WebAIM - Web Accessibility In Mind

E-mail List Archives

Thread: Re: webaim-forum-d Digest V2003 #20

for

Number of posts in this thread: 2 (In chronological order)

From: Terence de Giere
Date: Fri, Jan 31 2003 2:31PM
Subject: Re: webaim-forum-d Digest V2003 #20
No previous message | Next message →

Accessibility currently depends on a set of elements with standardized
tag names, that is, the HTML tag names, and the HTML 4.0/4.01 set in
particular. XML tags are user defined, and direct accessibility depends
on other mechanisms such as CSS display, aural CSS etc. Aural CSS is not
supported in the major technologies yet.


So the key is transforming XML into the HTML tag set, which can be done
by using XSLT to transform an XML document into one of the versions
XHTML that uses the HTML 4.0 tag names so that assistive technology can
interpret the various predefined document structures it has been
programmed to recognize, such as headings, lists, tables, etc. Not all
browsers can use an XSL stylesheet either, so it is better the
transformation be done before it gets to the client browser, and then
use CSS to format the page.

Terence de Giere
= EMAIL ADDRESS REMOVED =

--------------------------
Lynnette Banning wrote:
Does anyone know of a resource for code samples that incorporate the
Section 508 web content accessibility guidelines into XML / XSL...?
Many thanks.


Very respectfully,
Lynnette Banning
202/401-5660




----
To subscribe, unsubscribe, or view list archives,
visit http://www.webaim.org/discussion/


From: Leo Smith
Date: Mon, Feb 03 2003 7:46AM
Subject: XSLT
← Previous message | No next message

> So the key is transforming XML into the HTML tag set, which can be
> done by using XSLT to transform an XML document into one of the
> versions XHTML that uses the HTML 4.0 tag names so that assistive
> technology can interpret the various predefined document structures it
> has been programmed to recognize, such as headings, lists, tables,
> etc. Not all browsers can use an XSL stylesheet either, so it is
> better the transformation be done before it gets to the client
> browser, and then use CSS to format the page.

A useful introduction to using XSLT can be found at:
http://www.alistapart.com/stories/usingxml/

Leo.



Leo Smith
Web Designer/Developer
USM Office of Publications and Marketing
University of Southern Maine
207-780-4774


----
To subscribe, unsubscribe, or view list archives,
visit http://www.webaim.org/discussion/