Thread Subject: Re: Definition Consensus Decision: Text

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From: Hoffman, Allen
Date: Thu, Mar 13 2008 6:05 AM

Andi wrote:
Text is a binary encoded representation of a human readable sequence of
characters and the words they form. It can be determined exactly from
the pattern of 1s and 0s in the electronic storage media, assuming you
know the encoding format, and does not depend on any recognition
algortithms to extract it.

This isn't "text", it is electronic text, or electronically encoded
text. Should "electronically encoded or stored text" be the actual
definition then? Or, do we just state for purposes of these
recommendations "text" is...?





Allen Hoffman -- = EMAIL ADDRESS REMOVED = ; v: 202-447-0303

-----Original Message-----
From: = EMAIL ADDRESS REMOVED =
[mailto: = EMAIL ADDRESS REMOVED = ] On Behalf Of Andi
Snow-Weaver
Sent: Wednesday, March 12, 2008 11:27 PM
To: TEITAC Committee
Subject: Re: [teitac-committee] Definition Consensus Decision: Text

Gregg,

Sorry that I have not weighed in on this. I don't have an Internet
connection during the day here at CSUN.

With regard to this comment:

"... TODAY a bitmap image of text does not qualify as a TEXT
alternative".
This will likely be true for the life of this revision of the standard -
but I do expect that someday a clear image of text would qualify as
'programmatically determinable' but a highly stylized bitmap image of
text would not (think CAPTCHA or the Illustrated first letter of a
chapter in a
formal religious book or manuscript"). The trick at that point will
be
having a bright line between what AT can handle or not. Til then -
'programmatically determinable text' is likely to not be satisfied by
'images of text'."

I don't think a bitmap of text will ever be a "text alternative". When
OCR advances to the state that "text alternatives" are no longer needed
for clear images of text, then we will change the provisions in the
standard that require text alternatives but we don't change the meaning
of what text is.

Text is a binary encoded representation of a human readable sequence of
characters and the words they form. It can be determined exactly from
the pattern of 1s and 0s in the electronic storage media, assuming you
know the encoding format, and does not depend on any recognition
algortithms to extract it.

Most IT developers would interpret that as being "programmatically
determinable" but I share Peter's concern about trying to consense on a
definition of text that uses "programmatically determinable" is
impossible when we have such fundamental issues with the definition of
"programmatically determinable".

I do want to find a way to move forward on this and agree with what you
and Peter have come to regarding having two versions of both "text" and
"programmatically determinable" as long as we are clear that a
particular version of each is tied to a particular version of the other.
We don't want the AB picking one version of "text" and the wrong version
of "programmatically determinable".

Andi

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