.0" [UAAG10-TECHS] includes some
references to general software design guidelines and platform-specific
accessibility guidelines (see checkpoint 7.3). Involving people with
disabilities in the design and testing of software will generally
improve the accessibility of the software.
Installation is an important aspect of both accessibility and general
software usability. On platforms where a user can install a user
agent, the installation (and update) procedures need to be accessible.
This document does not include a checkpoint requiring that
installation procedures be accessible. Since this document considers
installation to be part of software usage, the different aspects of
installation (user interface, documentation, operating environment
conventions, etc.) are already covered by the complete set of
checkpoints.
Benefits of accessible user agent design
Many users without disabilities are likely to benefit from the
requirements developed to benefit users with disabilities. For
example, users without disabilities:
* may have a text-only screen, a small screen, or a slow Internet
connection (e.g., via a mobile phone browser). These users are
likely to benefit from the same features that provide access to
people with low vision or blindness.
* may be in a situation where their eyes, ears, or hands are busy or
interfered with (e.g., driving to work, working in a noisy
environment, etc.). These users are likely to benefit from the
same features that provide access to people who cannot use a mouse
or keyboard due to a visual, hearing, or physical disability.
* may not understand fluently the natural language of spoken
content. These users are likely to benefit from the same visual
rendering of text equivalents that make spoken language accessible
to people with a hearing disability.
Software that satisfies the requirements of this document is expected
to be more flexible, manageable, extensible, and beneficial to all
users. For example, a user agent architecture that allows programmatic
access to content and the user interface will encourage software
modularity and reuse, and will enable operation by scripting tools and
automated test engines in addition to assistive technologies.
2. The user agent accessibility guidelines
The twelve guidelines in this document state general principles for
the development of accessible user agents. Each guideline includes:
* The guideline number.
* The statement of the guideline.
* The rationale behind the guideline and identification of some
groups of users who benefit from it.
* A list of checkpoint definitions. This list may be split into
groups of related checkpoints. For instance, the list might be
split into one group of "checkpoints for visually rendered text"
and second group of "checkpoints for audio volume control"."
Within each group, checkpoints are ordered according to their
priority, e.g., Priority 1 before Priority 2. Within a guideline,
checkpoint groupings and checkpoint order have no bearing on
conformance.
Each checkpoint definition includes the following parts. Some parts
are normative (i.e., relate to conformance); others are informative
only.
* The checkpoint number.
* The checkpoint title. This title is not a requirement, just a
phrase to help readers remember an important requirement made by
the checkpoint statement. (Informative)
* The priority of the checkpoint. (Normative)
* The statement or statements of the checkpoint. These statements
include one or more requirements that must be satisfied by the
user agent (i.e., the "subject of the claim) for the purposes of
conformance. (Normative)
* An optional "content/rendered content/user agent feature/both"
label that indicates whether the requirements of the checkpoint
must be satisfied by the subject of the claim for all content, all
rendered content, for user agent features only, or for both
content and user agent features. The label only appears when
necessary to disambiguate the checkpoint. (Normative)
* A link to rationale, implementation details, references, and more
information in "Techniques for User Agent Accessibility Guidelines
1.0" [UAAG10-TECHS]. (Informative)
* Content type labels (zero or more). Content type labels are
explained in the section on conformance. (Normative)
* Optional notes about the checkpoint (beginning with the word
"Note"). They notes clarify the scope of the checkpoint through
further description, examples, cross references, and commentary.
Some checkpoints in this document are more general than others,
and some may overlap in scope. Therefore, a checkpoint may be
identified as a "special case" or an "important special case" of
one or more other checkpoints. (Informative)
Each checkpoint definition expresses one or more requirements. These
requirements are not technology specific. In fact, they have been
designed to be largely technology independent, in order to make sense
for a variety of existing and future technologies. "Techniques for
User Agent Accessibility Guidelines 1.0" [UAAG10-TECHS] is an
important resource to help developers understand how to "apply" the
requirements to HTML, CSS, SMIL, and SVG, and several operating
environments. The User Agent Accessibility Guidelines Working Group
welcomes comments and anticipates discussion on how to apply these
requirements to new technologies in different operating environments.
Each requirement is a "minimal" requirement, which means that for
conformance, the user agent is required to satisfy no more than the
stated requirement. In many cases, however, it may be easier or less
costly (or just be better design) to implement a general feature that
satisfies more than a minimal requirement. One general solution might
satisfy five checkpoints and be easier to implement than five
disconnected features. For instance, a navigable structure view of
content that allows users to query elements for their properties is
likely to benefit all users and may be used to satisfy a number of
requirements of this document.
Some requirements have a wider impact than others. For instance, the
keyboard requirements of checkpoint 1.1 have an impact on all other
requirements in the document related to user input: any requirement
that involves user input must be satisfied through the keyboard.
Because the keyboard requirements of checkpoint 1.1 have been factored
out, the other checkpoints are shorter; they are written "Allow
configuration" instead of "Allow configuration through the keyboard."
First-time readers of the document are encouraged to read the full
context provided for each checkpoint, including the guideline prose,
the surrounding checkpoints (since nearby checkpoints are generally
related), notes after checkpoints, and associated techniques (in the
Techniques document [UAAG10-TECHS]). The checklist [UAAG10-CHECKLIST]
is also a useful tool (e.g., for evaluating a user agent for
conformance), but does not provide the same contextual support.
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.
Guideline 1. Support input and output device-independence.
Ensure that the user can interact with the user agent (and the content it
renders) through different input and output devices.
Since people use a variety of devices for input and output, user agent
developers need to ensure redundancy in the user interface. The user
may have to operate the user interface with a variety of input devices
(keyboard, pointing device, voice input, etc.) and output modalities
(e.g., graphical, speech, or braille rendering).
Though it may seem contradictory, enabling full user agent operation
through the keyboard is an important part of promoting
device-independence given today's user agents. In addition to the fact
that some form of keyboard is supported by most platforms, there are
several reasons for this:
* For some users (e.g., users with blindness or physical
disabilities), operating a user agent with a pointing device may
be difficult or impossible since it requires tracking the pointing
device position in a two-dimensional visual space. Keyboard
operation does not generally require as much movement "through
space".
* Some assistive technologies that support a diversity of input and
output mechanisms use keyboard APIs for communication with some
user agents; see checkpoint 6.6. People who cannot or do not use a
pointing device may interact with the user interface with the
keyboard, through voice input, a head wand, touch screen, or other
device.
While this document only requires keyboard operation for conformance,
it promotes device-independence by also allowing people to claim
conformance for full pointing device support or full voice support.
As a way to promote output device independence, this guideline
requires support for text messages in the user interface because text
may be rendered visually, as synthesized speech, and as braille.
The API requirements of guideline 6 also promote device independence
by ensuring communication with specialized software.
Checkpoints
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.
For both content and user agent. Techniques for checkpoint 1.1
Note: User agents may support at least two types of keyboard access to
functionalities: direct access (where user awareness of a location "in
space" is not required, as is the case with keyboard shortcuts and
navigation of user agent menus) and spatial access (where the user
moves the pointing device "in space" via the keyboard). To satisfy
this checkpoint, user agents are expected to provide a mix of both
types of keyboard access. User agents should allow direct keyboard
access where possible, and this may be redundant with spatial input
techniques. Furthermore, the user agent should satisfy this
requirement by offering a combination of keyboard-operable user
interface controls (e.g., keyboard operable print menus and settings)
and direct keyboard operation of user agent functionalities (e.g., a
short cut to print the current page). As examples of functionalities,
ensure that the user can interact with enabled elements, select
content, navigate viewports, configure the user agent, access
documentation, install the user agent, operate controls of the user
interface, etc., all entirely through keyboard input. It is also
possible to claim conformance to this document for full support
through pointing device input and voice input. See the section on
input modality labels.
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 checkpoint 1.2
Note: The requirements for this checkpoint refer to any explicitly
associated input device event handlers associated with an element,
independent of the input modalities for which the user agent conforms.
For example, suppose that an element has an explicitly associated
handler for pointing device events. Even when the user agent only
conforms for keyboard input (and does not conform for the pointing
device, for example), this checkpoint requires the user agent to allow
the user to activate that handler with the keyboard. This checkpoint
is an important special case of checkpoint 1.1. Please refer to the
checkpoints of guideline 9 for more information about focus
requirements.
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 checkpoint 1.3
Note: For example, if the user is alerted of an event by an audio cue,
a visually-rendered text equivalent in the status bar could satisfy
this checkpoint. Per checkpoint 6.4, a text equivalent for each such
message must be available through an API. See also checkpoint 6.5 for
requirements for programmatic alert of changes to the user interface.
[next guideline 2] [review guideline 1] [contents]
Guideline 2. Ensure user access to all content.
Ensure that users have access to all content, notably conditional content
that may have been provided to meet the requirements of the Web Content
Accessibility Guidelines 1.0 [WCAG10].
The checkpoints in this section require the user agent to provide
access to all content through a series of complementary mechanisms
designed so that if one fails, another will provide some access. The
following preferences are embodied in the checkpoints:
* Not all content is rendered at all times. Automatic decision by
the user agent about when and where to render conditional content
is preferred, but manual choice by the user may be necessary for
access.
* Structure is preferred (both the author's specified preferences
and the user's structured access), but unstructured access may be
necessary for access to all content.
* Rendering according to format specification is preferred, but a
source view of text content may be necessary for access (e.g.,
because of user-side error conditions, authoring errors,
inadequate specification, or incorrect user agent implementation).
For example, the user may have to look at URIs for information,
HTML comments, XML element names, or script data. The user agent
should respect authoring synchronization cues for content that
changes over time, but also needs to allow the user to control the
time intervals when user input is possible.
* Configuration and control of rendering are important for access.
Authors may use the conditional content mechanisms of a specification
to satisfy the requirements of the Web Content Accessibility
Guidelines 1.0 [WCAG10]. Ensuring access to conditional content
benefits all users since some users may not have access to some
content due to a technological limitation (e.g., their mobile browser
cannot display graphics) or simply a configuration preference (e.g.,
they have a slow Internet connection and prefer not to download movies
or images).
Checkpoints
2.1 Render content according to 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 checkpoint 2.1
Note: If a conforming user agent does not render a content type, it
should allow the user to choose a way to handle that content (e.g., by
launching another application, by saving it to disk, etc.). The user
agent is not required to satisfy this checkpoint for all implemented
specifications; see the section on conformance and implementing
specifications for more information.
2.2 Provide text view. (P1)
1. For content authored in 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 checkpoint 2.2
Note: A user agent would also satisfy this checkpoint by providing a
source view for any text format, not just implemented text formats.
The user agent is not required to satisfy this checkpoint for all
implemented specifications; see the section on conformance and
implementing specifications for more information.
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:
o (1a) render C in place of D;
o (2a) render C in addition to D;
o (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);
o (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:
o (1b) render a placeholder for C, and allow the user to
view the original author-supplied content associated
with each placeholder;
o (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;
o (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).
For all content. Techniques for checkpoint 2.3
Note: For instance, an HTML user agent might allow users to query each
element for access to conditional content supplied for the "alt",
"title", and "longdesc" attributes. Or, the user agent might allow
configuration so that the value of the "alt" attribute is rendered in
place of all IMG elements (while other conditional content might be
made available through another mechanism). See checkpoint 2.10 for
additional placeholder requirements.
2.4 Allow time-independent interaction. (P1)
1. For rendered content where user input is only possible within a
finite time interval controlled by the user agent, allow
configuration to provide a view where user interaction is
time-independent.
2. The user agent may satisfy this checkpoint by pausing processing
automatically to allow for user input, and resuming processing on
explicit user request. When this technique is used, pause at the
end of each time interval where user input is possible. In the
paused state:
+ Alert the user that the rendered content has been paused
(e.g., highlight the "pause" button in a multimedia player's
control panel).
+ Highlight which enabled elements are time-sensitive.
+ Allow the user to interact with the enabled elements.
+ Allow the user to resume on explicit user request (e.g., by
pressing the "play" button in a multimedia player's control
panel; see also checkpoint 4.5).
3. The user agent may satisfy this checkpoint by generating a
time-independent ("static") view, based on the original content,
that offers the user the same opportunities for interaction. The
static view should reflect the structure and flow of the original
time-sensitive presentation; orientation cues will help users
understand the context for various interaction opportunities.
4. When satisfying this checkpoint for a real-time presentation, the
user agent may discard packets that continue to arrive after the
construction of the time-independent view (e.g., when paused or
after the construction of a static view).
Techniques for checkpoint 2.4
Note: If the user agent satisfies this checkpoint by pausing
automatically, it may be necessary to pause more than once when there
are multiple opportunities for time-sensitive user interaction When
pausing, pause synchronized content as well (whether rendered in the
same or different viewports) per checkpoint 2.6. In SMIL 1.0 [SMIL],
for example, the "begin", "end", and "dur" attributes synchronize
presentation components. This checkpoint does not apply when the user
agent cannot recognize the time interval in the presentation format,
or when the user agent cannot control the timing (e.g., because it is
controlled by the server). See also checkpoint 3.5, which involves
client-driven content refresh.
2.5 Make captions, transcripts available. (P1)
1. Allow configuration or control to render text transcripts,
collated text transcripts, captions, and auditory descriptions at
the same time as the associated audio tracks and visual tracks.
For all content. Techniques for checkpoint 2.5
Content type labels: Video, Audio.
Note: This checkpoint is an important special case of checkpoint 2.1.
2.6 Respect synchronization cues. (P1)
1. Respect synchronization cues (e.g., in markup) during rendering.
Techniques for checkpoint 2.6
Content type labels: Video, Audio.
Note: This checkpoint is an important special case of checkpoint 2.1.
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.
For all content. Techniques for checkpoint 2.7
Note: Some markup languages (such as HTML 4 [HTML4] and SMIL 1.0
[SMIL] require the author to provide conditional content for some
elements (e.g., the "alt" attribute on the IMG element). Repair text
based on URI reference, content type, or element type is sufficient to
satisfy the checkpoint, but may not result in the most effective
repair. Information that may be recognized as relevant to repair might
not be "near" the missing conditional content in the document object.
For instance, instead of generating repair text on a simple URI
reference, the user agent might look for helpful information near a
different instance of the URI reference in the same document object,
or might retrieve useful information (e.g., a title) from the resource
designated by the URI reference.
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.
For all content. Techniques for checkpoint 2.8
Note: In some authoring scenarios, empty content (e.g., a string of
zero characters) may make an appropriate text equivalent, such as when
non-text content has no other function than pure decoration, or when
an image is part of a "mosaic" of several images and doesn't make
sense out of the mosaic. Please refer to the Web Content Accessibility
Guidelines 1.0 [WCAG10] for more information about text equivalents.
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 techniques described
in checkpoint 2.3: 1a, 2a, or 1b.
For all content. Techniques for checkpoint 2.9
Note: For instance, an HTML user agent might allow configuration so
that the value of the "alt" attribute is rendered in place of all IMG
elements (while other conditional content might be made available
through another mechanism). The user agent may offer multiple
configurations (e.g., a first configuration to render one type of
conditional content automatically, a second to render another type,
etc.).
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 checkpoint 2.10
Note: For example, if the user agent substitutes the author-supplied
content for the placeholder in context, allow the user to "toggle"
between placeholder and the associated content. Or, if the user agent
renders the author-supplied content in a separate viewport, allow the
user to close that viewport. Note: See checkpoint 2.3, provision (1b)
for placeholder requirements.
2.11 Alert unsupported language. (P3)
1. Allow configuration not to render content in unsupported natural
languages, when that content would otherwise be rendered. Content
"in a natural language" includes pre-recorded spoken language and
text in a given script, i.e., writing system.
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 checkpoint 2.11
Note: For example, use a text substitute or accessible graphical icon
to indicate that content in a particular language has not been
rendered.
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[contents]
Guideline 3. Allow configuration not to render some content that may reduce
accessibility.
Ensure that the user may turn off rendering of content (audio, video,
scripts, etc.) that may reduce accessibility by obscuring other content or
disorienting the user.
Some content or behavior specified by the author may make the user
agent unusable or may obscure information. For instance, flashing
content may trigger seizures in people with photosensitive epilepsy,
or may make a Web page too distracting to be usable by someone with a
cognitive disability. Blinking text can affect screen reader users,
since screen readers (in conjunction with speech synthesizers or
braille displays) may re-render the text every time it blinks.
Distracting background images, colors, or sounds may make it
impossible for users to see or hear other content. Dynamically
changing Web content may cause problems for some assistive
technologies. Scripts that cause unanticipated changes (viewports that
open, automatically redirected or refreshed pages, etc.) may disorient
some users with cognitive disabilities.
This guideline requires the user agent to allow configuration so that,
when loading Web resources, the user agent does not render content in
a manner that may pose accessibility problems. Requirements for
interactive control of rendered content are part of guideline 4.
Checkpoints
3.1 Toggle background images. (P1)
1. Allow configuration not to render background image content.
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 checkpoint 3.1
Content type labels: Image.
Note: See checkpoint 2.3 for information about how to provide access
to unrendered background images. When background images are not
rendered, user agents should render a solid background color instead
(see checkpoint 4.3).
3.2 Toggle audio, video, animated images. (P1)
1. Allow configuration not to render audio, video, or animated image
content, 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 checkpoint 3.2
Content type labels: Animation, Video, Audio.
Note: See checkpoint 2.3 for information about how to provide access
to unrendered audio, video, and animated images. See also checkpoint
4.5, checkpoint 4.9, and checkpoint 4.10.
3.3 Toggle animated/blinking text. (P1)
1. Allow configuration to render animated or blinking text content.
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 checkpoint 3.3
Content type labels: VisualText.
Note: Animation (a rendering effect) differs from streaming (a
delivery mechanism). Streaming content might be rendered as an
animation (e.g., an animated stock ticker or vertically scrolling
text) or as static text (e.g., movie subtitles, which are rendered for
a limited time, but do not give the impression of movement). See also
checkpoint 3.5. This checkpoint does not apply for blinking and
animation effects that are caused by mechanisms that the user agent
cannot recognize.
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 checkpoint 3.4
Note: This checkpoint does not refer to plug-ins and other programs
that are not part of content. Scripts and applets may provide very
useful functionality, not all of which causes accessibility problems.
Developers should not consider that the user's ability to turn off
scripts is an effective way to improve content accessibility; turning
off scripts means losing the benefits they offer. Instead, developers
should provide users with finer control over user agent or content
behavior known to raise accessibility barriers. The user should only
have to turn off scripts as a last resort.
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 checkpoint 3.5
Note: For example, allow configuration to prompt the user to confirm
content refresh, at the rate specified by the author.
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 checkpoint 3.6
Note: Some HTML user agents support client-side redirects authored
using a META element with http-equiv="refresh". Authors (and Web
masters) should use the redirect mechanisms of HTTP instead.
3.7 Toggle images. (P2)
1. Allow configuration not to render image content.
2. The user agent may satisfy this checkpoint by making images
invisible, but this technique is not recommended.
Techniques for checkpoint 3.7
Content type labels: Image.
Note: See checkpoint 2.3 for information about how to provide access
to unrendered images.
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[contents]
Guideline 4. Ensure user control of rendering.
Ensure that the user can select preferred styles (colors, size of rendered
text, synthesized speech characteristics, etc.) from choices offered by the
user agent. Allow the user to override author-specified styles and user
agent default styles.
Providing access to content (see guideline 2) includes enabling users
to configure and control its rendering. Users with low vision may
require that text be rendered at a size larger than the size specified
by the author or by the user agent's default rendering. Users with
color blindness may need to impose or prevent certain color
combinations.
For dynamic presentations such as synchronized multimedia
presentations created with SMIL 1.0 [SMIL], users with cognitive,
hearing, visual, and physical disabilities may not be able to interact
with a presentation within the time frame assumed by the author. To
make the presentation accessible to these users, user agents rendering
multimedia content (audio, video, and other animations), have to allow
the user to control the playback rate of this content, and also to
stop, start, pause, and navigate it quickly. User agents rendering
audio have to allow the user to control the audio volume globally and
to allow the user to control independently distinguishable audio
tracks.
User agents with speech synthesis capabilities need to allow users to
control various synthesized speech rendering parameters. For instance,
users who are blind and hard of hearing may not be able to make use of
high or low frequencies; these users have to be able to configure
their speech synthesizers to use suitable frequencies.
Checkpoints for visually rendered text
4.1 Configure text size. (P1)
1. Allow global configuration of the reference size of visually
rendered text, with an option to override reference sizes
specified by the author or user agent defaults.
2. Offer a range of text sizes to the user that includes at least:
+ the range offered by the conventional utility available in
the operating environment that allows users to choose the
text size (e.g., the font size),
+ or, if no such utility is available, the range of text sizes
supported by the conventional APIs of the operating
environment for drawing text.
Techniques for checkpoint 4.1
Content type labels: VisualText.
Note: The reference size of rendered text corresponds to the default
value of the CSS2 'font-size' property, which is 'medium' (refer to
CSS2 [CSS2], section 15.2.4). For example, in HTML, this might be
paragraph text. The default reference size of rendered text may vary
among user agents. User agents may offer different mechanisms to allow
control of the size of rendered text (e.g., font size control, zoom,
magnification, etc.). Refer, for example to the Scalable Vector
Graphics specification [SVG] for information about scalable rendering.
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. Offer a range of font families to the user that includes at least:
+ the range offered by the conventional utility available in
the operating environment that allows users to choose the
font family,
+ or, if no such utility is available, the range of font
families supported by the conventional APIs of the operating
environment for drawing text.
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 checkpoint 4.2
Content type labels: VisualText.
Note: For example, allow the user to specify that all text is to be
rendered in a particular sans-serif font family.
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. Offer a range of colors to the user that includes at least:
+ the range offered by the conventional utility available in
the operating environment that allows users to choose colors,
+ or, if no such utility is available, the range of colors
supported by the conventional APIs of the operating
environment for specifying colors.
Techniques for checkpoint 4.3
Content type labels: ColorText.
Note: User configuration of foreground and background colors may
inadvertently lead to the inability to distinguish ordinary text from
selected text, focused text, etc. See checkpoint 10.3 for more
information about highlight styles.
Checkpoints for multimedia presentations and other presentations that
change continuously over time
4.4 Slow multimedia. (P1)
1. Allow the user to slow the presentation rate of rendered 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 checkpoint 4.4
Content type labels: Animation, Audio.
Note: Purely stylistic effects include background sounds, decorative
animated images, and effects caused by style sheets. The style
exception of this checkpoint is based on the assumption that authors
have satisfied the requirements of the "Web Content Accessibility
Guidelines 1.0" [WCAG10] not to convey information through style alone
(e.g., through color alone or style sheets alone). See checkpoint 2.6
and checkpoint 4.7.
4.5 Start, stop, pause, and navigate multimedia. (P1)
1. Allow the user to stop, pause, and resume rendered audio and
animations (including video and animated images) that last three
or more seconds at their default playback rate.
2. Allow the user to navigate efficiently within audio and animations
(including video and animated images) that last three or more
seconds at their default playback rate. The user agent may satisfy
this requirement through forward and backward sequential access
techniques (e.g., advance three seconds), or direct access
techniques (e.g., play starting at the 10-minute mark), or some
combination.
3. When serial techniques are used to satisfy the previous
requirement, the user agent is not required to play back content
during serial advance or rewind (though doing so may help orient
the user).
4. The user agent is not required to satisfy this checkpoint for
audio and animations whose recognized role is to create a purely
stylistic effect.
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 checkpoint 4.5
Content type labels: Animation, Audio.
Note: See checkpoint 4.4 for more information about the exception for
purely stylistic effects. This checkpoint applies to content that is
either rendered automatically or on request from the user. Respect
synchronization cues per checkpoint 2.6.
4.6 Position captions. (P1)
1. For graphical viewports, allow the user to position rendered
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 checkpoint 4.6
4.7 Slow other multimedia. (P2)
1. Allow the user to slow the presentation rate of rendered 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 checkpoint 4.7
Content type labels: Animation, Audio.
Note: User agents automatically satisfy this checkpoint if they
satisfy checkpoint 4.4 for all audio and animations.
4.8 Control other multimedia. (P2)
1. Allow the user to stop, pause, resume, and navigate efficiently
rendered audio and animations (including video and animated
images) not covered by checkpoint 4.5.
Techniques for checkpoint 4.8
Content type labels: Animation, Audio.
Note: User agents automatically satisfy this checkpoint if they
satisfy checkpoint 4.5 for all audio and animations.
Checkpoints for audio volume control
4.9 Global volume control. (P1)
1. Allow global configuration of the volume of all rendered 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 checkpoint 4.9
Content type labels: Audio.
Note: User agents should allow configuration of volume through
available operating environment controls.
4.10 Independent volume control. (P1)
1. Allow independent control of the volumes of rendered 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 checkpoint 4.10
Content type labels: Audio.
Note: See checkpoint 4.4 for more information about the exception for
purely stylistic effects. The user agent should satisfy this
checkpoint by allowing the user to control independently the volumes
of all audio sources (e.g., by implementing a general audio mixer type
of functionality). See also checkpoint 4.13.
4.11 Control other volume. (P2)
1. Allow independent control of the volumes of rendered audio sources
synchronized to play simultaneously that are not covered by
checkpoint 4.10.
Techniques for checkpoint 4.11
Content type labels: Audio.
Note: User agents automatically satisfy this checkpoint if they
satisfy checkpoint 4.10 for all audio.
Checkpoints for synthesized speech rendering
4.12 Configure synthesized speech rate. (P1)
1. Allow configuration of the synthesized speech rate, according to
the full range offered by the speech synthesizer.
Techniques for checkpoint 4.12
Content type labels: Speech.
Note: The range of synthesized speech rates offered by the speech
synthesizer may depend on natural language.
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 checkpoint 4.13
Content type labels: Speech.
Note: See also checkpoint 4.10.
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 checkpoint 4.14
Note: Some speech synthesizers allow users to choose values for
synthesized speech characteristics at a higher abstraction layer,
i.e., by choosing from present options that group several
characteristics. Some typical options one might encounter include:
"adult male voice", "female child voice", "robot voice", "pitch",
"stress", etc. Ranges for values may vary among speech synthesizers.
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 checkpoint 4.15
Note: This checkpoint is more specific than checkpoint 4.14: it
requires support for the voice characteristics listed. Definitions for
these characteristics are based on descriptions in section 19 of the
Cascading Style Sheets Level 2 Recommendation [CSS2]; please refer to
that specification for additional informative descriptions. Some
speech synthesizers allow users to choose values for synthesized
speech characteristics at a higher abstraction layer, i.e., by
choosing from present options distinguished by "gender", "age",
"accent", etc. Ranges of values may vary among speech synthesizers.
Content type labels: Speech.
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 checkpoint 4.16
Note: Definitions for the functionalities listed are based on
descriptions in section 19 of the Cascading Style Sheets Level 2
Recommendation [CSS2]; please refer to that specification for
additional informative descriptions.
Checkpoints related to style sheets
4.17 Choose style sheets. (P1)
1. For user agents that support style sheets:
+ Allow the user to choose from and apply available author
style sheets (in content).
+ Allow the user to choose from and apply available user style
sheets.
+ Allow the user to ignore author and user style sheets.
Techniques for checkpoint 4.17
Note: By definition, the user agent's default style sheet is always
present, but may be overridden by author or user styles. Developers
should not consider that the user's ability to turn off author and
user style sheets is an effective way to improve content
accessibility; turning off style sheet support means losing the many
benefits they offer. Instead, developers should provide users with
finer control over user agent or content behavior known to raise
accessibility barriers. The user should only have to turn off author
and user style sheets as a last resort.
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[contents]
Guideline 5. Ensure user control of user interface behavior.
Ensure that the user can control the behavior of viewports and other user
interface controls, including those that may be manipulated by the author
(e.g., through scripts).
Control of viewport behavior is important to accessibility. For people
with visual disabilities or certain types of learning disabilities, it
is important that the point of regard - what the user is presumed to
be viewing - remain as stable as possible. Unexpected changes may
cause users to lose track of how many viewports are open, which
viewport has the current focus, etc. This guideline includes
requirements for control of opening and closing viewports, the
relative position of graphical viewports, changes to focus, and
inadvertent form submissions and micropayments.
Checkpoints
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 checkpoint 5.1
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 checkpoint 5.2
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 checkpoint 5.3
Note: Generally, viewports open automatically as the result of
instructions in content. See also checkpoint 5.1 (for control over
changes of focus when a viewport opens) and checkpoint 6.5 (for
programmatic alert of changes to the user interface).
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 checkpoint 5.4
Note: For example, if users navigating links move to a portion of the
document outside a graphical viewport, the viewport should scroll to
include the new location of the focus. Or, for users of audio
viewports, allow configuration to render the selection or focus
immediately after the change.
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 checkpoint 5.5
Note: For example, do not submit a form automatically when a menu
option is selected, when all fields of a form have been filled out, or
when a "mouseover" or "change" event occurs.
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 checkpoint 5.6
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 checkpoint 5.7
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[contents]
Guideline 6. Implement interoperable application programming interfaces.
Implement interoperable interfaces to communicate with other software
(e.g., assistive technologies, the operating environment, plug-ins, etc.).
This guideline addresses interoperability between a conforming user
agent and other software, in particular assistive technologies. The
checkpoints of this guideline require implementation of application
programming interfaces (APIs) for communication. There are three types
of requirements in this guideline:
1. Requirements for what information must be communicated through an
API.
2. Requirements for which APIs or types of APIs must be used to
communicate this information.
3. Requirements for additional characteristics of these APIs.
Note: The User Agent Accessibility Guidelines Working Group believes
that, in order to promote interoperability between a conforming user
agent and more than one assistive technology, it is more important to
implement conventional APIs than custom APIs, even though custom APIs
may superior access. When conventional APIs do not allow users to
satisfy the requirements of these checkpoints, however, developers may
implement alternative APIs in order to conform to this document.
Checkpoints
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 checkpoint 6.1
Note: Please refer to the "Document Object Model (DOM) Level 2 Core
Specification" [DOM2CORE] for information about HTML and XML versions
covered.
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 checkpoint 6.2
Note: For example, if the user interface allows users to complete HTML
forms, this must also be possible through the required DOM APIs.
Please refer to the "Document Object Model (DOM) Level 2 Core
Specification" [DOM2CORE] for information about HTML and XML versions
covered.
6.3 Programmatic access to non-HTML/XML 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 checkpoint 6.3
Note: This checkpoint addresses content not covered by checkpoints
checkpoint 6.1 and checkpoint 6.2.
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.
For user agent features. Techniques for checkpoint 6.4
Note: APIs used to satisfy the requirements of this checkpoint may be
platform-independent APIs such as the W3C DOM, conventional APIs for a
particular operating environment, conventional APIs for programming
languages, plug-ins, virtual machine environments, etc. User agent
developers are encouraged to implement APIs that allow assistive
technologies to interoperate with multiple types of software in a
given operating environment (user agents, word processors, spreadsheet
programs, etc.), as this reuse will benefit users and assistive
technology developers. User agents should always follow operating
environment conventions for the use of input and output APIs.
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. 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.
For both content and user agent. Techniques for checkpoint 6.5
Note: For instance, when user interaction in one frame causes
automatic changes to content in another, provide a programmatic alert.
This checkpoint does not require the user agent to alert the user of
rendering changes caused by content (e.g., an animation effect or an
effect caused by a style sheet), just changes to the content itself.
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 checkpoint 6.6
Note: An operating environment may define more than one conventional
API for the keyboard. For instance, for Japanese and Chinese, input
may be processed in two stages, with an API for each.
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.
For both content and user agent. Techniques for checkpoint 6.7
Note: Support for character encodings is important so that text is not
"broken" when communicated to assistive technologies. For example, the
DOM Level 2 Core Specification [DOM2CORE], section 1.1.5 requires that
the DOMString type be encoded using UTF-16. This checkpoint is an
important special case of the other API requirements of this document.
6.8 DOM CSS access. (P2)
1. For user agents that implement Cascading Style Sheets (CSS),
provide programmatic access to those style sheets in content 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 checkpoint 6.8
Note: Please refer to the "Document Object Model (DOM) Level 2 Style
Specification" [DOM2STYLE] for information about CSS versions covered.
6.9 Timely access. (P2)
1. Ensure that programmatic exchanges proceed in a timely manner.
For both content and user agent. Techniques for checkpoint 6.9
Note: For example, the programmatic exchange of information required
by other checkpoints in this document should be efficient enough to
prevent information loss, a risk when changes to content or user
interface occur more quickly than the communication of those changes.
Timely exchange is also important for the proper synchronization of
alternative renderings. The techniques for this checkpoint explain how
developers can reduce communication delays. This will help ensure that
assistive technologies have timely access to the document object model
and other information that is important for providing access.
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[contents]
Guideline 7. Observe operating environment conventions.
Observe operating environment conventions for the user agent user
interface, documentation, installation, etc.
Part of user agent accessibility involves following the conventions of
the user's operating environment. This includes:
* following operating environment conventions for user agent user
interface design, documentation, and installation.
* incorporating operating environment-level user preferences into
the user agent. For instance, some operating systems include
settings that allow users to request high-contrast colors (for
users with low vision) or graphical rendering of audio cues (for
users with hearing disabilities).
Following operating environment conventions increases predictability
for users and for developers of assistive technologies. Platform
guidelines explain what users will expect from the look and feel of
the user interface, keyboard conventions, documentation, etc. Platform
guidelines also include information about accessibility features that
the user agent should adopt rather than reimplement.
Checkpoints
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 checkpoint 7.1
Note: This checkpoint is an important special case of checkpoint 7.3.
See also checkpoint 9.1 and checkpoint 9.2.
7.2 Respect input configuration conventions. (P1)
1. Ensure that default input configurations of the user agent do not
interfere with operating environment accessibility conventions
(e.g., for keyboard accessibility).
For user agent features. Techniques for checkpoint 7.2
Note: Information about operating environment accessibility
conventions is available in the Techniques document [UAAG10-TECHS].
See also checkpoint 11.5.
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.
For user agent features. Techniques for checkpoint 7.3
Note: Some of these conventions (e.g., sticky keys, mouse keys, show
sounds, etc.) are discussed in the Techniques document [UAAG10-TECHS].
7.4 Input configuration indications. (P2)
1. Follow operating environment conventions to indicate the input
configuration.
For user agent features. Techniques for checkpoint 7.4
Note: For example, in some operating environments, when a
functionality may be triggered through a menu and through the
keyboard, the developer may design the menu entry so that the
character of the activating key is also shown. This checkpoint is an
important special case of checkpoint 7.3. See also checkpoint 11.5.
[next guideline 8] [review guideline 7] [previous guideline 6]
[contents]
Guideline 8. Implement specifications that benefit accessibility.
Support the accessibility features of all implemented specifications.
Implement W3C Recommendations when available and appropriate for a task.
Developers should implement open specifications. Conformance to open
specifications benefits interoperability and accessibility by making
it easier to design assistive technologies (also discussed in
guideline 6).
While developers should implement the accessibility features of any
specification (checkpoint 8.1), this document recommends conformance
to W3C Recommendations in particular (checkpoint 8.2) for several
reasons:
* W3C specifications include "built-in" accessibility features.
* W3C specifications undergo early review to ensure that
accessibility issues are considered during the design phase. This
review includes review from stakeholders in accessibility.
* W3C specifications are developed in a consensus process (refer to
the process defined by the W3C Process Document [W3CPROCESS]). W3C
encourages the public to review and comment on these
specifications (public Working Drafts, Candidate Recommendations,
and Proposed Recommendations). For information about how
specifications become W3C Recommendations, refer to the W3C
Recommendation track ([W3CPROCESS], section 6.2). W3C
Recommendations (and other technical reports) are published at the
W3C Web site.
Checkpoints
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].
For all content. Techniques for checkpoint 8.1
Note: This checkpoint applies to both W3C-developed and non-W3C
specifications. The Techniques document [UAAG10-TECHS] provides
information about the accessibility features of some specifications,
including W3C specifications. The user agent is not required to
satisfy this checkpoint for all implemented specifications; see the
section on conformance and implementing specifications for more
information.
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.
For all content. Techniques for checkpoint 8.2
Note: For instance, for markup, the user agent may conform to HTML 4
[HTML4], XHTML 1.0 [XHTML10], or XML 1.0 [XML]. For style sheets, the
user agent may conform to CSS ([CSS1], [CSS2]). For mathematics, the
user agent may conform to MathML 2.0 [MATHML20]. For synchronized
multimedia, the user agent may conform to SMIL 1.0 [SMIL]. The user
agent is not required to satisfy this checkpoint for all implemented
specifications; see the section on conformance and implementing
specifications for more information.
[next guideline 9] [review guideline 8] [previous guideline 7]
[contents]
Guideline 9. Provide navigation mechanisms.
Provide access to content through a variety of navigation mechanisms:
sequential navigation, direct navigation, searches, structured navigation,
etc.
Users should be able to navigate to important pieces of content within
a configurable view, identify the type of object they have navigated
to, interact with that object easily (if it is an enabled element),
and review the surrounding context (to orient themselves). Providing a
variety of navigation and search mechanisms helps users with
disabilities (and all users) access content more efficiently.
Navigation and searching are particularly important to users who
access content serially (e.g., as synthesized speech or braille).
Sequential navigation (e.g., line scrolling, page scrolling,
sequential navigation through enabled elements, etc.) means advancing
(or rewinding) through rendered content in well-defined steps (line by
line, screen by screen, link by link, etc.). Sequential navigation can
provide context, but can be time-consuming. Sequential navigation is
important to users who cannot scan a page visually for context and
also benefits users unfamiliar with a page. Sequential access may be
based on element type (e.g., links only), content structure (e.g.,
navigation from heading to heading), or other criteria.
Direct navigation (e.g., to a particular link or paragraph) is faster
than sequential navigation, but generally requires familiarity with
the content. Direct navigation is important to users with some
physical disabilities (who may have little or no manual dexterity
and/or increased tendency to push unwanted buttons or keys), to users
with visual disabilities, and also benefits "power users." Direct
navigation may be possible with the pointing device or the keyboard
(e.g., keyboard shortcuts).
Structured navigation mechanisms offer both context and speed. User
agents should allow users to navigate to content known to be
structurally important: blocks of content, headers and sections,
tables, forms and form elements, enabled elements, navigation
mechanisms, containers, etc. For information about programmatic access
to document structure, see guideline 6.
User agents should allow users to configure navigation mechanisms
(e.g., to allow navigation of links only, or links and headings, or
tables and forms, etc.).
Checkpoints
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 checkpoint 9.1
Note: For example, when two frames of a frameset contain enabled
elements, allow the user to make the content focus of either frame the
current focus. Note that viewports "owned" by plug-ins that are part
of a conformance claim are also covered by this checkpoint.
9.2 Provide user interface focus. (P1)
1. Provide a user interface focus.
Techniques for checkpoint 9.2
9.3 Move content focus. (P1)
1. Allow the user to move the content focus to any enabled element in
the viewport.
2. Allow configuration so that the content focus of a viewport only
changes on explicit user request. Configuration is not required if
the content focus only ever changes on explicit user request. See
also checkpoint 5.1.
3. If the author has not specified a navigation order, allow at least
forward sequential navigation to each element, in document order.
4. The user agent may also include disabled elements in the
navigation order.
Techniques for checkpoint 9.3
Note: In addition to forward sequential navigation, the user agent
should also allow reverse sequential navigation. This checkpoint is an
important special case of checkpoint 9.9.
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 these three state variables.
Techniques for checkpoint 9.4
Note: For example, when the user uses the "back button", restore the
point of regard, content focus, and selection for previous state in
the viewport's history.
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 checkpoint 9.5
Note: For instance, in this configuration for an HTML document, do not
activate any handlers for the 'onfocus', 'onblur', or 'onchange'
attributes. In this configuration, user agents should still apply any
stylistic changes (e.g., highlighting) that may occur when there is a
change in content focus.
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 checkpoint 9.6
Note: For example, allow the user to query the element with content
focus for the list of input device event handlers, or add them
directly to the serial navigation order described in checkpoint 9.3.
See checkpoint 1.2 for information about activation of event handlers
associated with the element with focus.
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 checkpoint 9.7
Note: This checkpoint is a special case of checkpoint 9.3.
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.
For all rendered content. Techniques for checkpoint 9.8
Note: If the user has not indicated a start position for the search,
the search should start from the beginning of content. Per checkpoint
7.3, use operating environments conventions for indicating the result
of a search (e.g., selection or content focus).
9.9 Structured navigation. (P2)
1. Allow the user to navigate efficiently to and among important
structural elements in rendered content.
2. Allow forward and backward sequential navigation to these
important structural elements.
Techniques for checkpoint 9.9
Note: This specification intentionally does not identify which
"important elements" must be navigable as this will vary according to
markup language. What constitutes "efficient navigation" may depend on
a number of factors as well, including the "shape" of content (e.g.,
serial navigation of long lists is not efficient) and desired
granularity (e.g., among tables, then among the cells of a given
table). Refer to the Techniques document [UAAG10-TECHS] for
information about identifying and navigating important elements.
9.10 Configure important elements. (P3)
1. Allow configuration 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 checkpoint 9.10
Note: For example, allow the user to navigate only paragraphs, or only
headings and paragraphs, or to suppress and restore navigation bars,
to navigate within and among tables and table cells, etc.
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[contents]
Guideline 10. Orient the user.
Provide information that will help the user understand browsing context.
All users require clues to help them understand their "location" when
browsing: where they are, how they got there, where they can go,
what's nearby, etc. Some mechanisms that provide such clues through
the user interface (visually, as audio, or as braille) include:
* information about the current state of the user's interaction with
content: where the viewport is in content (shown, for example,
through proportional scroll bars), which viewport has the current
focus, where the user has selected content, a history mechanism,
the title of the current document or frame, etc. These clues need
to be available to the user in a device-independent manner;
* information about specific elements, such as the dimensions of a
table, the length of an audio clip, the structure of a form,
whether following a link will involve a fee, etc.
* information about relationships among elements, such as between
table cells and related table headers.
* information about the structure of content. For instance, a
navigable outline view can accelerate access to content while
preserving context.
Orientation mechanisms such as these are especially important to users
who view content serially, (e.g., when rendered as synthesized speech
or braille). For instance, these users cannot "scan" a graphically
displayed table with their eyes for information about a table cell's
headers, neighboring cells, etc. User agents need to provide other
means for users to understand table cell relationships, frame
relationships (what relationship does the graphical layout convey?),
form context (have I filled out the form completely?), link
information (have I already visited this link?), etc.
This guideline also includes requirements to allow the user to control
some user agent behavior (form submission and activation of fee links)
that, if carried out automatically, might go unnoticed by some users
(e.g., users with blindness) or might disorient others (e.g., some
users with a cognitive disability).
Checkpoints
10.1 Table orientation. (P1)
1. Make available to the user the purpose of each rendered table
(e.g., as expressed in a summary or table caption) and the
relationships among the table cells and headers.
Techniques for checkpoint 10.1
Note: This checkpoint refers only to table purpose and cell/header
relationship information that the user agent can recognize. Depending
on the table, some techniques may be more efficient than others for
conveying data relationships. For many tables, user agents rendering
in two dimensions may satisfy this checkpoint by rendering a table as
a grid and by ensuring that users can find headers associated with
cells. However, for large tables or small viewports, allowing the user
to query cells for information about related headers may improve
access. This checkpoint is an important special case of checkpoint
2.1.
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, offer a range of colors or text
decorations to the user that includes at least:
+ the range offered by the conventional utility available in
the operating environment that allows users to choose colors
or text decorations,
+ or, if no such utility is available, the range of colors or
text decorations supported by the conventional APIs of the
operating environment for specifying colors or drawing text.
Techniques for checkpoint 10.2
Note: Examples of highlight mechanisms include foreground and
background color variations, underlining, distinctive synthesized
speech prosody, border styling, etc. Because the selection and focus
change frequently, user agents should not highlight them using
mechanisms (e.g., font size variations) that cause content to reflow
as this may disorient the user. See also checkpoint 7.1.
10.3 Distinct default highlight styles. (P1)
1. Ensure that all of the default highlight styles for the selection
and content focus, as well as for enabled elements, recently
visited links, and fee links in rendered content:
+ do not rely on color alone, and
+ differ from each other, and not by color alone.
2. This checkpoint does 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 checkpoint 10.3
Note: For instance, by default a graphical user agent may present the
selection using color and a dotted outline, the focus using a solid
outline, enabled elements as underlined in blue, recently visited
links as dotted underlined in purple, and fee links using a special
icon or flag to draw the user's attention.
10.4 Highlight special elements. (P2)
1. Provide a mechanism for highlighting all enabled elements,
recently visited links, and fee links in rendered content.
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 text
size, font family, colors, or text decorations, offer the
corresponding range of values required by checkpoint 4.1,
checkpoint 4.2, checkpoint 4.3, or checkpoint 10.2.
4. For a graphically rendered enabled elements, highlight the most
specific rendered element that:
+ encompasses the enabled element, and
+ is rendered as a coherent unit according to specification.
For example, an HTML user agent rendering a PNG image as part of
an image map is only required to highlight the image as a whole,
not each enabled region. On the other hand, an SVG user agent
rendering an SVG image with embedded graphical links is required
to highlight each graphical link that may be rendered
independently according to the SVG specification.
Techniques for checkpoint 10.4
Note: Examples of highlight mechanisms include foreground and
background color variations, font variations, underlining, distinctive
synthesized speech prosody, border styling, etc.
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 checkpoint 10.5
Note: This checkpoint is meant to provide the user with a simplified
view of content (e.g, a table of contents). For example, in HTML, a
heading (H1-H6) is a label for the section that follows it, a CAPTION
is a label for a table, the "title" attribute is a label for its
element, etc. For important elements that do not have associated
labels, user agents may generate labels for the outline view. For
information about what constitutes the set of important structural
elements, please see the Note following checkpoint 9.9. By making the
outline view navigable, it is possible to satisfy this checkpoint and
checkpoint 9.9 together: allow users to navigate among the important
elements of the outline view, and to navigate from a position in the
outline view to the corresponding position in a full view of content.
See also checkpoint 9.10.
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 checkpoint 10.6
Checkpoints for the user interface
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 checkpoint 10.7
Note: This checkpoint is an important special case of checkpoint 1.1.
See also to checkpoint checkpoint 7.1.
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 checkpoint 10.8
[next guideline 11] [review guideline 10] [previous guideline 9]
[contents]
Guideline 11. Allow configuration and customization.
Allow users to configure the user agent so that frequently performed tasks
are made convenient, and allow users to save their preferences.
Web users have a wide range of capabilities and need to be able to
configure the user agent according to their preferences for styles,
graphical user interface configuration, keyboard configuration, etc.
Most of the checkpoints in this guideline pertain to the input
configuration: how user agent behavior is controlled through keyboard
input, pointing device input, and voice input.
Checkpoints
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).
For user agent features. Techniques for checkpoint 11.1
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.).
For all content. Techniques for checkpoint 11.2
Note: For example, for HTML documents, provide a view of keyboard
bindings specified by the author through the "accesskey" attribute.
The intent of this checkpoint is to centralize information about
author-specified bindings so that the user does not have to read the
entire content first to find out what bindings are available.
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).
For user agent features. Techniques for checkpoint 11.3
Note: See also checkpoint 11.5, checkpoint 11.7, and checkpoint 12.3.
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.
For user agent features. Techniques for checkpoint 11.4
Note: Because single-key access is so important to some users with
physical disabilities, user agents should ensure that (1) most keys of
the physical keyboard may be configured for single-key bindings, and
(2) most functionalities of the user agent may be configured for
single-key bindings. For information about access to user agent
functionality through a keyboard API, see checkpoint 6.6.
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, and navigate efficiently 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.
For user agent features. Techniques for checkpoint 11.5
Note: This checkpoint does not make any requirements about the ease of
use of default input configurations, though clearly the default
configuration should include single-key bindings and allow easy
operation. Ease of use is ensured by the configuration requirements of
checkpoint 11.3.
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).
For user agent features. Techniques for checkpoint 11.6
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.
For user agent features. Techniques for checkpoint 11.7
Note: This checkpoint is a special case of checkpoint 11.3.
[next guideline 12] [review guideline 11] [previous guideline 10]
[contents]
Guideline 12. Provide accessible user agent documentation and help.
Ensure that the user can learn about software features that benefit
accessibility from the documentation. Ensure that the documentation is
accessible.
Documentation of the user interface is important, as is documentation
of the user agent's underlying functionalities. While intuitive user
interface design is valuable to many users, some users may still not
be able to understand or be able to operate the native user interface
without thorough documentation (e.g., a user with blindness may not
find a graphical user interface intuitive without supporting
documentation).
There are three types of requirements in this guideline:
1. accessibility of the documentation (checkpoint 12.1);
2. minimal requirements of what must be documented (checkpoint 12.2,
checkpoint 12.3, and checkpoint 12.4). Documentation should
include much more to explain how to install, get help for, use, or
configure the user agent;
3. organization of the documentation (checkpoint 12.5).
Refer to checkpoint 7.3 for information about following system
conventions for documentation.
Checkpoints
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].
For user agent features. Techniques for checkpoint 12.1
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.
For user agent features. Techniques for checkpoint 12.2
Note: The help system should include discussion of user agent features
that benefit accessibility. The user agent should satisfy this
checkpoint by providing both centralized and integrated views of
accessibility features in the documentation.
12.3 Document default bindings. (P1)
1. Document the default user agent input configuration (e.g., the
default keyboard bindings).
For user agent features. Techniques for checkpoint 12.3
Note: If the default input configuration is inconsistent with
conventions of the operating environment, the documentation should
alert the user.
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.
For user agent features. Techniques for checkpoint 12.4
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.
For user agent features. Techniques for checkpoint 12.5
Note: The user agent satisfies this checkpoint automatically by
providing a centralized view of accessibility features to satisfy
checkpoint 12.2. However, developers are encouraged to integrate
descriptions of accessibility features into the documentation
alongside other features, in addition to providing a centralized view.
[review guideline 12] [previous guideline 11] [contents]
3. Conformance
This normative section defines what it means to conform to this
document and explains how to make a valid conformance claim. The
following are important conformance concepts.
* Conformance and conformance claims differ. This document
distinguishes conformance requirements and conformance claim
requirements. The sections on unconditional conformance and
conditional conformance explain the conformance requirements. The
section on well-formed claims explains the claim requirements
(e.g., identification of the components that make up the user
agent, the operating environment in which they run, etc.) Here is
a sample claim (expressed in HTML):
<p>On 12 September 2001, Project X (version 2.3) running on
MyOperatingSystem (version 4.2) conforms to <abbr title="the World
Wide Web Consortium">W3C</abbr>'s "User Agent Accessibility
Guidelines 1.0", http://www.w3.org/TR/2001/CR-UAAG10-20010912,
level Double-A. Unsupported content types: Video, Speech.
Unsupported input modalities: Voice. (see section 3.1 of the UAAG
1.0). The <a href="http://example.com/checkpoints">list of
checkpoints that do not apply</a> is available online.</p>
* Modular conformance. A conforming user agent is not required to be
a single piece of software. In general, a conforming user agent
will consist of several coordinated components, such as a browser,
a multimedia player, documentation on the Web, etc. The current
document places no restrictions on the type or number of
components that make up the "subject of a conformance claim",
i.e., the user agent (i.e., set of components) about which someone
has made a conformance claim.
* Conditional conformance. A user agent is not required to satisfy
every checkpoint in order to conform. This document allows
"conditional conformance", which means conformance to less than
(or more than) a default set of requirements. Claimants may not
pick and choose which requirements they wish to satisfy in order
to conform conditionally; conditional conformance is governed by
several mechanisms described below:
1. conformance levels,
2. content type labels,
3. input modality labels,
4. selection label.
When a user agent conforms conditionally, a conformance claim
about the user agent must indicate how the set of satisfied
requirements differs from the default set; see the section on
well-formed claims.
* Applicability. Some checkpoints may not apply to a particular user
agent because of the nature of the user agent's user interface or
the nature of the format(s) implemented by the user agent. If a
checkpoint (or portion of a checkpoint) doesn't apply, the user
agent is not required to satisfy it for conformance. A claimant
must state in a well-formed conformance claim which checkpoints,
if any, do not apply. See the section on applicability for
information about how to determine whether a checkpoint applies.
In this document (notably in the checkpoints and in this section on
conformance), the terms "must", "should", and "may" (and related
terms) are used in accordance with RFC 2119 [RFC2119].
Note: Conformance to the requirements of this document is expected to
be a strong indicator of accessibility, but it is neither a necessary
nor sufficient condition for ensuring the accessibility of software.
Some software may not conform to this document but still be accessible
to some users with disabilities. Conversely, some software may conform
to this document but still be inaccessible to some users with
disabilities. Some requirements of this document may not benefit some
users for some content, but the requirements are expected to benefit
many users with disabilities, for general purpose content. For more
information, please see the sections on known limitations of this
document and restricted functionality and conformance.
3.1 Unconditional conformance
A user agent conforms unconditionally to this document if:
1. it satisfies all of the requirements of all the checkpoints. Note
that each checkpoint statement includes one or more requirements.
The requirements made by a checkpoint include those associated
with any content type labels for that checkpoint. Certain
checkpoints also include labels that indicate (when there might be
ambiguity) whether the requirements are for all content, for all
rendered content, for user agent features, or for both user agent
features and content;
2. for each checkpoint in guideline 6, it satisfies the requirements
by implementing APIs. For every other checkpoint, it satisfies the
requirements by implementing at least one mechanism other than an
API. Note: The checkpoints outside of guideline 6 may be satisfied
by assistive technologies as well, but are required by the current
document to be satisfied by a conforming user agent. For example,
checkpoint 9.3 involves navigation that must be possible through
the user interface, not just via an API. Note that an assistive
technology may be part of the subject of a claim.
These requirements together form the "default" set of conformance
requirements.
3.2 Conditional conformance
To allow user agents with different capabilities to conform, and to
facilitate comparisons of claims about different user agents, this
document defines allows conditional conformance. A user agent conforms
conditionally if it satisfies any set of requirements that results
from starting with the default set of requirements and removing or
adding requirements according to these steps:
1. Choose a conformance level; conformance levels A or Double-A
remove requirements from the default set.
2. Remove the requirements associated with any unsupported content
type labels. In order to conform conditionally, a user agent must
satisfy the requirements of at least one content type label.
3. Add requirements associated with any supported input modality
label. Note: In the default set of requirements, the only input
device requirements relate to keyboard input.
4. If the user agent does not implement a selection mechanism, remove
the requirements of any checkpoints or parts of checkpoints
associated with the selection label.
5. Remove the requirements of any checkpoints or parts of checkpoints
that do not apply.
Since these steps may produce very different sets of checkpoints for
different user agents, a well-formed conformance claim must indicate
how the set of requirements chosen for the claim differs from the
default set. The checklist [UAAG10-CHECKLIST] may prove useful when
documenting the details of a conditional conformance claim.
Example of a conditional conformance requirement set
The following example illustrates how to apply the above steps to
determine which requirements must be satisfied for conformance, and
what would be required as part of a well-formed conformance claim.
This informative example does not illustrate a complete user agent
evaluation.
Consider a user agent with these capabilities:
* it supports keyboard and pointing device input;
* it renders text (in color) and implements:
+ one audio format,
+ two image formats,
+ two other animation formats (besides video, which is
considered an animation format in this document);
* it feeds video to a plug-in for rendering;
* it doesn't support synthesized speech output;
* it implements a selection mechanism.
Step 1: Choose a conformance level.
The claimant wishes to conform at level Double-A. This establishes a
set of requirements consisting of all of the requirements of all the
priority 1 and 2 checkpoints.
Step 2: Remove the requirements associated with any unsupported content
type labels.
The claimant wishes to claim conformance for the user agent's support
of text, images, audio, and video. The claimant does not wish to claim
conformance for other animation formats.
The following content type labels are therefore relevant: VisualText,
ColorText, Image, Animation, Video, and Audio. This means that:
* the claimant must remove the set of requirements associated with
the Speech content type label.
* the claimant must satisfy the requirements associated with the
other content type labels.
Step 3: Remove the requirements of any checkpoints or parts of
checkpoints that do not apply.
Consider checkpoint 4.4, for example, which is associated with both
the Audio and Animation content type labels:
4.4 Slow multimedia. (P1)
1. Allow the user to slow the presentation rate of rendered 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.
Suppose that:
1. The claimant wishes to claim support for the two image formats,
the one audio format, and the one video format;
2. The claimant does not wish to claim support for the other two
animation formats (e.g., because the user agent doesn't satisfy
the requirements of checkpoint 4.4 for those animation formats);
3. The user agent does not implement any synchronized multimedia
formats.
The resulting applicable requirements from this checkpoint would be:
* For the audio format: Allow the user to slow the presentation rate
of audio. For a prerecorded audio track including audio-only
presentations, provide at least one setting between 75% and 80% of
the original speed.
* For the video format: Allow the user to slow the presentation rate
of video. For a visual track, provide at least one setting between
40% and 60% of the original speed.
* For the image formats: None, since the Image content type label
does not include checkpoint 4.4.
* Limitation of scope for any format: The user agent is not required
to satisfy the requirements of this checkpoint for audio and
animations whose recognized role is to create a purely stylistic
effect.
The following requirements would not apply:
* 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.
Note: The relevant applicability provision is provision three:
control of a content property that the subject cannot recognize.
In this case, no format implemented by the user agent supports
synchronized multimedia.
Step 4: Add requirements related to the selection.
In this example, since the user agent implements a selection
mechanism, it must satisfy the requirements associated with the
selection label.
Step 5: Add requirements associated with any supported input modality
label.
In this example, the claimant does not wish to claim conformance for
complete operation for pointing device or voice input, so no
requirements are added.
Construct a well-formed conformance claim.
The following information is an excerpt of that required for a
well-formed claim:
* Conformance level satisfied: Double-A
* Information about the subject. Both the "main" user agent and the
plug-in used to support video must be identified in the claim
(since the plug-in is the component used to satisfy the
requirements for video).
The user agent does not conform unconditionally, therefore, the claim
must also include the following information (excerpted from a complete
claim):
* A general statement about lack of support for the Speech content
type label: "This user agent does not support the requirements of
the Speech content type label. "
* A specific statement about content type support for checkpoint
4.4: "This user agent satisfies the requirements of the Animation
content type label for the audio format A and the video format V.
It does not satisfy the Animation requirements for animation
formats Y and Z."
* A specific statement about applicability for checkpoint 4.4: "The
synchronized multimedia requirements of checkpoint checkpoint 4.4
do not apply because the user agent does not implement any formats
that support synchronized multimedia."
3.3 Conformance details
The following normative subsections provide detail that is relevant to
both unconditional and conditional conformance.
Requirements for content, for rendered content, for user agent features, or
both user agent features and content
The requirements of certain checkpoints might apply equally well to
content or to user agent user interface features. When it is necessary
to remove ambiguity about the scope of a checkpoint, the checkpoint
includes a label to indicate whether the requirements must be
satisfied:
1. for content only, i.e., the document object only;
2. for rendered content only;
3. for user agent features only, i.e., everything that is not content
(such as components of the user agent user interface, user
preferences, the user agent documentation, and the user interface
focus);
4. for both content and user agent features.
Many of the content-only and rendered content-only requirements also
make sense for the user agent user interface (e.g., allow the user to
render blinking text as motionless text). User agent developers are
encouraged to consider the content-only requirements when designing
the user agent's user interface.
The user agent may satisfy a content-only or rendered content-only
requirement with a mechanism that also involves user agent features.
For instance, to satisfy checkpoint 4.9, the user agent may provide a
single control for all volume (including content and user interface
features). Similarly, to satisfy checkpoint 3.3, the user agent may
offer a single configuration that turns off blinking in both content
and the user interface.
Conformance and implementing specifications
A user agent may conform by satisfying the checkpoint requirements of
this document for some, but not all, implemented specifications and
APIs. For example, a developer may implement ten image formats but
only wish to claim "Image" conformance for three of them.
In particular, the following requirements may be satisfied for some
but not all implemented specifications:
* requirements associated with a content type label;
* the API requirements of checkpoint checkpoint 6.3, checkpoint 6.4,
and checkpoint 6.5.
* the rendering requirements of checkpoints 2.1 and 2.2;
* the format requirements of checkpoints 8.1 and 8.2.
Configuration requirements
The user agent may satisfy the configuration requirements of this
document through configuration files (e.g., profiles, initialization
files, themes, etc.). For instance, style sheets might be used as a
mechanism to satisfy the highlight and configuration requirements of
checkpoints 10.2 and 10.4. Any functionality that is configurable
through a configuration file should also be configurable through the
user agent user interface. Furthermore, if configuration files may be
edited by hand, the user agent documentation should explain the
configuration file format, or refer to an explanation (such as a
format specification).
For some of the checkpoints in this document (checkpoint 3.3,
checkpoint 5.1, checkpoint 5.3, checkpoint 5.5, checkpoint 5.6),
configuration is preferred, but not required to satisfy the checkpoint
in some circumstances. For other checkpoints, the configuration
requirement is considered as important as the functionality being
configured.
Since this document allows conformance by multiple software components
(e.g., a browser, a media player, and several plug-ins), there are
likely to be times when, to satisfy the configuration requirements of
the document, each component has to provide for configuration
independently. To make configuration easier for the user, components
should share and inherit configurations (including from the operating
environment).
Use of operating environment features as part of conformance
To satisfy the requirements of this document, developers are
encouraged to adopt operating environment conventions and features
that benefit accessibility. When an operating environment feature
(e.g., the operating system's audio control feature, including its
user interface) is adopted to satisfy the requirements of this
document, it is part of the subject of the claim.
Developers may provide access through the user agent's user interface
to operating environment features adopted to satisfy the requirements
of this document. For example, if the user agent adopts the operating
system's audio control feature to satisfy checkpoint 4.9, the user
agent may (but is not required to) include those controls in its own
user interface.
Some of the checkpoints in this document involve operating environment
conventions. When a user agent runs in more than one operating
environment (e.g., a user agent implemented in Java on top of another
operating system), developers may satisfy the requirements of this
document by following the conventions of a single operating
environment. Developers should follow the conventions that benefit
accessibility most, while meeting the developers' design goals. For
instance, some developers may prefer cross-platform consistency over
consistency with other user agents running in a given operating
environment, and this might affect which conventions would be
preferred.
Restricted functionality and conformance
User agents do not conform to this document on a per-resource basis;
claims are not as specific as "the user agent conforms for this
particular Web page." A user agent conforms if it satisfies the
requirements of this document for most general-purpose content, in
ordinary operating conditions.
In some cases, an author may wish to limit the user agent's
functionality for specific reasons, such as to protect intellectual
property rights, for security reasons, or to provide a read-only view
(allowing no user interaction). Content that limits the functionality
of the user agent in some cases does not automatically invalidate a
conformance claim. A valid conformance claim remains valid as long as
the user agent is capable of satisfying the requirements of the
document (i.e., the functionalities have been implemented), and does
so for most general-purpose content.
Note: The User Agent Accessibility Guidelines Working Group recognizes
that further work is necessary in the area of digital rights
management as it relates to accessibility. Digital rights management
refers to methods of describing and perhaps enforcing intellectual
property associated with Web resources.
3.4 Conformance levels
Each conformance level defines a set of requirements, based on
priority.
* Conformance Level "A": the requirements of all Priority 1
checkpoints.
* Conformance Level "Double-A": the requirements of all Priority 1
and 2 checkpoints.
* Conformance Level "Triple-A": the requirements of all Priority 1,
2, and 3 checkpoints.
Note: Conformance levels are spelled out in text (e.g., "Double-A"
rather than "AA") so they may be understood when rendered as
synchronized speech.
3.5 Content type labels
Each content type label defines a set of requirements related to
support for images, video, animations generally, visually displayed
text (in color), and synthesized speech.
VisualText
This content type label refers to all of the requirements
related to the visual rendering of text for the following
checkpoints: 3.3, 4.1, and 4.2. To conform, the user agent must
support visually rendered text.
ColorText
This content type label refers to all of the requirements
related to text foreground and background color for the
following checkpoint: 10.4. To conform, the user agent must
support more than one text foreground color and more than one
text background color.
Image
This content type label refers to all of the requirements
related to images (excluding animated images) for the following
checkpoints: 3.1, and 3.7. To conform, the user agent must
implement at least one image format. The image requirements
apply to content that is recognized as distinct and that,
according to the encoding format, may be rendered as a coherent
unit.
Animation
This content type label refers to all of the requirements
related to animations (including video and animated images) for
the following checkpoints: 3.2, 4.4, 4.5, 4.7, and 4.8. To
conform, the user agent must implement at least one animation
format. The animation requirements apply to animation content
that is recognized as distinct and that, according to the
encoding format, may be rendered as a coherent unit.
Video
This content type label refers to all of the requirements
related to video for the following checkpoints: 2.5, 2.6, and
3.2. To conform, the user agent must implement at least one
video format. The video requirements apply to video content
that is recognized as distinct and that, according to the
encoding format, may be rendered as a coherent unit.
Audio
This content type label refers to all of the requirements
related to audio for the following checkpoints: 2.5, 2.6, 3.2,
4.4, 4.5, 4.7, 4.8, 4.9, 4.10, and 4.11 To conform, the user
agent must implement at least one audio format. The audio
requirements apply to audio content that is recognized as
distinct and that, according to the encoding format, may be
rendered as a coherent unit.
Speech
This content type label refers to all of the requirements
related to synthesized speech for the following checkpoints:
4.12, 4.13, 4.14, 4.15, and 4.16. To conform, the user agent
must support synthesized speech.
Note: Some of the labels above require implementation of at least one
format (e.g., for images). This document does not require
implementation of specific formats, (e.g., PNG [PNG] versus SVG [SVG]
for images). However, please see the requirements of checkpoint 8.2.
3.6 Input modality labels
Each input modality label defines a set of requirements related to
support for pointing device and voice input. Input device requirements
in this document are either stated generically (e.g., "input
configuration" requirements) or as keyboard-specific requirements
(e.g., "keyboard API").
Pointer
This input modality label refers to all of the input device
requirements of this document, applied to pointing device
input. For keyboard-specific requirements, substitute "pointing
device input" for "keyboard." The set of pointing device input
requirements does not include the requirements of checkpoint
11.4.
Voice
This input modality label refers to all of the input device
requirements of this document, applied to voice input. For
keyboard-specific requirements, substitute "voice input" for
"keyboard." The set of voice input requirements does not
include the requirements of checkpoint 11.4.
Note: Developers are encouraged to design user agents that are at
least partially operable through all three input modalities.
3.7 Selection label
This document does not require the user agent to implement a selection
mechanism in order to conform. However, if the user agent does
implement a selection mechanism, in order to conform it must satisfy
the relevant portions of the following checkpoints: 6.5, 7.1, 9.4,
10.2, 10.3, and 5.4. The Selection label refers to the selection
requirements of these checkpoints.
If a user agent does not implement a selection mechanism, then a
well-formed claim must say so.
Note: This document does require implementation of both content focus
and user interface focus; see checkpoint 9.1 and checkpoint 9.2.
3.8 Checkpoint applicability
A checkpoint (or part of a checkpoint) applies unless any one of the
following conditions is met:
1. The checkpoint makes requirements for graphical user interfaces or
graphical viewports and the subject of the claim only has audio or
tactile user interfaces or viewports.
2. The checkpoint refers to a role of content (e.g., transcript,
captions, associated conditional content, fee link,
synchronization cue, client-side redirect, purpose of a table,
etc.) that the subject of the claim cannot recognize because of
how the content has been encoded in a particular format. For
instance, HTML user agents can recognize "alt", OBJECT content, or
NOFRAMES content as specified mechanisms for conditional content.
HTML user agents are not expected to recognize that a nearby
paragraph is a text equivalent for the image (when not marked up
as such).
3. The checkpoint requires control of a content property that the
subject cannot recognize because of how the content has been
encoded in a particular format. Some examples of this include:
+ captioning information that is "burned" into a video
presentation and cannot be recognized as captions in the
presentation format;
+ streamed content that cannot be fast forwarded or rewound;
+ information encoded in an unrecognized XML namespace;
+ information or relationships encoded in scripts in a manner
that cannot be recognized. For instance, the requirements of
checkpoint 3.3 would not apply for animation effects
unrecognized in a script. Some input device behavior may be
controlled by scripts in a manner that the user agent cannot
recognize. For example, when the author uses event bubbling
to dispatch events, the user agent is not likely to recognize
the full set of elements that may receive those events; the
user agent is expected to recognize which element has the
explicitly associated event handler.
3.9 Well-formed conformance claims
A claim is well-formed if meets the following conditions.
Condition 1: The claim must include the following information:
1. The date of the claim.
2. The guidelines title/version: "User Agent Accessibility Guidelines
1.0".
3. The URI of the guidelines:
http://www.w3.org/TR/2001/CR-UAAG10-20010912.
4. The conformance level satisfied: "A", "Double-A", or "Triple-A".
5. Information about the subject. The subject of the claim may
consist of one or more software components (e.g., a browser plus a
multimedia player plus a plug-in). For each component, the claim
must include the following:
+ The user agent name and version information. Version
information must be sufficient to identify the user agent
(e.g., vendor name, version number, minor release number,
required patches or updates, natural language of the user
interface or documentation). The version information may
refer to a range of user agents (e.g., "this claim refers to
all user agents version 6.x").
+ The name and version number of the operating environment(s)
in which the user agent is running.
+ If a conformance icon is part of a claim on the Web, it must
link to the W3C explanation of the icon.
Condition 2: The claim must include the following information if the
user agent conforms conditionally:
1. Content type labels. Content type labels are used in assertions
that the subject either (1) does not satisfy the requirements
associated with the label (e.g., for a specific checkpoint, for
any checkpoint, etc.), or (2) does satisfy the requirements
associated with the label (e.g., for a particular format when
satisfying the requirements of a checkpoint). In order to conform
conditionally, a user agent must satisfy the requirements of at
least one content type label.
2. Input modality labels. Each input modality label ("Pointer" or
"Voice") is an assertion that the user agent satisfies the
requirements associated with the label.
3. Selection label. If the user agent does not implement a selection
mechanism, the claim must say so.
4. A list of requirements (checkpoints or portions of checkpoints)
that the claim asserts do not apply.
Condition 3: At least one version of the claim must conform to the
"Web Content Accessibility Guidelines 1.0" [WCAG10], level A. This
claim may appear on the Web, on a CD-ROM, etc.
A well-formed claim should also include the following information:
* Information about which specifications have been implemented to
satisfy the requirements of the document (e.g., those of guideline
6 and guideline 8).
* Rationale for any requirements that do not apply.
This specification imposes no restrictions on the format used to make
a well-formed claim. For instance, the claim may be marked up using
HTML (see sample claim), or expressed in the Resource Description
Framework (RDF) [RDF10].
3.10 Validity of a claim
A conformance claim is valid if the following conditions are met:
1. The claim is well-formed.
2. It is verified that the user agent satisfies the default set of
requirements, in addition to (or except) those requirements added
(or exempted) by the allowable mechanisms: conformance levels,
content type labels, input modality labels, and applicability.
It is not currently possible to validate a claim entirely
automatically.
Notes:
* The subject of the claim may consist of more than one software
component, and taken together they must satisfy all requirements
that are not excluded through the claim. These components may run
on the user's computer or on a server. This includes assistive
technologies and operating environment features that are part of a
claim. Some components may not have to satisfy some requirements
as long as the subject as a whole satisfies them. For instance, a
particular component of the subject may not have to conform to the
DOM APIs required by guideline 6 as long as the subject of the
claim as a whole makes all content available through those APIs.
* The document has been designed so that non-experts can determine
the validity of a claim. In some cases, a requirement might be
clear, but without documentation or feedback from developers
(e.g., about implemented APIs), it may be difficult to verify that
the subject of the claim has satisfied the requirement. Some
checkpoints (e.g., those requiring developers to follow
conventions or implement specifications defined outside this
document) are inherently more open to interpretation than others.
* Ideally, the default user agent installation procedure should
provide and install all components that are part of a conformance
claim. This is because, the more software components the user must
install in order to construct a conforming user agent, the higher
the risk of failure. Failure may be due to inaccessible mechanisms
for downloading and installing plug-ins, or lack of installation
access privileges for a computer in a public space, etc.
Responsibility for claims
This specification imposes no restrictions about:
* who may make a claim (e.g., vendors about their own user agents,
third parties about those user agents, journalists about user
agents, etc.), or
* where claims may be published (e.g., on the Web or in paper
documentation).
Claimants (or relevant assuring parties) are solely responsible for
the validity of their claims, keeping claims up to date, and proper
use of the conformance icons. As of the publication of this document,
W3C does not act as an assuring party, but it may do so in the future,
or it may establish recommendations for assuring parties.
Claimants are expected to modify or retract a claim if it may be
demonstrated that the claim is not valid. Claimants are encouraged to
claim conformance to the most recent User Agent Accessibility
Guidelines Recommendation available.
Conformance icons
As part of a conformance claim, people may use a conformance icon (or,
"conformance logo") on a Web site, on user agent packaging, in
documentation, etc. A conformance icon does not represent that a claim
is valid, only that a claim has been made. The appearance of a
conformance icon does not imply that W3C has reviewed the claim.
It is inappropriate and meaningless to use a conformance icon on its
own, i.e., to use the icon without an associated well-formed claim.
Draft Note: In the event this document becomes a W3C Recommendation
this document will link to the W3C Web site for additional information
about the icons and how to use them.
4. Glossary
This glossary is normative. Some terms (or parts of explanations of
terms) may not have an impact on conformance.
Note: In this document, glossary terms generally link to the
corresponding entries in this section. These terms are also
highlighted through style sheets and identified as glossary terms
through markup.
a · b · c · d · e · f · g · h · i · j · k · l · m · n · o · p · q · r
· s · t · u · v · w · x · y · z
Activate
In this document, the verb "to activate" means (depending on
context) either:
+ To execute or carry out one or more behaviors associated with
an enabled element.
+ To execute or carry out one or more behaviors associated with
a component of the user agent user interface.
The effect of activation depends on the type of enabled element
or user interface control. For instance, when a link is
activated, the user agent generally retrieves the linked Web
resource. When a form element is activated, it may change state
(e.g., check boxes) or may take user input (e.g., a text entry
field).
Alert
In this document, "to alert" means to make the user aware of
some event, without requiring acknowledgement. For example, the
user agent may alert the user that new content is available on
the server by displaying a text message in the user agent's
status bar. See checkpoint 1.3 for requirements about alerts.
Animation
In this document, an "animation" refers to content that, when
rendered, creates a visual movement effect automatically (i.e.,
without manual user interaction). This definition of animation
includes video and animated images. Animation techniques
include:
+ graphically displaying a sequence of snapshots within the
same region (e.g., as is done for video and animated images).
The series of snapshots may be provided by a single resource
(e.g., an animated GIF image) or from distinct resources
(e.g., a series of images downloaded continuously by the user
agent).
+ scrolling text (e.g., achieved through markup or style
sheets).
+ displacing graphical objects around the viewport (e.g., a
picture of a ball that is moved around the viewport giving
the impression that it is bouncing off of the viewport
edges). For instance, the SMIL 2.0 [SMIL20] animation modules
explain how to create such animation effects in a declarative
manner (i.e., not by composition of successive snapshots).
Applet
An applet is a program (generally written in the Java
programming language) that is part of content, and that the
user agent executes.
Application Programming Interface (API), conventional
input/output/device API
An application programming interface (API) defines how
communication may take place between applications.
Implementing APIs that are independent of a particular
operating environment (as are the W3C DOM Level 2
specifications) may reduce implementation costs for
multi-platform user agents and promote the development of
multi-platform assistive technologies. Implementing
conventional APIs for a particular operating environment may
reduce implementation costs for assistive technology developers
who wish to interoperate with more than one piece of software
running on that operating environment.
A "device API" defines how communication may take place with an
input or output device such as a keyboard, mouse, video card,
etc.
In this document, an "input/output API" defines how
applications or devices communicate with a user agent. As used
in this document, input and output APIs include, but are not
limited to, device APIs. Input and output APIs also include
more abstract communication interfaces than those specified by
device APIs. A "conventional input/output API" is one that is
expected to be implemented by software running on a particular
operating environment. For example, on desktop computers today,
the conventional input APIs are for the mouse and keyboard. For
touch screen devices or mobile devices, conventional input APIs
may include stylus, buttons, voice, etc. The graphical display
and sound card are considered conventional ouput devices for a
graphical desktop computer environment, and each has an
associated API.
Assistive technology
In the context of this document, an assistive technology is a
user agent that:
1. relies on services (such as retrieving Web resources, parsing
markup, etc.) provided by one or more other "host" user
agents. Assistive technologies communicate data and messages
with host user agents by using and monitoring APIs.
2. provides services beyond those offered by the host user
agents to meet the requirements of users with disabilities.
Additional services include alternative renderings (e.g., as
synthesized speech or magnified content), alternative input
methods (e.g., voice), additional navigation or orientation
mechanisms, content transformations (e.g., to make tables
more accessible), etc.
For example, screen reader software is an assistive technology
because it relies on browsers or other software to enable Web
access, particularly for people with visual and learning
disabilities.
Examples of assistive technologies that are important in the
context of this document include the following:
+ screen magnifiers, which are used by people with visual
disabilities to enlarge and change colors on the screen to
improve the visual readability of rendered text and images.
+ screen readers, which are used by people who are blind or
have reading disabilities to read textual information through
synthesized speech or braille displays.
+ voice recognition software, which may be used by people who
have some physical disabilities.
+ alternative keyboards, which are used by people with certain
physical disabilities to simulate the keyboard.
+ alternative pointing devices, which are used by people with
certain physical disabilities to simulate mouse pointing and
button activations.
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, e.g., wheelchairs, reading machines, devices for
grasping, text telephones, vibrating pagers, etc. For example,
the following very general definition of "assistive technology
device" comes from the (U.S.) Assistive Technology Act of 1998
[AT1998]:
Any item, piece of equipment, or product system, whether acquired
commercially, modified, or customized, that is used to increase,
maintain, or improve functional capabilities of individuals with
disabilities.
Attribute
This document uses the term "attribute" in the XML sense: an
element may have a set of attribute specifications (refer to
the XML 1.0 specification [XML] section 3).
Audio
In this document, the term "audio" refers to content that
encodes pre-recorded sound.
Audio-only presentation
An audio-only presentation is content consisting exclusively of
one or more audio tracks presented concurrently or in series.
Examples of an audio-only presentation include a musical
performance, a radio-style news broadcast, and a narration.
Audio track
An audio object is content rendered as sound through an audio
viewport. An audio track is an audio object that is intended as
a whole or partial presentation. An audio track may, but is not
required to, correspond to a single audio channel (left or
right audio channel).
Auditory description
An auditory description (sometimes, "audio description") is
either a prerecorded human voice or a synthesized voice
(recorded or generated dynamically) describing the key visual
elements of a movie or other animation. The auditory
description is synchronized with (and possibly included as part
of) the audio track of the presentation, usually during natural
pauses in the audio track. Auditory descriptions include
information about actions, body language, graphics, and scene
changes.
Author styles
Authors styles are style property values that come from content
(e.g., style sheets within a document, that are associated with
a document, or that are generated by a server).
Captions
Captions (sometimes, "closed captions") are text transcripts
that are synchronized with other audio tracks or visual tracks.
Captions convey information about spoken words and non-spoken
sounds such as sound effects. They benefit people who are deaf
or hard-of-hearing, and anyone who cannot hear the audio (e.g.,
someone in a noisy environment). Captions are generally
rendered graphically above, below, or superimposed over video.
Note: Other terms that include the word "caption" may have
different meanings in this document. For instance, a "table
caption" is a title for the table, often positioned graphically
above or below the table. In this document, the intended
meaning of "caption" will be clear from context.
Character encoding
A "character encoding" is a mapping from a character set
definition to the actual code units used to represent the data.
Please refer to the Unicode specification [UNICODE] for more
information about character encodings. Refer to "Character
Model for the World Wide Web" [CHARMOD] for additional
information about characters and character encodings.
Collated text transcript
A collated text transcript is a text equivalent of a movie or
other animation. More specifically, it is the combination of
the text transcript of the audio track and the text equivalent
of the visual track. For example, a collated text transcript
typically includes segments of spoken dialogue interspersed
with text descriptions of the key visual elements of a
presentation (actions, body language, graphics, and scene
changes). See also the definitions of text transcript and
auditory description. Collated text transcripts are essential
for individuals who are deaf-blind.
Conditional content
Conditional content is content that, by format specification,
should be made available to users through the user interface,
generally under certain conditions (e.g., based on user
preferences or operating environment limitations). Some
examples of conditional content mechanisms include:
+ The "alt" attribute of the IMG element in HTML 4. According
to section 13.2 of the HTML 4 specification ([HTML4]): "User
agents must render alternate text when they cannot support
images, they cannot support a certain image type or when they
are configured not to display images.
+ OBJECT elements in HTML 4. Section 13.3.1 of the HTML 4
specification ([HTML4]) explains the conditional rendering
rules of (nested) OBJECT elements. The rules select among
ordered alternatives according to user preferences or error
conditions.
+ The switch element and test attributes in SMIL 1.0. Sections
4.3 and 4.4, respectively, of SMIL 1.0 [SMIL] explain the
conditional rendering rules of these features.
+ SVG 1.0 [SVG] also includes a switch element and several
attributes for conditional processing.
+ The NOSCRIPT and NOFRAMES elements in HTML 4 [HTML4] allow
the author to provide content under conditions when the user
agent does not support scripts or frames, or the user has
turned off support for scripts or frames.
Specifications vary in how completely they define how and when
to render conditional content. For instance, the HTML 4
specification includes the rendering conditions for the "alt"
attribute, but not for the "title" attribute. The HTML 4
specification does indicate that the "title" attribute should
be available to users through the user interface ("Values of
the title attribute may be rendered by user agents in a variety
of ways...").
Note: The Web Content Accessibility Guidelines 1.0 requires
that authors provide text equivalents for non-text content.
This is generally done by using the conditional content
mechanisms of a markup language. Since conditional content may
not be rendered by default, the current document requires the
user agent to provide access to unrendered conditional content
(checkpoint 2.3 and checkpoint 2.9) as it may have been
provided to promote accessibility.
Configure, control
In the context of this document, the verbs "to control" and "to
configure" share in common the idea of governance such as a
user may exercise over interface layout, user agent behavior,
rendering style, and other parameters required by this
document. Generally, the difference in the terms centers on the
idea of persistence. When a user makes a change by
"controlling" a setting, that change usually does not persist
beyond that user session. On the other hand, when a user
"configures" a setting, that setting typically persists into
later user sessions. Furthermore, the term "control" typically
means that the change can be made easily (such as through a
keyboard shortcut) and that the results of the change occur
immediately, whereas the term "configure" typically means that
making the change requires more time and effort (such as making
the change via a series of menus leading to a dialog box, via
style sheets or scripts, etc.) and that the results of the
change may not take effect immediately (e.g., due to time spent
reinitializing the system, initiating a new session, rebooting
the system). In order to be able to configure and control the
user agent, the user needs to be able to "read" as well as
"write" values for these parameters. Configuration settings may
be stored in a profile. The range and granularity of the
changes that can be controlled or configured by the user may
depend on limitations of the operating environment or hardware.
Both configuration and control may apply at different "levels":
across Web resources (i.e., at the user agent level, or
inherited from the operating environment), to the entirety of a
Web resource, or to components of a Web resource (e.g., on a
per-element basis).
A global configuration is one that applies across elements of
the same Web resource, as well as across Web resources. A
global configuration may be implemented by more than one
setting (e.g., per component of the user agent). For instance,
when a user agent consists of a browser that renders HTML and a
plug-in that renders SVG, to satisfy the global configuration
requirements of this document, the browser may provide one
setting and the plug-in another.
User agents may allow users to choose configurations based on
various parameters, such as hardware capabilities, natural
language, etc.
Note: In this document, the noun "control" refers to a
component of the user agent user interface.
Content
In this specification, the noun "content" is used in three
ways:
1. It is used to mean the document object as a whole or in
parts.
2. It is used to mean the content of an HTML or XML element, in
the sense employed by the XML 1.0 specification ([XML],
section 3.1): "The text between the start-tag and end-tag is
called the element's content." Context should indicate that
the term content is being used in this sense.
3. It is used in the context of the phrases non-text content and
text content.
Empty content is either a null value or a string consisting of
zero characters. For instance, in HTML, "alt=''" sets the value
of the "alt" attribute to the empty string. In some markup
languages, an element may have empty content (e.g., the HR
element in HTML).
Device-independence
Device-independence refers to the ability to make use of
software with any appropriate supported input or output device.
Document object, Document Object Model (DOM)
In general usage, the term "document object" refers to the user
agent's representation of data (e.g., a document). This data
generally comes from the document source, but may also be
generated (from style sheets, scripts, transformations, etc.),
produced as a result of preferences set within the user agent,
added as the result of a repair performed automatically by the
user agent, etc. Some data that is part of the document object
is routinely rendered (e.g., in HTML, what appears between the
start and end tags of elements and the values of attributes
such as "alt", "title", and "summary"). Other parts of the
document object are generally processed by the user agent
without user awareness, such as DTD- or schema-defined names of
element types and attributes, and other attribute values such
as "href", "id", etc. These guidelines require that users have
access to both kinds of data through the user interface. Most
of the requirements of this document apply to the document
object after its construction. However, a few checkpoints
(e.g., checkpoint 2.7 and checkpoint 2.11) may affect the
construction of the document object.
A "document object model" is the abstraction that governs the
construction of the user agent's document object. The document
object model employed by different user agents may vary in
implementation and sometimes in scope. This specification
requires that user agents implement the APIs defined in
Document Object Model (DOM) Level 2 Specifications ([DOM2CORE]
and [DOM2STYLE]) for access to HTML, XML, and CSS content.
These DOM APIs allow authors to access and modify the content
via a scripting language (e.g., JavaScript) in a consistent
manner across different scripting languages. As a standard
interface, the DOM APIs make it easier not just for authors,
but for assistive technology developers to extract information
and render it in ways most suited to the needs of particular
users.
Document character set
A document character set (a concept taken from SGML) is a
sequence of abstract characters that may appear in Web content
represented in a particular format (such as HTML, XML, etc.). A
document character set consists of:
+ a "repertoire", A set of abstract characters, such as the
Latin letter "A", the Cyrillic letter "I", the Chinese
character meaning "water", etc.
+ Code positions: A set of integer references to characters in
the repertoire.
For instance, the character set required by the HTML 4
specification [HTML4] is defined in the Unicode specification
[UNICODE]. Refer to "Character Model for the World Wide Web"
[CHARMOD] for more information about document character sets.
Document source, text source
In this document, the term "document source" refers to the data
that the user agent receives as the direct result of a request
for a Web resource (e.g., as the result of an HTTP/1.1
[RFC2616] "GET", or as the result of viewing a resource on the
local file system). The document source generally refers to the
"payload" of the user agent's request, and doesn't generally
include information exchanged as part of the transfer protocol.
The document source is data that is prior to any repair by the
user agent (e.g., prior to repairing invalid markup). "Text
source" refers to document source that is composed of text.
Documentation
Documentation refers to information that supports the use of a
user agent. This information may be found in manuals,
installation instructions, the help system, tutorials, etc.
Documentation may be distributed (e.g., some parts may be
delivered on CD-ROM, others on the Web). Refer to guideline 12
for information about documentation requirements.
Element, element type,
This document uses the terms "element" and "element type" in
the sense employed by the XML 1.0 specification ([XML], section
3): an element type is a syntactic construct of a Document Type
Definition (DTD) for its application. This sense is also
relevant to structures defined by XML schemas. The document
also uses the term "element" more generally to mean a type of
content (such as video or sound) or a logical construct (such
as a header or list).
Enabled element, disabled element
An enabled element is a piece of content with associated
behaviors that may be activated through the user interface or
through an API. The set of elements that a user agent enables
is generally derived from, but is not limited to, the set of
interactive elements defined by implemented markup languages.
Some elements may only be enabled elements for part of a user
session. For instance, an element may be disabled by a script
as the result of user interaction. Or, an element may only be
enabled during a given time period (e.g., during part of a SMIL
1.0 [SMIL] presentation). Or, the user may be viewing content
in "read-only" mode, which may disable some elements.
A disabled element is a piece of content that is potentially an
enabled element, but is not in the current session. Generally,
disabled elements will be interactive elements that are not
enabled in the current session. This document distinguishes
disabled elements (not currently enabled) from non-interactive
elements (never enabled).
For the requirements of this document, user selection does not
constitute user interaction with enabled elements. See the
definition of content focus.
Note: Enabled and disabled elements come from content; they are
not part of the user agent user interface.
Note: The term "active element" is not used in this document
since it may suggest several different concepts, including:
interactive element, enabled element, an element "in the
process of being activated" (which is the meaning of ':active'
in CSS2 [CSS2], for example).
Equivalent (for content)
The term "equivalent" is used in this document as it is used in
the Web Content Accessibility Guidelines 1.0 [WCAG10]:
Content is "equivalent" to other content when both fulfill
essentially the same function or purpose upon presentation to the
user. In the context of this document, the equivalent must fulfill
essentially the same function for the person with a disability (at
least insofar as is feasible, given the nature of the disability
and the state of technology), as the primary content does for the
person without any disability.
Equivalents include text equivalents (e.g., text equivalents
for images; text transcripts for audio tracks; collated text
transcripts for multimedia presentations and animations) and
non-text equivalents (e.g., a prerecorded auditory description
of a visual track of a movie, or a sign language video
rendition of a written text, etc.).
Each markup language defines its own mechanisms for specifying
conditional content, and these mechanisms may be used by
authors to provide text equivalents. For instance, in HTML 4
[HTML4] or SMIL 1.0 [SMIL], authors may use the "alt" attribute
to specify a text equivalent for some elements. In HTML 4,
authors may provide equivalents (or portions of equivalents) in
attribute values (e.g., the "summary" attribute for the TABLE
element), in element content (e.g., OBJECT for external content
it specifies, NOFRAMES for frame equivalents, and NOSCRIPT for
script equivalents), and in prose. Please consult the Web
Content Accessibility Guidelines 1.0 [WCAG10] and its
associated Techniques document [WCAG10-TECHS] for more
information about equivalents.
Events and scripting, event handler
User agents often perform a task when an event occurs that is
due to user interaction (e.g., document loading, mouse motion
or a key press, a request from the operating environment,
etc.). Some markup languages allow authors to specify that a
script, called an event handler, be executed when the event
occurs. An event handler is "explicitly associated with an
element" when the event handler is associated with that element
through markup or the DOM. The term "event bubbling" describes
a programming style where a single event handler dispatches
events to more than one element. In this case, the event
handlers are not explicitly associated with the elements
receiving the events (except for the single element that
dispatches the events).
Note: The combination of HTML, style sheets, the Document
Object Model (DOM) and scripting is commonly referred to as
"Dynamic HTML" or DHTML. However, as there is no W3C
specification that formally defines DHTML, this document only
refers to event handlers and scripts.
Explicit user request
In this document, the term "explicit user request" refers to
any user interaction with a control provided by the user agent
user interface (not those in content), the focus, or selection.
Control behavior should be documented.
Some examples of explicit user requests include when the user
selects "New viewport", responds "Yes" to a prompt in the user
agent's user interface, configures the user agent to behave in
a certain way, or changes the selection or focus with the
keyboard or pointing device.
Note: Users make mistakes. For example, a user may
inadvertently respond "yes" to a prompt when they meant "no."
In this document, this type of mistake is still considered an
explicit user request.
Fee link
For the purpose of this document, the term "fee link" refers to
a link that when activated, debits the user's electronic
"wallet" (generally, a "micropayment"). The link's role as a
fee link is identified through markup (in a manner that the
user agent can recognize). This definition of fee link excludes
payment mechanisms (e.g., some form-based credit card
transactions) that cannot be recognized by the user agent as
causing payments. For more information about fee links, refer
to "Common Markup for micropayment per-fee-links"
[MICROPAYMENT].
Focus, content focus, user interface focus, current focus
In this document, the term "content focus" refers to a user
agent mechanism that satisfies all of the following properties:
1. It designates zero or one element in content that is either
enabled or disabled. (In general, the focus should only
designate enabled elements, but it may also designate
disabled elements.)
2. The user may "set" content focus (programmatically or through
the user interface) on an enabled element without triggering
the associated behaviors.
3. It has state. The user may prefer to always move the content
focus manually from one element to another.
4. It may be used (programmatically or through the user
interface) to trigger the behaviors associated with an
enabled element. This is generally implemented by making the
focus respond to input device events (often just keyboard
events).
User interface mechanisms may resemble content focus, but do
not satisfy all of the properties. For example, text editors
often implement a "caret" that indicates the current location
of text input or editing. The caret may have state and may
respond to input device events, but it does not enable users to
activate the behaviors associated with enabled elements.
The user interface focus shares the properties of the content
focus except the first: the user interface focus designates
zero or one control of the user agent user interface that has
associated behaviors (e.g., radio button, text box, menu,
etc.).
On the screen, the content focus may be highlighted using
colors, fonts, graphics, magnification, etc. The content focus
may also be highlighted when rendered as synthesized speech,
for example through changes in speech prosody. The dimensions
of the rendered content focus may exceed those of the viewport.
In this document, each viewport is expected to have at most one
content focus and at most one user interface focus. This
document includes requirements for content focus only, for user
interface focus only, and for both. When a requirement refers
to both, the term "focus" is used.
When several viewports coexist, at most one viewport's content
focus or user interface focus responds to input events; this is
called the current focus.
Graphical
In this document, the term "graphical" refers to information
(text, colors, graphics, images, animations, etc.) rendered for
visual consumption.
Highlight
In this document, "to highlight" means to emphasize through the
user interface. For example, user agents highlight which
content is selected or focused. Graphical highlight mechanisms
include dotted boxes, underlining, and reverse video.
Synthesized speech highlight mechanisms include alterations of
voice pitch and volume ("speech prosody").
Image
In this document, an "image" refers to content that encodes
static (i.e., unmoving) visual information. See also the
definition of animation.
Input configuration
An input configuration is the mapping of user agent
functionalities to some user interface input mechanisms (e.g.,
menus, buttons, keyboard keys, voice commands, etc.). The
default input configuration is the mapping the user finds after
installation of the software; it must be documented (per
checkpoint 12.3]). Input configurations may be affected by
author-specified bindings (e.g., through the "accesskey"
attribute of HTML 4 [HTML4]).
Interactive element, non-interactive element,
An interactive element is piece of content that, by
specification, may have associated behaviors to be executed or
carried out as a result of user or programmatic interaction.
For instance, the interactive elements of HTML 4 [HTML4]
include: links, image maps, form elements, elements with a
value for the "longdesc" attribute, and elements with event
handlers explicitly associated with them (e.g., through the
various "on" attributes). The role of an element as an
interactive element is subject to applicability. A
non-interactive element is an element that, by format
specification, does not have associated behaviors. The
expectation of this document is that interactive elements
become enabled elements in some sessions, and non-interactive
elements never become enabled elements.
Natural language
Natural language is spoken, written, or signed human language
such as French, Japanese, and American Sign Language. On the
Web, the natural language of content may be specified by markup
or HTTP headers. Some examples include the "lang" attribute in
HTML 4 ([HTML4] section 8.1), the "xml:lang" attribute in XML
1.0 ([XML], section 2.12), the HTML 4 "hreflang" attribute for
links in HTML 4 ([HTML4], section 12.1.5), the HTTP
Content-Language header ([RFC2616], section 14.12) and the
Accept-Language request header ([RFC2616], section 14.4). See
also the definition of script.
Normative, informative
As used in this document, the term "normative" refers to "that
on which the requirements of this document depend for their
most precise statement." What is normative is required for
conformance (though the conformance scheme of this document
allows claimants to exempt certain normative provisions as long
as the claim discloses the exemption). What is identified as
"informative" (sometimes, "non-normative") is never required
for conformance.
Operating environment
The term "operating environment" refers to the environment that
governs the user agent's operation, whether it is an operating
system or a programming language environment such as Java.
Override
In this document, the term "override" means that one
configuration or behavior preference prevails over another.
Generally, the requirements of this document involve user
preferences prevailing over author preferences and user agent
default settings and behaviors. Preferences may be multi-valued
in general (e.g., the user prefers blue over red or yellow),
and include the special case of two values (e.g., turn on or
off blinking text content).
Placeholder
A placeholder is content generated by the user agent to replace
author-supplied content. A placeholder may be generated as the
result of a user preference (e.g., to not render images) or as
repair content (e.g., when an image cannot be found).
Placeholders can be any type of content, including text,
images, and audio cues.
This document includes requirements that the user be able to
view the original author-supplied content associated with a
placeholder. To satisfy these requirements, the user agent
might render the content in place of the placeholder or in a
separate viewport (leaving the placeholder as is). A request to
view the original content associated with a placeholder is
considered an explicit user request to render that content.
This document does not require user agents to include
placeholders in the document object. A placeholder that is
inserted in the document object should conform to the Web
Content Accessibility Guidelines 1.0 [WCAG10]. If a placeholder
is not part of the document object, it is part of the user
interface only (and subject, for example, to checkpoint 1.3).
Plug-in
A plug-in is a program that runs as part of the user agent and
that is not part of content. Users generally choose to include
or exclude plug-ins from their user agent.
Point of regard
The point of regard is a position in rendered content that the
user is presumed to be viewing. The dimensions of the point of
regard may vary. For example, it may be a point (e.g., a moment
in an audio rendering or a cursor in a graphical rendering), or
a range of text (e.g., focused text), or a two-dimensional area
(e.g., content rendered through a two-dimensional graphical
viewport). The point of regard is almost always within the
viewport, but it may exceed the spatial or temporal dimensions
of the viewport (see the definition of rendered content for
more information about viewport dimensions). The point of
regard may also refer to a particular moment in time for
content that changes over time (e.g., an audio-only
presentation). User agents may determine the point of regard in
a number of ways, including based on viewport position in
content, content focus, selection, etc. A user agent should not
change the point of regard unexpectedly as this may disorient
the user.
Profile
A profile is a named and persistent representation of user
preferences that may be used to configure a user agent.
Preferences include input configurations, style preferences,
natural language preferences, etc. In operating environments
with distinct user accounts, profiles enable users to
reconfigure software quickly when they log on, and profiles may
be shared by several users. Platform-independent profiles are
useful for those who use the same user agent on different
platforms.
Prompt
In this document, "to prompt" means to require input from the
user. The user agent should allow users to configure how they
wish to be prompted. For instance, for a user agent
functionality X, configurations might include: always prompt me
before doing X, always do X without prompting me, never do X
but tell me when you could have, never do X and never tell me
that you could have, etc.
Properties, values, and defaults
A user agent renders a document by applying formatting
algorithms and style information to the document's elements.
Formatting depends on a number of factors, including where the
document is rendered: on screen, on paper, through
loudspeakers, on a braille display, on a mobile device, etc.
Style information (e.g., fonts, colors, synthesized speech
prosody, etc.) may come from the elements themselves (e.g.,
certain font and phrase elements in HTML), from style sheets,
or from user agent settings. For the purposes of these
guidelines, each formatting or style option is governed by a
property and each property may take one value from a set of
legal values. Generally in this document, the term "property"
has the meaning defined in CSS 2 ([CSS2], section 3). A
reference to "styles" in this document means a set of
style-related properties.
The value given to a property by a user agent when it is
installed is called the property's default value.
Recognize
Authors encode information in markup languages, style sheet
languages, scripting languages, protocols, etc. When the
information is encoded in a manner that allows the user agent
to process it with certainty, the user agent can "recognize"
the information. For instance, HTML allows authors to specify a
heading with the H1 element, so a user agent that implements
HTML can recognize that content as a heading. If the author
creates headings using a visual effect alone (e.g., by
increasing the font size), then the author has encoded the
heading in a manner that does not allow the user agent to
recognize it as a heading.
Some requirements of this document depend on content roles,
content relationships, timing relationships, and other
information supplied by the author. These requirements only
apply when the author has encoded that information in a manner
that the user agent can recognize. See the section on
conformance for more information about applicability.
In practice, user agents will rely heavily on information that
the author has encoded in a markup language or style sheet
language. On the other hand, behaviors, style, meaning encoded
in a script, and markup in an unfamiliar XML namespace may not
be recognized by the user agent as easily or at all. The
Techniques document [UAAG10-TECHS] lists some markup known to
affect accessibility that user agents can recognize.
Rendered content, rendered text
Rendered content is the part of content that the user agent
makes available to the user's senses of sight and hearing (and
only those senses for the purposes of this document). Any
content that causes an effect that may be perceived through
these senses constitutes rendered content. This includes text
characters, images, style sheets, scripts, and anything else in
content that, once processed, may be perceived through sight
and hearing.
The term "rendered text" refers to text content that is
rendered in a way that communicates information about the
characters themselves, whether visually or as synthesized
speech.
In the context of this document, "invisible content" is content
that influences graphical rendering of other content but is not
rendered itself. Similarly, "silent content" is content that
influences audio rendering of other content but is not rendered
itself. Neither invisible nor silent content is considered
rendered content.
Repair content, repair text
In this document, the term "repair content" refers to content
generated by the user agent in order to correct an error
condition. "Repair text" means repair content consisting only
of text. Some error conditions that may lead to the generation
of repair content include:
+ Erroneous or incomplete content (e.g., ill-formed markup,
invalid markup, missing conditional content that is required
by format specification, etc.);
+ Missing resources for handling or rendering content (e.g.,
the user agent lacks a font family to display some
characters, the user agent doesn't implement a particular
scripting language, etc.);
This document does not require user agents to include repair
content in the document object. Repair content inserted in the
document object should conform to the Web Content Accessibility
Guidelines 1.0 [WCAG10]. For more information about repair
techniques for Web content and software, refer to "Techniques
for Authoring Tool Accessibility Guidelines 1.0"
[ATAG10-TECHS].
Script
In this document, the term "script" almost always refers to a
scripting (programming) language used to create dynamic Web
content. However, in checkpoints referring to the written
(natural) language of content, the term "script" is used as in
Unicode [UNICODE] to mean "A collection of symbols used to
represent textual information in one or more writing systems."
Information encoded in scripts may be difficult for a user
agent to recognize For instance, a user agent is not expected
to recognize that, when executed, a script will calculate a
factorial. The user agent will be able to recognize some
information in a script by virtue of implementing the scripting
language or a known program library (e.g., the user agent is
expected to recognize when a script will open a viewport or
retrieve a resource from the Web).
Selection, current selection
In this document, the term "selection" refers to a user agent
mechanism for identifying a range of content (e.g., text,
images, etc.). Generally, user agents limit selection to text
content (e.g., one or more fragments of text). The selection
may be structured (based on the document tree) or unstructured
(e.g., text-based). The range may be empty.
On the screen, the selection may be highlighted using colors,
fonts, graphics, magnification, etc. The selection may also be
highlighted when rendered as synthesized speech, for example
through changes in speech prosody. The dimensions of the
rendered selection may exceed those of the viewport.
The selection may be used for a variety of purposes: for cut
and paste operations, to designate a specific element in a
document for the purposes of a query, as an indication of point
of regard, etc.
The selection has state. It may be set programmatically or
through the user interface.
In this document, each viewport is expected to have at most one
selection. When several viewports coexist, at most one
viewport's selection responds to input events; this is called
the current selection.
See the section on the selection label for information about
implementing a selection and conformance.
Note: Some user agents may also implement a selection for
designating a range of information in controls of the user
agent user interface. The current document only includes
requirements for a content selection mechanism.
Support, implement, conform
In this document, the terms "support", "implement", and
"conform" all refer to what a developer has designed a user
agent to do, but they represent different degrees of
specificity. A user agent "supports" general classes of
objects, such as "images" or "Japanese". A user agent
"implements" a specification (e.g., the PNG and SVG image
format specifications, a particular scripting language, etc.)
or an API (e.g., the DOM API) when it has been programmed to
follow all or part of a specification. A user agent "conforms
to" a specification when it implements the specification and
satisfies its conformance criteria. This document includes some
conformance requirements to other specifications (e.g., to a
particular level of the "Web Content Accessibility Guidelines
1.0" [WCAG10]).
Synchronize
In this document, "to synchronize" refers to the
time-coordination of two or more presentation components (e.g.,
in a multimedia presentation, a visual track with captions).
For Web content developers, the requirement to synchronize
means to provide the data that will permit sensible
time-coordinated rendering by a user agent. For example, Web
content developers can ensure that the segments of caption text
are neither too long nor too short, and that they map to
segments of the visual track that are appropriate in length.
For user agent developers, the requirement to synchronize means
to present the content in a sensible time-coordinated fashion
under a wide range of circumstances including technology
constraints (e.g., small text-only displays), user limitations
(slow reading speeds, large font sizes, high need for review or
repeat functions), and content that is sub-optimal in terms of
accessibility.
Text
In this document, the term "text" used by itself refers to a
sequence of characters from a markup language's document
character set. Refer to the "Character Model for the World Wide
Web " [CHARMOD] for more information about text and characters.
Note: This document makes use of other terms that include the
word "text" that have highly specialized meanings: collated
text transcript, non-text content, text content, non-text
element, text element, text equivalent, and text transcript.
Text content, non-text content, text element, non-text element, text
equivalent non-text equivalent
As used in this document a "text element" adds text characters
to either content or the user interface. Both in the Web
Content Accessibility Guidelines 1.0 [WCAG10] and in this
document, text elements are presumed to produce text that can
be understood when rendered visually, as synthesized speech, or
as Braille. Such text elements benefit at least these three
groups of users:
1. visually-displayed text benefits users who are deaf and adept
in reading visually-displayed text;
2. synthesized speech benefits users who are blind and adept in
use of synthesized speech;
3. braille benefits users who are blind, and possibly
deaf-blind, and adept at reading braille.
A text element may consist of both text and non-text data. For
instance, a text element may contain markup for style (e.g.,
font size or color), structure (e.g., heading levels), and
other semantics. The essential function of the text element
should be retained even if style information happens to be lost
in rendering.
A user agent may have to process a text element in order to
have access to the text characters. For instance, a text
element may consist of markup, it may be encrypted or
compressed, or it may include embedded text in a binary format
(e.g., JPEG).
"Text content" is content that is composed of one or more text
elements. A "text equivalent" (whether in content or the user
interface) is an equivalent composed of one or more text
elements. Authors generally provide text equivalents for
content by using the conditional content mechanisms of a
specification.
A "non-text element" is an element (in content or the user
interface) that does not have the qualities of a text element.
"Non-text content" is composed of one or more non-text
elements. A "non-text equivalent" (whether in content or the
user interface) is an equivalent composed of one or more
non-text elements.
Note that the terms "text element" and "non-text element" are
defined by the characteristics of their output (e.g.,
rendering) rather than those of their input (e.g., information
sources) or their internals (e.g., format). Both text elements
and non-text elements should be understood as "pre-rendering"
content in contrast to the "post-rendering" content that they
produce.
Text decoration
In this document, a "text decoration" is any stylistic effect
that the user agent may apply to visually rendered text that
does not affect the layout of the document (i.e., does not
require reformatting when applied or removed). Text decoration
mechanisms include underline, overline, and strike-through.
Text transcript
A text transcript is a text equivalent of audio information
(e.g., an audio-only presentation or the audio track of a movie
or other animation). It provides text for both spoken words and
non-spoken sounds such as sound effects. Text transcripts make
audio information accessible to people who have hearing
disabilities and to people who cannot play the audio. Text
transcripts are usually pre-written but may be generated on the
fly (e.g., by voice-to-text converters). See also the
definitions of captions and collated text transcripts.
User agent
In this document, the term "user agent" is used in two ways:
1. Any software that retrieves and renders Web content for
users. This may include Web browsers, media players,
plug-ins, and other programs - including assistive
technologies -- that help in retrieving and rendering Web
content.
2. The subject of a conformance claim to this document. This is
the most common use of the term in this document and is the
usage in the checkpoints.
User agent default styles
User agent default styles are style property values applied in
the absence of any author or user styles. Some markup languages
specify a default rendering for documents in that markup
language. Other specifications may not specify default styles.
For example, XML 1.0 [XML] does not specify default styles for
XML documents. HTML 4 [HTML4] does not specify default styles
for HTML documents, but the CSS 2 [CSS2] specification suggests
a sample default style sheet for HTML 4 based on current
practice.
User interface
For the purposes of this document, user interface includes
both:
1. the "user agent user interface", i.e., the controls (e.g.,
menus, buttons, prompts, etc.) and mechanisms (e.g.,
selection and focus) provided by the user agent ("out of the
box") that are not created by content.
2. the "content user interface", i.e., the enabled elements that
are part of content, such as form elements, links, applets,
etc.
The document distinguishes them only where required for
clarity.
User styles
User styles are style property values that come from user
interface settings, user style sheets, or other user
interactions.
Visual-only presentation
A visual-only presentation is content consisting exclusively of
one or more visual tracks presented concurrently or in series.
A silent movie is an example of a visual-only presentation.
Visual track
A visual object is content rendered through a graphical
viewport. Visual objects include graphics, text, and visual
portions of movies and other animations. A visual track is a
visual object that is intended as a whole or partial
presentation. A visual track does not necessarily correspond to
a single physical object or software object. A visual track may
be text-based or graphic. A visual track may be static or
involve animation.
Views, viewports
The user agent renders content through one or more viewports.
Viewports include windows, frames, pieces of paper,
loudspeakers, virtual magnifying glasses, etc. A viewport may
contain another viewport (e.g., nested frames). User interface
controls such as prompts, menus, alerts, etc. are not
viewports.
When the dimensions (spatial or temporal) of rendered content
exceed the dimensions of the viewport (e.g., when the user can
only view a portion of a large document through a small
graphical viewport, when audio content has already been played,
etc.), the user agent provides mechanisms such as scroll bars
and advance and rewind controls so that the user can access the
rendered content "outside" the viewport.
When several viewports coexist, only one has the current focus
at a given moment. This viewport is highlighted to make it
stand out.
User agents may render the same content in a variety of ways;
each rendering is called a view. For instance, a user agent may
allow users to view an entire document or just a list of the
document's headers. These are two different views of the
document.
Voice browser
From "Introduction and Overview of W3C Speech Interface
Framework" [VOICEBROWSER]: "A voice browser is a device
(hardware and software) that interprets voice markup languages
to generate voice output, interpret voice input, and possibly
accept and produce other modalities of input and output."
Web resource
The term "Web resource" is used in this document in accordance
with Web Characterization Terminology and Definitions Sheet
[WEBCHAR] to mean anything that can be identified by a Uniform
Resource Identifier (URI); refer to RFC 2396 [RFC2396].
5. References
For the latest version of any W3C specification please consult the
list of W3C Technical Reports at http://www.w3.org/TR/. Some documents
listed below may have been superseded since the publication of this
document.
Note: In this document, bracketed labels such as "[HTML4]" link to the
corresponding entries in this section. These labels are also
identified as references through markup.
5.1 How to refer to this document
There are two recommended ways to refer to the "User Agent
Accessibility Guidelines 1.0" (and to W3C documents in general):
1. References to a specific version of "User Agent Accessibility
Guidelines 1.0". For example, use the "this version" URI to refer
to the current document:
http://www.w3.org/TR/2001/CR-UAAG10-20010912/.
2. References to the latest version of "User Agent Accessibility
Guidelines 1.0". Use the "latest version" URI to refer to the most
recently published document in the series:
http://www.w3.org/TR/UAAG10/.
In almost all cases, references (either by name or by link) should be
to a specific version of the document. W3C will make every effort to
make this document indefinitely available at its original address in
its original form. The top of this document includes the relevant
catalog metadata for specific references (including title, publication
date, "this version" URI, editors' names, and copyright information).
An XHTML 1.0 [XHTML10] paragraph including a reference to this
specific document might be written:
<p>
<cite><a href="http://www.w3.org/TR/2001/CR-UAAG10-20010912/">
"User Agent Accessibility Guidelines 1.0"</a></cite>,
I. Jacobs, J. Gunderson, E. Hansen, eds.,
W3C Candidate Recommendation, 12 September 2001.
The <a href="http://www.w3.org/TR/UAAG10/">latest
version</a> of this document is available at
http://www.w3.org/TR/UAAG10/.</p>
For very general references to this document (where stability of
content, anchors, etc., is not required), it may be appropriate to
refer to the latest version of this document. In this case, please use
the "latest version" URI at the top of this document.
See also information about making conformance claims to this document.
5.2 Normative references
[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.
[RFC2119]
"Key words for use in RFCs to Indicate Requirement Levels", S.
Bradner, March 1997.
[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/.
5.3 Informative references
Some of the references in this section become normative if they are
used to satisfy the requirements of guideline 6 and guideline 8.
[AT1998]
The Assistive Technology Act of 1998, 13 November 1998, United
States P.L. 105-394.
[ATAG10]
"Authoring Tool Accessibility Guidelines 1.0", J. Treviranus,
C. McCathieNevile, I. Jacobs, and J. Richards, eds., 3 February
2000. This W3C Recommendation is
http://www.w3.org/TR/2000/REC-ATAG10-20000203/.
[ATAG10-TECHS]
"Techniques for Authoring Tool Accessibility Guidelines 1.0",
J. Treviranus, C. McCathieNevile, I. Jacobs, and J. Richards,
eds., 4 May 2000. This W3C Note is
http://www.w3.org/TR/2000/NOTE-ATAG10-TECHS-20000504/.
[CHARMOD]
"Character Model for the World Wide Web", M. Dürst and F.
Yergeau, eds., 29 November 1999. This W3C Working Draft is
http://www.w3.org/TR/1999/WD-charmod-19991129/
[HTML4]
"HTML 4.01 Recommendation", D. Raggett, A. Le Hors, and I.
Jacobs, eds., 24 December 1999. This W3C Recommendation is
http://www.w3.org/TR/1999/REC-html401-19991224/.
[MATHML20]
"Mathematical Markup Language (MathML) Version 2.0", D.
Carlisle, P. Ion, R. Miner, N. Poppelier, et al., 21 February
2001. This W3C Recommendation is
http://www.w3.org/TR/2001/REC-MathML2-20010221/.
[MICROPAYMENT]
"Common Markup for micropayment per-fee-links", T. Michel, ed.,
25 August 1999. This W3C Working Draft is
http://www.w3.org/TR/1999/WD-Micropayment-Markup-19990825/.
[PNG]
"PNG (Portable Network Graphics) Specification 1.0", T.
Boutell, ed., 1 October 1996. This W3C Recommendation is
http://www.w3.org/TR/REC-png.
[RDF10]
"Resource Description Framework (RDF) Model and Syntax
Specification", O. Lassila, R. Swick, eds., 22 February 1999.
This W3C Recommendation is
http://www.w3.org/TR/1999/REC-rdf-syntax-19990222/.
[RFC2396]
"Uniform Resource Identifiers (URI): Generic Syntax", T.
Berners-Lee, R. Fielding, L. Masinter, August 1998.
[RFC2616]
"Hypertext Transfer Protocol -- HTTP/1.1", J. Gettys, J. Mogul,
H. Frystyk, L. Masinter, P. Leach, T. Berners-Lee, June 1999.
[SMIL]
"Synchronized Multimedia Integration Language (SMIL) 1.0
Specification", P. Hoschka, ed., 15 June 1998. This W3C
Recommendation is http://www.w3.org/TR/1998/REC-smil-19980615/.
[SMIL20]
Synchronized Multimedia Integration Language (SMIL 2.0)
Specification, J. Ayars, et al., eds., 7 August 2001. This W3C
Recommendation is
http://www.w3.org/TR/2001/REC-smil20-20010807/.
[SVG]
"Scalable Vector Graphics (SVG) 1.0 Specification", J.
Ferraiolo, ed., 2 August 2000. This W3C Candidate
Recommendation is http://www.w3.org/TR/2000/CR-SVG-20000802/.
[UAAG10-CHECKLIST]
An appendix to this document lists all of the checkpoints,
sorted by priority. The checklist is available in either
tabular form or list form.
[UAAG10-SUMMARY]
An appendix to this document provides a summary of the goals
and structure of User Agent Accessibility Guidelines 1.0.
[UAAG10-TECHS]
"Techniques for User Agent Accessibility Guidelines 1.0", I.
Jacobs, J. Gunderson, E. Hansen, eds. The latest draft of the
techniques document is available at
http://www.w3.org/TR/UAAG10-TECHS/.
[UNICODE]
"The Unicode Standard, Version 3.1". This technical report of
the Unicode Consortium is available at
http://www.unicode.org/unicode/reports/tr27/. This is a
revision of "The Unicode Standard, Version 3.0", The Unicode
Consortium, Addison-Wesley Developers Press, 2000. ISBN
0-201-61633-5. Refer also to
http://www.unicode.org/unicode/standard/versions/. For
information about character encodings, refer to Unicode
Technical Report #17 "Character Encoding Model".
[VOICEBROWSER]
"Voice Browsers: An introduction and glossary for the
requirements drafts", M. Robin, J. Larson, 23 December 1999.
This document is
http://www.w3.org/TR/1999/WD-voice-intro-19991223/. This
document includes references to additional W3C specifications
about voice browser technology.
[W3CPROCESS]
"World Wide Web Consortium Process Document", I. Jacobs ed. The
11 November 1999 version of the Process Document is
http://www.w3.org/Consortium/Process/Process-19991111/.
[WCAG10-TECHS]
"Techniques for Web Content Accessibility Guidelines 1.0", W.
Chisholm, G. Vanderheiden, and I. Jacobs, eds. This W3C Note is
http://www.w3.org/TR/1999/WAI-WEBCONTENT-TECHS-19990505/.
[WEBCHAR]
"Web Characterization Terminology and Definitions Sheet", B.
Lavoie, H. F. Nielsen, eds., 24 May 1999. This is a W3C Working
Draft that defines some terms to establish a common
understanding about key Web concepts. This W3C Working Draft is
http://www.w3.org/1999/05/WCA-terms/01.
[XHTML10]
"XHTML[tm] 1.0: The Extensible HyperText Markup Language", S.
Pemberton, et al., 26 January 2000. This W3C Recommendation is
http://www.w3.org/TR/2000/REC-xhtml1-20000126/.
[XML]
"Extensible Markup Language (XML) 1.0", T. Bray, J. Paoli, C.M.
Sperberg-McQueen, eds., 10 February 1998. This W3C
Recommendation is http://www.w3.org/TR/1998/REC-xml-19980210.
6. Acknowledgments
The active participants of the User Agent Accessibility Guidelines
Working Group who authored this document were: James Allan, Denis
Anson (College Misericordia), Harvey Bingham, Al Gilman, Jon Gunderson
(Chair of the Working Group, University of Illinois,
Urbana-Champaign), Eric Hansen (Educational Testing Service), Ian
Jacobs (Team Contact, W3C), Tim Lacy (Microsoft), Charles
McCathieNevile (W3C), David Poehlman, Mickey Quenzer, Gregory Rosmaita
(Visually Impaired Computer Users Group of New York City), and Rich
Schwerdtfeger (IBM).
Many thanks to the following people who have contributed through
review and past participation in the Working Group: Paul Adelson,
Jonny Axelsson, Kitch Barnicle, Olivier Borius, Judy Brewer, Dick
Brown, Bryan Campbell, Kevin Carey, Tantek Çelik, Wendy Chisholm,
David Clark, Chetz Colwell, Wilson Craig, Nir Dagan, Daniel
Dardailler, B. K. Delong, Neal Ewers, Geoff Freed, John Gardner, Larry
Goldberg, Glen Gordon, John Grotting, Markku Hakkinen, Earle Harrison,
Chris Hasser, Kathy Hewitt, Philipp Hoschka, Masayasu Ishikawa, Phill
Jenkins, Earl Johnson, Jan Kärrman (for help with html2ps), Leonard
Kasday, George Kerscher, Marja-Riitta Koivunen, Peter Korn, Josh
Krieger, Catherine Laws, Aaron Leventhal, Greg Lowney, Susan Lesch,
Scott Luebking, William Loughborough, Napoleon Maou, Peter Meijer,
Karen Moses, Masafumi Nakane, Mark Novak, Charles Oppermann, Mike
Paciello, David Pawson, Michael Pederson, Helen Petrie, Michael
Pieper, Richard Premack, Jan Richards, Hans Riesebos, Joe Roeder,
Lakespur L. Roca, Madeleine Rothberg, Lloyd Rutledge, Liam Quinn, T.V.
Raman, Robert Savellis, Constantine Stephanidis, Jim Thatcher, Jutta
Treviranus, Claus Thogersen, Steve Tyler, Gregg Vanderheiden, Jaap van
Lelieveld, Jon S. von Tetzchner, Willie Walker, Ben Weiss, Evan Wies,
Chris Wilson, Henk Wittingen, and Tom Wlodkowski.
_________________________________________________________________
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