Guideline 11. Use W3C technologies and guidelines
Source Article: http://www.w3.org/TR/WCAG10/#gl-use-w3c
Current guidelines recommend W3C technologies for several reasons. For one, they include "built-in" technologies. W3C specifications undergo early review to ensure that accessibility issues are considered during the design phase. Also, the W3C specifications are developed in an open, industry consensus process.
The first thing to keep in mind when implementing W3C technology is simply to include it whenever possible. They are not always appropriate for the necessary task. When they are, use them. Here is a brief overview of the W3C technologies:
- list item
- MathML for mathematical equations
- HTML, XHTML, XML for structured documents
- RDF for meta data
- SMIL to create multimedia presentations
- CSS and XSL to define style sheets
- XSLT to create style transformations
- PNG for graphics (although some are best expressed in JPG, a non-w3c spec)
As always, avoid any use of deprecated features of the W3C technologies. For example, instead of the FONT element, use style sheets. Also, there is a "!important" operator that can be use to override any user style sheets. Options should also be available to those users that would prefer something that may be more usable for them. For example, a different language may prove also. There are several styles that can be used for aural properties
After the best efforts have been exerted to use W3C technologies it is still not possible to create a fully accessible page, an alternate page may be provided that uses these technologies. That way if somebody needs it, it is there. Then the original content can still be the main thing seen. Both versions of the page should be implemented at the same time.
It seems that there are a few instances that I can already think of that will make it difficult for me to stick to the W3C technologies. However, I am now more aware of them and will do my best to use them and to provide alternatives if needed.
