Re: XS: print output -Reply

[Paul Prescod <papresco@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx>]

David Pawson wrote:
> If the features of XS are not restricted to the sighted, in print
> or on the web, you will make a lot of people happy.
> 
> The improvements in XML over HTML give an opportunity
> for 'special access software' writers a chance to interpret
> information in a manner appropriate.If a reader wants a
> browser version fine, but if someone else wants large print
> or audio, are you going to block them with the features you
> add purely for the visual market? An example is the change
> bar - a pure visual indicator. Make it yellow? The same.
> Link to it from an update list, and we can all access the
> information.

There are dozens of reasons that a regular DSSSL stylesheet will not
work well for blind and partially-sighted readers: hard-coded font
sizes, equations with *no* semantic content, fonts and colours used to
differentiate styles, etc. I think that issues of accessibility should
be dealt with explicitly, as is done in ACSS. Specific characteristics
on flow objects can map them to constructs that are meaningful to screen
readers and Braille printers -- perhaps re-introducing some semantics
into the flow objects. Rather than having a "lore" of what translates
well, people would then be able to *know*. I don't think that "the
masses" would tolerate restrictions introduced for accessibility. Just
as in HTML, they would ask Netscape to work around them with extensions.
I strongly agree that accessibility is key, and I think that we have the
opportunity to do much better than other stylesheet languages in that
regard.

 Paul Prescod

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