Thread Subject: Re: Authoring tools definition

From: Jan Richards
Date: Wed, Aug 15 2007 7:55 AM

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Not worth insomnia, but worth a thought...

First, the same could be said about an HTML editor with a source editor.
Nothing prevents the author from typing in SVG instead of HTML and then
changing the file's extension.

So here are some possible solutions:

1. Look at the built-in list of "Save As" options: Only formats in the
list are applicable.

2. Specify that in order to be said to be an authoring tool of a
specific format, a software has to specifically support authoring in
that content in some way (e.g. recognize which attributes belong to
particular elements, check syntax, insert elements (e.g. a "bold"
button), etc.)

3. Just let the vendor self-identify which formats they think they are
an authoring tool for. It's common sense that Notepad is for authoring
text, even if a knowledgeable user can craft the text into HTML, whereas
claiming that Dreamweaver is just for authoring text would be obviously
false.

Cheers,
Jan

--
Jan Richards, M.Sc.
User Interface Design Specialist
Adaptive Technology Resource Centre (ATRC)
Faculty of Information Studies
University of Toronto





Peter Wallack wrote:
> I'm not sure I agree its a very limited set - in theory it is capable of
> supporting anything that isn't binary, so it snags some big ones: HTML,
> javascript, java, and C (I realize to many of you it may seem
> preposterous to author these in Notepad, but I can tell you that for
> many hard-core programmers, it is the tool of choice!!!).
>
> But I'm not going to lose sleep over this; I know my products are
> intended to be caught by the net, and thats where I'll apply my insomnia.
>
> Peter Wallack
> Accessibility Program Director
> Oracle Corporation
>
>
>
> Hoffman, Allen wrote:
>> Yes, but lets examine this:
>>
>> notepad has a very limited set of formats it supports, so is evaluated
>> against that.
>>
>> An authoring tool that doesn't support an accessible format, won't
>> meet anything else.
>>
>>
>>
>> Allen Hoffman -- = EMAIL ADDRESS REMOVED = ; v: 202-447-0303
>>
>>
>>
>> ------------------------------------------------------------------------
>> *From:* = EMAIL ADDRESS REMOVED =
>> [mailto: = EMAIL ADDRESS REMOVED = ] *On Behalf Of
>> *Peter Wallack
>> *Sent:* Tuesday, August 14, 2007 1:27 PM
>> *To:* TEITAC Web/Software Subcommittee
>> *Subject:* [teitac-websoftware] Authoring tools definition
>>
>> Given the current proposal:
>> /Any software used to create or modify content for publication./
>> Does this mean that Notepad is on the hook to meet these provisions?
>> It is software, and it can be used to produce content for publication.
>> --
>> Peter Wallack
>> Accessibility Program Director
>> Oracle Corporation
>> ------------------------------------------------------------------------
>>
>>

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