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=Accessibility=
<h1>Accessibility</h1>


This page is for keeping track of issues relating to microformats and accessibility, in the hopes that any potential accessibility issues are resolved quickly, and for documenting techniques for making microformats more accessible.
This page documents microformats and accessibility in general, in particular advantages that adopting microformats provide for accessibility, and for documenting techniques for making microformats more accessible.


We should all strive to make our published microformats, parser implementations, and not least this wiki, as accessible as possible, to all users, regardless of their physical abilities and needs. Readers are advised to follow the [http://www.w3.org/TR/WCAG10/full-checklist.html W3C's Web Content Accessibility Guidelines 1.0], to at least level 2. Further advice is available on the [http://www.accessifyforum.com/ Accessify Forums].
We should all strive to make our published microformats, parser implementations, and this wiki, accessible to all users, regardless of their physical abilities and needs, within the limits of the time and resources of the microformats community. Readers are advised to follow the [http://www.w3.org/TR/WCAG20/ W3C's Web Content Accessibility Guidelines 2.0], to at least Level AA. Further advice is available on the [http://www.accessifyforum.com/ Accessify Forums].
 
__TOC__


==Advantages==
==Advantages==
Over and above the increased convenience they bring, some microformats have potential accessibility advantages.
Some microformats have potential accessibility advantages.


===hCard===
===hCard===
*<code>tel</code> in [[hcard|hCard]]: use <code>style="speak-numeral:digits"</code>, so that telephone numbers are read by aural browsers as, for example, "five-five-five one-two-three-four" and not "five-hundred and fifty-five, one-thousand, two-hundred and thirty-two".
*<code>tel</code> in [[hcard|hCard]]: use <code>style="speak-numeral:digits"</code>, so that telephone numbers are read by aural browsers as, for example, "five-five-five one-two-three-four" and not "five-hundred and fifty-five, one-thousand, two-hundred and thirty-two".
**Note: This is not an advantage to Microformats. It is a CSS best practice and can be used with or without hCard. This should probably be moved to a [[css-best-practices|CSS Best Practices]] page. - [[User:JamesCraig|James Craig]]
***It is an advantage ''of'' microformats - [[User:AndyMabbett|Andy Mabbett]]
****It is not an advantage of microformats; it is just CSS that can be used on any class, whether or not it happens to be ''tel''. There is no documented AT implementation that recognizes Microformats classes automatically. This is just a benefit of CSS, with or without uF. [[User:JamesCraig|James Craig]]
*****It is '''an advantage of microformats'''; because using "tel" in hCard requites people to mark up telephone numbers semantically, where they otherwise might not. No claim about AT implementations is being made. [[User:AndyMabbett|Andy Mabbett]] 01:04, 28 Jan 2008 (PST)


==Issues==
==Disadvantages==
===hCalendar===
Some microformats have potential accessibility disadvantages.
*In <pre><nowiki><abbr class="dtend" title="19970401">April 2, 1997</abbr></div></nowiki></pre> "19970401" is not an abbreviation, in any sense, of "April 2, 1997", but of "April 1, 1997".
 
 
==External discussions==
=== Mailing lists ===
 
* [http://lists.w3.org/Archives/Public/w3c-wai-ig/2006OctDec/0022.html Microformats and Semantic Structure (part 2)] - 2006-10-11 in w3c-wai-ig.
* [http://lists.w3.org/Archives/Public/w3c-wai-ig/2006JulSep/subject.html#msg133 hCard and hCalendar Formats] - 2006-08-03 in w3c-wai-ig.


===Fora===
===abbr-design-pattern===
*[http://www.accessifyforum.com/viewtopic.php?t=6167&postdays=0&postorder=asc&start=0 Use of 'abbr' in microformats] - 2006-09-20. Issues: use of 'abbr'
*As mentioned on external sites (see:[[accessibility-issues]]) and on the microformats-discuss list, the abbr-design-pattern (used in [[hcard|hCard]], [[hcalendar|hCalendar]], [[geo|GEO]] and others) is in violation of WCAG1 and WCAG2, and has potentially harmful accessibility side-effects of reading machine data to screen reader users rendering human content inaccessible.
** Previous misuses of the abbreviation pattern should now use the [[value-class-pattern]] instead. The abbreviation pattern remains suitable and correct for human readable expansions.


==Accessibility of this wiki==
===anchor-include-pattern===
*Large blocks of italic text are inaccessible to many readers, including people with types of visual impairment, dyslexia, etc. [http://www.intranet.man.ac.uk/accessibility/Disabilities/dyslexia.html], [https://tritonlink.ucsd.edu/portal/site/tritonlink-preview/menuitem.b4448692267a11256ec5e210514b01ca?storyID=20896]. [http://accessites.org/], [http://tlt.psu.edu/suggestions/accessibility/font.html], [http://www.wd4a.co.uk/Guidelines.htm] [[User:AndyMabbett|Andy Mabbett]] 14:33, 26 Nov 2006 (PST)
*As mentioned on [[accessibility-issues]], the anchor-include-pattern is in violation of WCAG1 and WCAG2, and has potentially harmful accessibility side effects due to the missing link text.
*Using emboldening and italics to differentiate types on, e.g. the cheatsheet pages [[hcard-cheatsheet]], is unhelpful to users of assistive technologies, text-only devices, etc. A number, letter or symbol should additionally be used. [[User:AndyMabbett|Andy Mabbett]] 14:33, 26 Nov 2006 (PST)
** The include pattern now strong advises against using empty anchor elements.
**I think the emboldening is fine as it marks up the required properties. The italics are a bit of a problem but keep it simple at the moment. Additional characters can’t be used as they would break the class="property" template. Colours would be a way but are inaccessible to some users, so there is no real solution to that problem for now. [[User:JulianStahnke|Julian Stahnke]] 22:55, 26 Nov 2006 (GMT)
***"I think the emboldening is fine" - how would you understand emboldening in a text-only browser like Lynx, or in an aural browser? [[User:AndyMabbett|Andy Mabbett]] 15:17, 26 Nov 2006 (PST)
****Ups, I just assumed that it would use strong and em tags. Yeah, well, let’s think about it. [[User:JulianStahnke|Julian Stahnke]] 23:22, 26 Nov 2006 (GMT)
**Of course, one could add that stuff ''after'' the class="property" thing. That might look a little cluttered though. I’ll consider that for the next revision/next cheat sheet I do. [[User:JulianStahnke|Julian Stahnke]] 22:57, 26 Nov 2006 (GMT)
***All that's needed is:
::::<nowiki>* class="vcard" (1)</nowiki>
::instead of:
::::<nowiki>* class="vcard"</nowiki>
:::[[User:AndyMabbett|Andy Mabbett]] 15:24, 26 Nov 2006 (PST)
**'''Now resolved'''. Thanks to all who helped. [[User:AndyMabbett|Andy Mabbett]] 10:30, 11 Dec 2006 (PST)


* [http://microformats.org/wiki?title=page-summary-formats&curid=2572&diff=0&oldid=11214&rcid=20591 Duplicating link text] breaches [http://www.w3.org/TR/WCAG10/wai-pageauth.html#tech-meaningful-links WAI-WCAG 1 guideline 13.1 Clearly identify the target of each link] and is unhelpful to users of assistive technologies and other agents, which provide links in a stand-alone, out-of-context list. [[User:AndyMabbett|Andy Mabbett]] 10:29, 11 Dec 2006 (PST)
==External testimonials==
* [http://lists.w3.org/Archives/Public/w3c-wai-ig/2006JulSep/subject.html#msg133 hCard and hCalendar Formats] - 2006-08-03 in w3c-wai-ig. e.g. <blockquote><p>I think Microformats.org is doing rather well on it's own, and it isn't particularly something that the W3C would or should get involved in until it's settled down. (And then it would just be a ratification kind of thing.)</p><p>...</p><p>In fact, it is likely to be good for accessibility, as the tools for consuming microformats often require valid code.</p></blockquote>


*[[hcalendar-brainstorming#Photos and other attachments]] has inappropriate alt text. [[User:AndyMabbett|Andy Mabbett]] 15:23, 6 Mar 2007 (PST)
== Challenges ==
* Andy Mabbett - How can we make them accessible to people with (for instance) visual disabilities?


==See also==
==See also==
[[microformats-issues]]
*[[accessibility-issues]] - note external criticisms on the accesibility issues page
*[[internationalization]]
*[[assistive-technology]]
*[[assistive-technology-abbr-results]]

Latest revision as of 16:46, 3 September 2010

Accessibility

This page documents microformats and accessibility in general, in particular advantages that adopting microformats provide for accessibility, and for documenting techniques for making microformats more accessible.

We should all strive to make our published microformats, parser implementations, and this wiki, accessible to all users, regardless of their physical abilities and needs, within the limits of the time and resources of the microformats community. Readers are advised to follow the W3C's Web Content Accessibility Guidelines 2.0, to at least Level AA. Further advice is available on the Accessify Forums.

Advantages

Some microformats have potential accessibility advantages.

hCard

  • tel in hCard: use style="speak-numeral:digits", so that telephone numbers are read by aural browsers as, for example, "five-five-five one-two-three-four" and not "five-hundred and fifty-five, one-thousand, two-hundred and thirty-two".
    • Note: This is not an advantage to Microformats. It is a CSS best practice and can be used with or without hCard. This should probably be moved to a CSS Best Practices page. - James Craig
      • It is an advantage of microformats - Andy Mabbett
        • It is not an advantage of microformats; it is just CSS that can be used on any class, whether or not it happens to be tel. There is no documented AT implementation that recognizes Microformats classes automatically. This is just a benefit of CSS, with or without uF. James Craig
          • It is an advantage of microformats; because using "tel" in hCard requites people to mark up telephone numbers semantically, where they otherwise might not. No claim about AT implementations is being made. Andy Mabbett 01:04, 28 Jan 2008 (PST)

Disadvantages

Some microformats have potential accessibility disadvantages.

abbr-design-pattern

  • As mentioned on external sites (see:accessibility-issues) and on the microformats-discuss list, the abbr-design-pattern (used in hCard, hCalendar, GEO and others) is in violation of WCAG1 and WCAG2, and has potentially harmful accessibility side-effects of reading machine data to screen reader users rendering human content inaccessible.
    • Previous misuses of the abbreviation pattern should now use the value-class-pattern instead. The abbreviation pattern remains suitable and correct for human readable expansions.

anchor-include-pattern

  • As mentioned on accessibility-issues, the anchor-include-pattern is in violation of WCAG1 and WCAG2, and has potentially harmful accessibility side effects due to the missing link text.
    • The include pattern now strong advises against using empty anchor elements.

External testimonials

  • hCard and hCalendar Formats - 2006-08-03 in w3c-wai-ig. e.g.

    I think Microformats.org is doing rather well on it's own, and it isn't particularly something that the W3C would or should get involved in until it's settled down. (And then it would just be a ratification kind of thing.)

    ...

    In fact, it is likely to be good for accessibility, as the tools for consuming microformats often require valid code.

Challenges

  • Andy Mabbett - How can we make them accessible to people with (for instance) visual disabilities?

See also