Web and Software: August 15

Miscellaneous

• Minutes approved from August 14, 2007.
  • Gregg made a notation at the bottom of the minutes.

Review of action items

1. COMPLETE: Andi Snow-Weaver will update the cognitive proposal for compatibility with assistive technologies to address Peter Korn’s concerns, but this can not be closed until the API requirements are done. In addition, regulatory language will be added.
   • On agenda for today.
2. IN PROCESS: Allen Hoffman will sync provision 2 with AV group definition by next week.
3. IN PROCESS: Katie Haritos-Shea will write a proposal for tactile and aural user preference settings.
   • Mailing list discussion started
   • Katie will repost proposal because most of the conversation on the list was off topic.
4. Judy Brewer to collect all clarification and rationale for the authoring tools provisions for the final TEITAC report. Not required prior to August 17, 2007.
5. Shannon Rapuano to look at "if" provisions to determine if we need an "else" provision also.
   • This has been started, but has not posted it to the list. She will do that later today.
6. COMPLETE: Andi Snow-Weaver to draft a new provision for platforms to support AT interoperability. May not close before 8/17 draft.
   • See mailing list post August 15, 2007.
   • Agreement to a note to the draft, Andi will work on the note offline and get a draft out later today.
7. COMPLETE: Andi Snow-Weaver and Michele Budris to review terms used in the provisions (content, Web content, Software, electronic documents, product, etc) to determine if all of these unique terms are needed and if they need definitions.
   • See mailing list post August 15, 2007
   • Should be able to close many things on the mailing list.
8. COMPLETE: Andi Snow-Weaver to review the provisions for the use of "Web Content" term. If not used, remove definitions for Web content and World Wide Web.
   • "Web content" is no longer used in any provisions. Definition for "Web page" proposed on the mailing list.
   • This term is not used any more in the provisions. Proposed a definition for Web Page, can we remove Web content?
   • Found that we use the term in one of the notes of the definitions. Action Item Gregg will take a look at the definitions and asked if anyone else is interested in participating?
   • Suggestion to remove reference to Web in links, they are not specific to Web. Response was that they have to do with getting programmically determined link content. This is because of how AT works on Web sites. If we do not restrict in Word or Excel you would not be able to have link text the same for muliple links.
9. COMPLETE: Jared Smith to propose new definition for auto-updating. Proposal on mailing list. On agenda today for discussion.
10. Peter Korn to start discussion of "platform software" definition on mailing list.

Technical Topics

Cognitive

• Suppression of unneeded function, content writing, and interaction
  • Supression of unneeded function
    • If intent is to add simplification. Suggestion to use the word simplify in the provision rather than individualize.
    • Need to add the ability to set it back to the default. Allow turning it back on.
    • Agreement change the wording from "indivdualize" to "simplify", add a way to get back to default settings, and remove the words "look and feel", because look and feel is equal to interface. Include in the draft on Friday.
  • Proposals from Whitney Quesenberry and Kate Walser. Writing guidelines and interaction:
    • Currently a work item to expand the list to include other things that are in WCAG 2 related to error identification, and prevention. This will help match it to WCAG 2.
    • Suggestion to remove the words "best practices".
    • Concern over how recommendations will be organized in the report. Not yet decided. Direction from EWG is to include inline for now. Some feel these should be in a separate section of the report to minimize confusion.
    • Action: Sean Hayes will recommend a re-wording for the interaction provision with best practices removed and add it to the list.
• Word look-up, text reading, and spelling-assistance
  • Suggestion to add a note at the end of AT interoperability. That these features are supported or enabled for cognitive disability use. Alternate suggestion to provide as this as explanatory material to clarify the functional performance criteria for cognitive disabilities.
  • Action: Andi Snow-Weaver to include it as a note in the functional criteria section.
• Animation - moving issues:
  • Progress indicator that starts and stops was a problem and a page where something blinks to get attention and then stops. These are 2 concepts we might want to incorporate. When we merged they were not brought forward. Can implement without causing problems for disabilities. The first one is already in WCAG, the other is included as a note.
  • Suggestion to put a note saying there is 2 issues; coverage of progress indicators and brief animation in conjunction with harmonization.
  • We can discuss on list. We want to harmonize.

Finishing up on Provisions

Title

• Change title from "Electronic content and user interfaces" to "Electronic documents and user interfaces" to better match some of the changes we agreed to yesterday?
  • Agreed to new title "User Interfaces and Electronic Content"

Language Provisions

• This provision came out of provisions in WCAG 2 that are not in our provisions and we agreed to adopt.
• Concern that some content formats support the ability to identify the language of the document as a whole but not passages or phrases within the document.
• May need to add provision to the content format section.
• Authoring tool may not support the ability to add it.
• For the presentation of electronic documents that support .... and part of the content format.
• Agreement on rewording for both provisions: When the presentation of electronic documents supports ....
• Another approach is on the platform level. All documents would be the specified language and no necessity to specify at the document level. Might be worth adding a note to address this concern. It does not have to be encoded in the document. Adding a note would be useful.
  • Action: Alex Li to draft a note on the platform setting for language of the document.

Focus cursor

• Concern about mobile devices with small screens that will not be able to display the resolution. The technique is sufficient, not required. If it does not apply then you have to develop an equivalent technique.
• There was discussion related to pixel pitch, but we do not like doing that because most tiny displays allow enlarging.
• Lost the notion that this is a mode that must be provided. Typically we have high contrast, large print themes to tell the desk top to move to a mode and we do not want to lose that. Should not require that every theme support it.
• Concern that this is not programmatically testable but it is human testable so it may be OK.
• Concern that the second half of the sentence may not pass for sufficient notes. Also, not sure the note is clear that other mechanisms are possible.
• Agreed to add the concept of a mode that supports a highly visible focus cursor, change the note to indicate that a text insertion is sufficient as a focus cursor, add testable criteria for "highly visible" proposed by Gregg with a note that we haven't settled on this being testable.

Time limit provision

• 2 Remaining issues resolved.
• Regarding text before "encountering it". What is it referring to? Is "it" the starting or ending time. It should be time limit start. Should add a comment on what "encountering it" means. Any concerns with this language?
• Agreed to harmonize with WCAG 2.0 wording

User preferences - aural and tactile settings

Authoring tools

• Outstanding issues from August 14, 2007 meeting
  • Updated discussion questions
  • Finish outstanding issues from August 14, 2007 meeting
  • Provisions Number 3 and 4:
    • Sean will post something up on the mailing list. Doing it today after the call before 8/17 draft. Concern this will not allow time to discuss. Any one else have issues? This is the items split.
    • Splitting up makes sense.
    • Suggestion to proceed and include with a note on provisions with remaining issues.
    • Agreement with a large disclaimer saying they are not finished.
  • Agreed to include these 5 provision, add notes to 3 & 4 related to unresolved concerns. Action: Andi Snow-Weaver will draft the notes for provisions 3 & 4 based on minutes from today. Sean and Andrew can add to list for discussion later.

Definitions

Authoring tools

• Proposed clarification on definition
• Does the proposed clarification help and would a purchaser be better able to determine what useful support is provided?
• Concern that the definition includes simple text editors like Notepad and that's not what we intended these provisions to apply to.
• Suggestion to change to: An authoring tool is software designed to create and modify ....
  • Concern that this opens up a big loophole. Then developers say "It wasn't design for... but customers just use it for authoring..."
  • Suggestion that there is an easy test... just look at the marketing material on the box. That is an easy sniff test. Takes away the notion that any text editor is an authoring tool, such as Notepad.
• Adding the clarification that expands software into any number of combined tools will have a potential for additional confusion. Better not to add clarification.
• Concern that definition of content is extremely broad.
• Agreed to submit definition as is with a note on the concern that it will be too broadly applied.

Auto-updating

• Cognitive issues
  • Can be everything on the screen to a small item on the desktop to an entire page. For cognitive even a clock can be distracting.
  • Frequency is an issue - if something is updated every 5 seconds, it's an issue; but if it's only updated once a day, it's not an issue.
    • no ideas for a frequency threashold.
• AT issues
  • updates must be programmatically determinable
  • There are AT techniques that can handle auto updating... you don't interrupt. A lot of cases can be handled on the AT side.
  • Also concerned about screen reader reset. If it thinks this is a new page it will start over.
  • ARIA content may fail even when there is no issue. Some things would not produce a visual distraction and the updates are programmatically determinable. ARIA committee working on the problem.
• What is an acceptable pausing mechanism?
• Suggestion to add visually moving.... something that constrains it to cognitive.
  • Definition already talks about appearance. Screen reader may not be a problem with existing wording.
• Suggestion to keep auto-updating with a note about concerns and add that if ARIA is coming up with a solution you should use it.
• No objection with a note describing issues.

Application software, Web page, Web content, World Wide Web

• Application Software
• Suggestion to say, software not considered as part of the platform... "platform" replace operating "system".
  • Might want to specifically state AT... Application software does not include AT.
  • Does this help us determine if some of the things we look at in a browser, is an application or content?
  • Part of Andi's work item... take a look at it on the list. What an application verse platform has to do.
  • OS contains a lot of applications that must meet the provision. Suggestion to replace application with software. Some things the OS has to do to honor its own services. Do you need to have a provision and the platform things don't also have to follow those provision. Maybe add some things the platform has to do in addition.
  • We can't close until we finish how we need to modify the provision. Discusses what a user interface is required to do is the approach. We have to distinguish what we mean between an application and a platform.
  • Agreed to submit a place holder for it.
• Web page:
  • A number of recent changes to WCAG touch up the language. Action: Gregg Vanderheiden will post the latest WCAG 2.0 language to the list.
  • Concern that there are a number of problems with the wording... a new concept about resource and embedding in resource.
  • Agreement to include a place holder only.
  • Group members to send Gregg Vanderheiden a list of issues so he can address them, because comments on this definition will be relevant to WCAG as well.

Editorial Suggestions

• Flashing
• Non-text content
• Keyboard operability
• Link purpose
• User interface components
• Pausing
  • "Moving content that is pure decoration must allow the user to stop it." changes the technical meaning. The intent was to weaken the requirement for decorative content but it would certainly be okay to provide a pause/restart function for decorative content.
• Reading sequence
  • The suggestion to change "can be programmatically determined" to "must be programmatically determined" changes the technical meaning.
• AT interoperability
• Information and relationships
  • The suggestion to change "can be programmatically determined" to "must be programmatically determined" changes the meaning
• Take a look at Michele's suggestions and raise a flag by end of business Thursday 8/16.
• Andi will send a note to the list and will hold back any editorial suggestions we are not happy with. Currently not closed on 3 of the suggestions listed.

Project Plan

• Reserve 15 minutes to discuss project plan

New Action items

• Gregg Vanderheiden will take a look at the definitions for the words "Web content".
• Sean Hayes Sean Hayes will recommend a re-wording for the interaction provision with best practices removed and add it to the list.
• Andi Snow-Weaver to include a note in functional criteria section for Word look up, test reading, and spelling assistance.
• Andi Snow-Weaver will reword provisions and Alex will provide a note for the Language provision.
• Andi Snow-Weaver will draft something for Authoring Tools provision 3 and 4 based on minutes from today.
• Greg Vanderheiden will look at the latest language for "Web page" definition and post it to the list.

Attendance

1. Sharon Snider - IBM
2. Andrew Kirkpatrick (Adobe)
3. Andi Snow-Weaver - IBM
4. sean hayes (Microsoft)
5. Greg Fields - Research In Motion/BlackBerry
6. Michael Cooper, W3C
7. Eric Damery, Freedom Scientific
8. Jamie Smith, FDBS
9. Laura Ruby
10. Alex Li (SAP)
11. Chris Meier
12. Shannon Rapuano - IBM
13. Drew LaHart - IBM
14. Jessica Brodey - ATIA
15. Peter Wallack (Oracle)
16. Michele Budris, Sun Microsystems
17. Jim Elekes (Access Board)
18. Jared Smith (NCDAE)
19. Peter Korn, Sun Microsystems, Inc.
20. Earl Johnson, Sun
21. Amy Chen (Oracle)
22. Greggvan
23. Jim Allan (W3C-WAI)
24. Don Barrett
25. Rich Schwerdtfeger
26. Angela Hooker
27. Judy Brewer (W3C/WAI)
28. Barbara Lybarger, Mass. Office on Disability