Implementation Techniques for
Authoring Tool Accessibility Guidelines 2.0

Editor's Draft 6 March 2006

Editors:: Jutta Treviranus - ATRC, University of Toronto; Jan Richards - ATRC, University of Toronto; Tim Boland - NIST

Abstract

This document provides non-normative information to authoring tool developers who wish to satisfy the checkpoints of "Authoring Tool Accessibility Guidelines 2.0" [ATAG20]. It includes suggested techniques, sample strategies in deployed tools, and references to other accessibility resources (such as platform-specific software accessibility guidelines) that provide additional information on how a tool may satisfy each ATAG 2.0 checkpoint.

This document is part of a series of accessibility documents published by the W3C Web Accessibility Initiative (WAI).

Status of this document

This section describes the status of this document at the time of its publication. Other documents may supersede this document. A list of current W3C publications and the latest revision of this technical report can be found in the W3C technical reports index at http://www.w3.org/TR/.

Publication as a Working Draft does not imply endorsement by the W3C Membership. This is a draft document and may be updated, replaced or obsoleted by other documents at any time. It is inappropriate to cite this document as other than work in progress.

The AUWG intends to publish Implementation Techniques for ATAG 2.0 as a W3C Note.

The Working Group expects to update this document in response to queries raised by implementers of the Guidelines, for example to cover new technologies. Suggestions for additional techniques are welcome.

This document was produced under the 5 February 2004 W3C Patent Policy. The Working Group maintains a public list of patent disclosures relevant to this document; that page also includes instructions for disclosing a patent. An individual who has actual knowledge of a patent which the individual believes contains Essential Claim(s) with respect to this specification should disclose the information in accordance with section 6 of the W3C Patent Policy.

This document has been produced as part of the W3C Web Accessibility Initiative (WAI). The goals of the AUWG are discussed in the Working Group charter. The AUWG is part of the WAI Technical Activity.

Introduction

This is the Implementation Techniques for Authoring Tool Accessibility Guidelines 2.0 (ATAG 2.0). The guidelines provide a generic description of the requirements for authoring tools that are accessible to people with disabilities while the implementation techniques provide an interpretation of the guidelines as they apply to real tools. This interpretation represents the best thinking of the Authoring Tool Accessibility Guidelines Working Group (AUWG) and as such is a good guide to achieve conformance to ATAG 2.0. The Working Group encourages developers to implement these techniques where appropriate. However, these techniques do not provide a final definition of ATAG conformance and it is possible to meet guideline requirements without following these techniques. As new methods of conforming to the guidelines come to the attention of the Working Group, these techniques will be updated.

For illustrative purposes, the techniques document includes examples in the form of mock screenshots. While the examples have been chosen to be as informative as possible, many of them are specific to certain types of authoring tools (definitions for authoring tool functions). In order to assist developers in determining the relevance of the examples to the different categories, each example is marked with one or more of the following category icons (Note: Authoring tools may fall into one or more of the categories. For example, an HTML authoring tool that has both a text editor and a "browser" view will fall under two categories, Code-Level Authoring Functions and WYSIWYG Authoring Functions):

@@Note: Techniques in this document are known to contain errors. Recommendations will be rendered obsolete by future drafts. The purpose of this document is to receive feedback about the content of the techniques to ensure that future drafts are more accurate and useful. These techniques should not be implemented by developers attempting to attain ATAG conformance at this time.

Implementation Techniques

PART A: Make the user interface accessible

Guideline A.1 Authoring Interface must be Perceivable

Guideline A.2: Authoring Interface must be Operable

Guideline A.3: Authoring Interface must be Understandable

Guideline A.4: Authoring Interface must be Access System Friendly

PART B: Support the production of accessible content

Guideline B.1: Enable the production of accessible content

Guideline B.2: Support the author in the production of accessible content

Guideline B.3: Promote and integrate accessibility solutions

Notes:

References

Acknowledgments

The active participants of the Authoring Tool Accessibility Guidelines Working Group who authored this document were: Tim Boland (National Institute for Standards and Technology), Barry A. Feigenbaum (IBM), Karen Mardahl (STC), Matt May (Team Contact, W3C), Greg Pisocky (Adobe), Jan Richards (Adaptive Technology Resource Centre, University of Toronto), Roberto Scano (IWA/HWG), and Jutta Treviranus (Chair of the working group, Adaptive Technology Resource Centre, University of Toronto)

Many thanks to the following people who have contributed to the AUWG through review and comment: Kynn Bartlett, Giorgio Brajnik, Judy Brewer, Wendy Chisholm, Daniel Dardailler, Geoff Deering, Katie Haritos-Shea, Kip Harris, Phill Jenkins, Len Kasday, Marjolein Katsma, William Loughborough, Charles McCathieNevile, Matthias Müller-Prove, Liddy Nevile, Graham Oliver, Wendy Porch, Bob Regan, Chris Ridpath, Gregory Rosmaita, Heather Swayne, Gregg Vanderheiden, Carlos Velasco, and Jason White.

This publication has been funded in part with Federal funds from the U.S. Department of Education under contract number ED05CO0039. The content of this publication does not necessarily reflect the views or policies of the U.S. Department of Education, nor does mention of trade names, commercial products, or organizations imply endorsement by the U.S. Government.