WebAIM - Web Accessibility In Mind

E-mail List Archives

Code Validation (was RE: spacing -  versus clear images)

for

From: John Foliot - WATS.ca
Date: Mar 8, 2006 6:30AM

Andrew Kirkpatrick wrote:

> It is a helpful, but not necessary, requirement in the development of
> an accessible web site.
>

WCAG 1, Priority 2, 3.2 Create documents that validate to published
formal grammars.

My single largest complaint of Section 508 is the failure to insist that
the "code" being created for the information delivery is not
Standardized, (read - compliant). Other countries and most large
institutions that even consider web accessibility generally set Priority
1 and Priority 2 compliance (at a minimum) as the benchmark.

If we are going to talk about Standards Based Development, then using
the standards as they have been authored should be the first and primary
requirement from the developers. Advocating or even excusing
non-compliant code development sets back Standards based development,
and by extension web accessibility, by at least 5 years. The best
guidance from the de facto web standards organization (W3C) is quite
clear - use only valid code! (As an interesting aside, if you want to
stray from the beaten path, you *could* always write your own custom
DTD, thus remaining within the "letter" of the guideline, although
browser support is another issue altogether.)

The following Wired Magazine article (2002) brings Standards Based
development into clear focus, and I still refer others so it today;
(http://www.wired.com/wired/archive/10.01/standards.html)

I can use the heal of my shoe to pound a nail into the wall, but we have
hammers for a reason...

JF
--
John Foliot <EMAIL REMOVED>
Web Accessibility Specialist
WATS.ca - Web Accessibility Testing and Services
http://www.wats.ca
Phone: 1-613-482-7053