PFWG review of WOFF File Format

The Protocols and Formats Working Group is responding to a request to
review the WOFF File Format http://www.w3.org/TR/2010/WD-WOFF-20101116/.
Group consensus on this message is archived at
http://www.w3.org/2010/11/17-pf-minutes.

Because the WOFF File Format does not define or modify a content
language, but operates at lower levels, we do not think it presents
concerns about accessibility to people with disabilities. Therefore we
have no formal comments on the document, and are sending this message to
state that explicitly in response to the review request.

We do note that Web Fonts is a major benefit to Web accessibility. The
availability of downloadable fonts allows content to be implemented in
such a way that users can modify size, color, and other layout
characteristics as needed for accessibility, while retaining design
parameters set by the content author without recourse to solutions such
as text rendered as bitmaps that present major accessibility problems.

It did not seem there was a natural part of the document in which to
mention this accessibility use case. However, we encourage you to
mention this in publicity materials about this technology. Web Fonts in
general brings many benefits and accessibility is one of them. If you
would like more details about how we see this as an "accessibility win",
feel free to contact us.

Michael
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Michael Cooper
Web Accessibility Specialist
World Wide Web Consortium, Web Accessibility Initiative
E-mail [email protected] <mailto:[email protected]>
Information Page <http://www.w3.org/People/cooper/>