Interpreting ATAG

Question 1

ATAG addresses the accessibility needs of what two user groups?

Answer 1

1. Authors of web content, via an accessible authoring tool UI. [Part A of the Guidelines]
2. End users of web content produced in an authoring tool, by ensuring authors are enabled, supported, and guided to produce accessible content. [Part B of the Guidelines]

Question 2

What is meant by “authoring tools”?

Answer 2

Any web-based or non-web-based application that can be used by authors to create or modify web content for use by other people. E.g.:
- web page authoring tools (WYSIWYG & source code HTML editors)
- software for converting to web technologies (“save as HTML”)
- IDEs
- software that generates web content using templates, scripts, CLI, or “wizard”
- software for rapidly updating portions of a web page (blogging, commenting, wiki, forum)
- software for generating/managing entire sites (CMS, courseware tools, content aggregators)

Question 3

What is the structure of ATAG?

Answer 3

• Parts: divide ATAG according to two main user groups affected by authoring tools
  
  • Principles: high-level, organize guidelines
    
    • Guidelines: basic goals and rationale; not testable
      
      • Success Criteria: testable statements for conformance testing

Question 4

What are potential answers to the conformance of ATAG SCs?

Answer 4

• Not Applicable: SCs are written conditionally to cover the presence/absence of various features, so some SCs will not apply if the feature is absent. If a conformance claim is made, a reason the SC is not applicable is required.
• Yes: SC is satisfied. In some cases, the WCAG level (A/AA/AAA) must be stated.
• No: SC is not satisfied.

Question 5

How does ATAG relate to WCAG?

Answer 5

ATAG 2.0 relies on the WCAG 2.0 definition of “accessible content” (and related terms), taking into account that this definition can vary among A, AA, and AAA levels. The SCs that depend on this definition are marked with “(WCAG)”.

Question 6

What are the options for ATAG 2.0 conformance?

Answer 6

• Conformance: Authoring tool can be used to produce accessible web content without additional tools or components
• Partial Conformance - Process Component: Authoring tool, perhaps with limited functionality, would require additional tools/components to conform as a complete authoring system; cannot prevent unmet SCs from being met by another tool/component (e.g. plugin)
• Partial Conformance - Platform Limitations: Authoring tool is unable to meet 1+ SCs because of intrinsic limitations of the platform