[access-uk] Re: NEW ACCESSIBLE SEARCH ENGINE
- From: "Ian Macrae" <ian.macrae@xxxxxxxxx>
- To: <access-uk@xxxxxxxxxxxxx>
- Date: Mon, 28 Jun 2004 11:09:57 +0100
Hi Tink,
It would be good if you could contact them and let them know. It'd be a =
shame if they lost out because of someone else's error. =20
Cheers now.
Ian
-----Original Message-----
From: access-uk@xxxxxxxxxxxxx [mailto:access-uk@xxxxxxxxxxxxx] On Behalf =
Of L=E9onie Watson
Sent: 28 June 2004 10:46
To: access-uk@xxxxxxxxxxxxx
Subject: [access-uk] Re: NEW ACCESSIBLE SEARCH ENGINE
Ian,
Thanks for posting this up, it's refreshing to see accessible design =
put to the fore, but I do wish that they hadn't shot themselves, not to m=
ention the rest of the accessible design sector, in the foot.
They claim that they are AAA compliant against the Web Content Access=
ibility Guidelines (WCAG), which may be fair enough. But they also claim =
they are Level AAA compliant against the Bobby Guidelines and this is whe=
re I really take issue.
Bobby is not a set of guidelines, it is a tool for measuring a site a=
gainst the Web Content Accessibility Guidelines. If a site believes itsel=
f to be Level AAA against the WCAG, then Bobby can be used to confirm thi=
s, up to a point at least. Bobby is not entirely renound for its accuracy=
=2E
Because Bobby isn't always very accurate, YouSearched have given them=
selves an unnesscesary problem. Bobby doesn't find the site Level AAA com=
pliant under the Web Content Accessibility Guidelines, it doesn't even fi=
nd it Level A compliant. This is because Bobby is failing, not because th=
e site is.
Bobby says that the site fails to set the language type of the docume=
nt, which isn't the case. The language type is clearly set, but because o=
f the way the coding is arranged its quite likely that Bobby hasn't inter=
preted it correctly.
Bobby also says that 15 images don't have alternate text. The images =
in question have an empty alt text, but because the site uses apostrophes=
rather than double quotes to enclose the alternate text, Bobby believes =
this to be an error.
The upshot is this. Because the press release claims Level AAA agains=
t Bobby Guidelines, people will immediately go and check this, much as I =
did. What they will see is that, according to Bobby, the site fails basic=
accessibility and this is the impression they will carry away with them,=
marring an otherwise great design.
I'm going to contact YouSearch and pass on my thoughts too. This coul=
d be a useful resource to add to my bookmarks.
Regards,
Tink.
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