As law, “Speed Limit 55 MPH” is enforceable. “Don’t drive too fast” is not. Although heeded by too few U.S. web teams, W3C accessibility standards are the law in many nations. That’s one reason the W3C’s Web Content Accessibility Guidelines (WCAG) Working Group has been under pressure to increase the specificity and clarity—and thus the enforceability—of its guidelines.

Because organizations must be able to state positively whether or not they have complied with a legally mandated guideline, the Working Group has introduced the notion of “testability” in its new WCAG 2.0 documents. In place of vague guidlines like, “Ensure sufficient contrast between foreground and background,” WCAG 2.0 provides technical specifications that can be measured by machines.

The trouble is, some criteria are inherently untestable, argues former working group invited expert Gian Sampson-Wild in Issue No. 240 of A List Apart for people who make websites. Rather than admit the problem and rethink testability, says Sampson-Wild, WCAG 2.0 jettisons needed guidelines that cannot be defined in a testable manner. In so doing, she claims, WCAG 2.0 hurts the very people it is intended to help.

Read Testability Costs Too Much and decide for yourself. Then share your comments with the W3C. The deadline for comments is 29 June 2007. That’s right, three days from now. So please read, think, and decide.

Also in this issue, new A List Apart author Sharon Lee discusses using linear and non-linear narrative and other techniques of engagement to create a rich, sensory experience that immerses people in your website, encouraging deeper involvement with your message and brand.

The principles of good human-to-computer interface design are simplicity, support, clarity, encouragement, satisfaction, accessibility, versatility, and personalization. While it’s essential to heed these, it’s also important to empathize with and inspire your audience so they feel you’re treating them less like a faceless user and more like a human being.

Find out more in Human-to-Human Design.

Issue No. 240 also brings back Joe Clark’s absolutely essential 22 August 2005 piece, Facts and Opinions About PDF Accessibility:

Contrary to popular opinion—and also contrary to quasi-judicial claims in some places—PDF documents can be no less accessible than HTML. … This article will explain how PDF does and does not support accessibility.

All this, plus the painfully brilliant and hilariously insightful illustrations of ALA artist and rock star Kevin Cornell. And ALA T-Shirts on sale cheap. What more, we ask, could you ask?

Comments off. (Comment at ALA.)

Tags: alistapart, accessibility, design, wcag, wcag2, pdf

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Filed under: A List Apart, Accessibility, Design, Publishing

4 Responses to “WCAG Controversy and Human Design”

1. Blog Surfers said on 28 June 2007 at 9:03 pm:

   WCAG Controversy and Human DesignJeffrey Zeldman Presents The Daily Report6/26/07, 5:03 pm

2. Perishable Press said on 28 June 2007 at 4:18 am:

   WCAG Controversy and Human Design

3. Oatmeal Stout - Justin Thorp’s Web 2.0 blog said on 27 June 2007 at 10:24 pm:

   be testable is too steep of a requirement. I completely disagree.  Success criteria that can’t be tested shouldn’t be included in a document that is supposed to give guidance. I was going to use themetaphor that Jeffrey Zeldman jumped on.  If someone says don’t speed in your car because it will hurt people, thats fine but how do I know what speeding is.  It’s a toothless and unenforceable law.   But if you say that I can’t go above 65 mph or 100 kph, that is a testable and 

4. The Garden of Words said on 26 June 2007 at 4:47 pm:

   standards are the law in many nations. That’s one reason the W3C’s Web Content Accessibility Guidelines (WCAG) Working Group has been under pressure to increase the specificity and clarity—and thus the enforceability—of its guidelines.Linky to full article.

5. diário de bordo said on 11 July 2007 at 2:32 am:

   Leituras A List Apart: Articles: Facts and Opinions About PDF AccessibilityJeffrey Zeldman Presents : WCAG Controversy and Human DesignDN Online: “Vou processar o Estado pela denúncia” Zero de conduta: Censura e privacidade The problem with pixels / Wilson Miner Live