Thread Subject: Re: Group D: 22(d) Readable without stylesheets

Note

This archival content is maintained by WebAIM and NCDAE on behalf of TEITAC and the U.S. Access Board . Additional details on the updates to section 508 and section 255 can be found at the Access Board web site.

From: Jim Thatcher
Date: Tue, Dec 19 2006 9:00 AM

Current wording. 1194.22(d) Documents shall be organized so they are
readable without requiring an associated style sheet.

The discussion on the list on this item 1194.22(d) (Readable without style
sheets) has been succinctly summarized by Andi on the wiki,
http://teitac.org/wiki/Web_and_Software:_Correct_coding#22.28d.29. On the
last call (12/13) I took the action item to submit a proposal relative to
this provision.

Proposal: Delete provision 1194.22(d) (Readable without style sheets).

The problem is that it is possible with CSS positioning to wreak havoc on
the source code order of the content and the order can be meaningful. Thus
following WCAG 2.0 we need a provision that guarantees that AT can come up
with a meaningful reading order. The following proposal takes the wording
from the current WCAG 2.0 Editors Draft (http://www.w3.org/WAI/GL/WCAG20/).

Proposal: (Meaningful sequence) When the sequence in which content is
presented affects its meaning, a correct reading sequence can be
programmatically determined.

This proposal is also added to the Wiki - the agenda for the 12/20 meeting
(http://teitac.org/wiki/Web_and_Software:December_20#Agenda).

Jim Thatcher
512-306-0931
Accessibility Consulting
http://jimthatcher.com

WebAIM is an initiative of:
Center for Persons with Disabilities (CPD) Utah State University