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Re: [office] Accessibility SC Proposal for alternative text

  • 1.  Re: [office] Accessibility SC Proposal for alternative text

    Posted 05-04-2006 22:08
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    Subject: Re: [office] Accessibility SC Proposal for alternative text



    Thanks, Patrick.  The topic of a new attribute versus overloading an old one was discussed at some length.  The accessibility SC didn't really have much of a preference, but the opinions expressed on the TC list have mostly favored a new attribute, so that's why the current proposal is the way it is.  I think it's safe to say that it's really up to the TC, the SC will be happy either way.  -- Nathaniel



    Patrick Durusau <patrick@durusau.net>

    05/04/2006 07:04 PM

    Please respond to
    patrick@durusau.net

    To
    Nathaniel S Borenstein/Concord/IBM@IBMUS
    cc
    office@lists.oasis-open.org, office-accessibility@lists.oasis-open.org
    Subject
    Re: [office] Accessibility SC Proposal for alternative text





    Nathaniel,

    I am not on the accessibility list so if you could forward I would
    appreciate it.

    Just scanning it quickly I noticed the proposal of a new attribute.

    Be aware that one of the comments on ODF outside of ISO has been that it
    has too many attributes. While I suppose my default reaction is like
    that of many otheres, let's just add an attribute, I think it would be
    useful to consider adding a new element in some cases. I don't think
    that would affect backwards compatibility since whatever is not
    recognized is simply preserved.

    Kudos to the SC on isolating so many problem areas so quickly! Curious
    if there is a strong preference for a solution based upon a new
    attribute or element, so long as all the problem areas are addressed?

    Hope you are having a great day!

    Patrick

    Nathaniel S Borenstein wrote:

    >
    > What follows is the latest version of the accessibility subcommittee's
    > proposal for extending alternative text support.  We think this is
    > pretty much our final word on this subject, but will discuss it one
    > final time at our face to face meeting May 20-21.  Meanwhile, however,
    > we wanted the whole TC to see what we're proposing.
    >
    > Note in particular that in section 3.0 there is an explicit reference
    > to what Microsoft Office does.  The TC should decide if it wants that
    > language in the standard.
    >
    > Please send any comments to office-accessibility@lists.oasis-open.org.
    >  Thanks.  -- Nathaniel
    >
    > ======================================
    >
    > Executive Summary of proposed changes addressing alternative text for non-
    > text elements and hypertext links:
    >
    > An accessibility gap in the ODF specification is alternative text support
    > for non-text objects. Additionally, the specification does not allow for
    > "hint" text for hypertext links. These are also a key accessbility
    > requirement in the W3C Web Content Accessibility Guidelines. In order to
    > address this, the subteam has decided we need provisioning for alternative
    > text and long descriptions for these types of ODF elements. We had
    > considered the use of draw:name and office:name (hyperlink) properties for
    > alternative text however feedback from some TC members indicated that this
    > already had "legitimate uses and its reuse was inappropriate."
    >
    > Subsequently, the subteam recommends the use of the <svg:title> element,
    > from SVG, for alternative text and
    > the <svg:desc> element, from SVG for the long description. We have also
    > decided that ODF captions do not follow standard XML in that the
    > captioning <text:p>
    > does not show a normative relationship, in the specification, to the
    > drawing object being captioned. As a result we will be introducing a new
    > draw:describedBy attribute to apply to objects being captioned.
    >
    > Furthermore, we will be asking that the appropriate text be added to the
    > ODF specification to indicate how this accessibility meta data is mapped
    > by the authoring tool to platform accessibility API as well as their
    > accessibility applicability in the specification.
    >
    > Requirements:
    >
    > 1.0 image-map elements
    > The <svg:title> element must be provided as an optional element to the
    > following:
    >
    > draw:area-rectangle
    > draw:area-circle
    > draw:area-polygon
    >
    > Text should be added to these elements as follows:
    >
    > <svg:title> is used as a short accessible name. When transcoding from
    > another document format to ODF the short names, like HTML's alt text on
    > the <img> tags shall shall be mapped to the <svg:title> element.
    > Alternative in Microsoft Office is considered a short name and should be
    > mapped accordingly.
    >
    > <svg:desc> Is used for the long description in support of accessibility.
    >
    > 2.0 Drawing layer
    >
    > The <svg:desc> element must be provided as an optional element to the
    > <draw:layer>
    > . This element must apply to all ODF document formats for which <draw:
    > layer> is used.
    >
    > Text should be added as follows:
    >
    > <svg:title> is used as a short accessible name. When transcoding from
    > another document format to ODF the short names, like HTML's alt text on
    > the <img> tags shall shall be mapped to the <svg:title> element.
    > Alternative in Microsoft Office is considered a short name and should be
    > mapped accordingly.
    >
    > <svg:desc> Is used for the long description in support of accessibility.
    >
    > 3.0 Drawing shapes (line 5926 of spec.)
    >
    > The <svg:title> and <svg:desc> elements must be provided as an optional
    > element to all drawing shape elements defined below for all ODF document
    > formats for which these drawing shapes are used.
    >
    > The following are the drawing shape elements:
    >
    > <draw-rect>
    > <draw:line>
    > <draw:polyline>
    > <draw:polygon>
    > <draw:regular-polygon>
    > <draw:path>
    > <draw:circle>
    > <draw:ellipse>
    > <draw:g>
    > <draw:page-thumbnail>
    > <draw:frame>
    > <draw:measure>
    > <draw:caption>
    > <draw:connector>
    > <draw:control>
    > <dr3d:scene>
    > <draw-custom-shape>
    >
    > Text should be added to these elements as follows:
    >
    > <svg:title> is used as a short accessible name. When transcoding from
    > another document format to ODF the short names, like HTML's alt text on
    > the <img> tags shall shall be mapped to the <svg:title> element.
    > Alternative in Microsoft Office is considered a short name and should be
    > mapped accordingly.
    >
    > <svg:desc> Is used for the long description in support of accessibility.
    >
    > User agents supporting platform accessibility APIs should follow the
    > following conventions for supporting the accessible name, accessible
    > description (accessible help on Windows systems), and describedBy
    > relationships:
    > If an <svg:title> element is provided it should map to the accessible
    > name. If not, the name should use the text referenced the text element
    > identified by the draw:describedby attribute. <svg:desc> must be used to
    > support the accessible description. User agents shall not manufacture
    > names for the
    > <svg:title> element, such as using the drawing object followed by a
    > cardinal number in a string as it is used for accessibility. Name
    > assignments such as these provide no semantic meaning to the user.
    >
    > Guidance for authors:
    > Authors should not assign names to objects having no semantic value. If no
    > name is assigned the caption text will be used in its place. <svg:title>
    > shall take precedence over the caption text for accessible name assignment
    > by the user agent.
    >
    > Assignment of the long description should only be necessary when a drawing
    > object is significantly complex and the user needs more information to
    > describe it. Long descriptions would be more applicable to drawing
    > groupings than basic drawing shapes.
    >
    > Authoring tool responsibility for presenting and prompting for the
    > <svg:title> and
    > <svg:desc>:
    >
    > Authoring tools should provide an option from an objects context menu to
    > allow the user to enter the text for either of these elements as a
    > minimum. More proactive authoring tools should have a facility for
    > prompting the author for this text. Since <svg:desc> is a long
    > escription, a text area vs. a text field should be used to prompt the
    > user accordingly in GUI-based authoring tools like Workplace and Open
    > Office.
    >
    > Navigation tools, such as in Workplace and Open Office, used to list the
    > objects in the view should provide
    > the type of object followed by the contents of <svg:title>. The title must
    > have been entered by the author.
    >
    > For <draw:g> elements the drawing objects who are members of the group
    > should visible only when the group is expanded.
    >
    >
    >
    > 4.0 Establish clear relationship between a drawing objects and its caption
    > by including a new optional draw:describedby attribute to the following
    > drawing objects:
    >
    > <draw-rect>
    > <draw:line>
    > <draw:polyline>
    > <draw:polygon>
    > <draw:regular-polygon>
    > <draw:path>
    > <draw:circle>
    > <draw:ellipse>
    > <draw:g>
    > <draw:page-thumbnail>
    > <draw:measure>
    > <draw:caption>
    > <draw:connector>
    > <draw:control>
    > <dr3d:scene>
    > <draw-custom-shape>
    > <dr3d:scene>
    > <draw:frame>
    >
    > draw:describedby shall take a value of IDREF. The value for describedBy
    > attribute shall be the target id assigned to the <text:p> used to
    > represent the corresponding caption. As text:p is an XML element it may
    > have an ID assigned by default. The following attribute list should be
    > included as optional to the above drawing objects:
    >
    > <define name="common-draw-describedby-attlist" combine="interleave">
    > <attribute name="draw:desribedby">
    > <ref name="IDREF"/>
    > </attribute>
    > </define>
    >
    > When a caption is assigned by a user agent, an id must be assigned to the
    > element containing the text used to caption a drawing element. The drawing
    > element being captioned must then be assigned the draw:describedby
    > attribute with an IDEF equivalent to the id of the captioning text thus
    > establishing a relationship between the captioned text and the object
    > captioned as needed for accessibility. Removing the caption should result
    > in removing the describedBy attribute of the object that was being
    > captioned.
    >
    > If the user agent supports a platform which provides a describedby
    > relationship in its accessibility API, this relationship for captions
    > should be used to fulfill the relationship.
    >
    > 5.0 Establish text hints for hypertext links
    >
    > The <svg:title> element must be provided as an optional element to
    > <text:a>
    >
    > <svg:title> is used as a short accessible description for hint text. When
    > transcoding from another document format to ODF the alt text, shall be
    > mapped to the <svg:title> element. When exporting ODF documents to HTML,
    > the contents of title text should be mapped to title attribute text on
    > HTML anchor tags. As a minimum, authoring tools should provide a mechanism
    > to provide the hint text.
    >
    > The title text should be made accessible to the assistive technology and
    > user. The user agent should allow for programmatic access through standard
    > accessibility APIs such as the accessible description. User should
    > experience visible access to the hint text via the keyboard or mouse.
    >
    > Appendix:  Proposed schema for svg-title
    >
    >
    > <define name="svg-title">
    >      <element name="svg:title">
    >          <text/>
    >      </element>
    > </define>
    >
    > ======================================
    >

    --
    Patrick Durusau
    Patrick@Durusau.net
    Chair, V1 - Text Processing: Office and Publishing Systems Interface
    Co-Editor, ISO 13250, Topic Maps -- Reference Model
    Member, Text Encoding Initiative Board of Directors, 2003-2005

    Topic Maps: Human, not artificial, intelligence at work!



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