RE: Markup / CSS / XHTML

Steve Green <[email protected]> Mon, 8 Jun 2020 18:01:38 +0000
Newsgroups gmane.org.w3c.accessibility.general
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Hi Judy,
Whoever wrote those statements is seriously over-stretching their case. Mos=
t of what they have written is either out of date or plain wrong. My views =
are:

  1.  WCAG 1.0 used to require that the HTML and CSS validated without erro=
rs, but this requirement was dropped in WCAG 2.0, which only requires that =
"elements have complete start and end tags, elements are nested according t=
o their specifications, elements do not contain duplicate attributes, and a=
ny IDs are unique, except where the specifications allow these features".

This means you don't need to validate the CSS at all. You do need to valida=
te the HTML, but you need to filter the results to only display the relevan=
t ones. You can get a bookmarklet that does this from https://dotjay.github=
.io/wcag-parsing-filter/bookmarklet/. When you do this on your website, the=
re is only one relevant error, which is a stray closing tag. I have looked =
at the code, and in this case browsers will ignore it, so it actually has z=
ero impact in practice.

I would never argue against fixing the code so it validates, but almost non=
e of your errors constitute a WCAG non-conformance. If the errors have any =
impact at all, they are likely to cause browser compatibility issues rather=
 than accessibility ones.
  2.  The presence of xmlns=3D"https://www.w3.org/1999/xhtml/" in the <html=
> element does not mean the website is claiming to use the XHTML doctype. T=
he website is using HTML5 as you would expect. I am no expert on namespaces=
, but the page at https://www.w3.org/1999/xhtml/ says that "The namespace n=
ame http://www.w3.org/1999/xhtml is intended for use in various specificati=
ons such as...HTML5".
  3.  The statement is completely untrue. The HTML specification has always=
 stated that pages do not have to validate and that browsers can do what th=
ey like if they encounter invalid code. They may choose to ignore that part=
icular piece of code, but they often attempt to fix it by taking a guess at=
 what the author intended.

I would challenge whoever wrote that statement to provide any example (even=
 one they have fabricated) where a browser ignores valid CSS.
  4.  In WCAG 1.0 it was a requirement that pages were usable without CSS, =
but this requirement was dropped in WCAG 2.0. in order to claim conformance=
 with WCAG 2.0 or 2.1, the website must only rely on "accessibility support=
ed" technologies. CSS is an accessibility supported technology, so conforma=
nt websites are allowed to rely on it. See https://www.w3.org/TR/UNDERSTAND=
ING-WCAG20/conformance.html#uc-accessibility-support-head
  5.  From a WCAG conformance perspective, it is irrelevant whether browser=
s and screen readers exist that do not work with the Durham.ca website. Fro=
m a validation perspective, the only requirement is that the website uses a=
ccessibility supported technologies (which include HTML and CSS) and that c=
ertain types of HTML validation errors do not occur. If users choose to use=
 browsers and screen readers that do not work with a WCAG conformant websit=
e, that is not the website owner's problem.

Also, I cannot find anything in AODA that requires anything other than conf=
ormance with WCAG 2.1 level AA. The statement that "these problems are caus=
ing Durham.ca to be non-compliant with AODA" is not true in my opinion (or =
it will not be true when the one spurious closing tag is removed, which in =
any case is not having any effect on anything).
  6.  http-equiv=3D"Content-Style-Type" and http-equiv=3D"Content-Script-Ty=
pe" do not exist in HTML5, so they can indeed be removed. However, that won=
't actually fix anything because browsers will already be ignoring them.

Steve Green
Managing Director
Test Partners Ltd

From: Judy Christianson <[email protected]>
Sent: 03 March 2020 16:12
To: [email protected]
Subject: Markup / CSS / XHTML

Hi,
I am not a web developer, but I am working with the accessibility of docume=
nt. Someone has commented on the accessibility of our website and wondered =
if I could get input and feedback from you regarding the comments received.=
 What I am looking for is the validity of the six statements below and what=
 you would suggest for fixes if you are able to. The website was developed =
by a third party service provider.
Comments received are listed below:

  1.  WCAG 2.0 indicates that websites must have correctly formed markup an=
d CSS, but testing today (2020-02-18) with W3C's markup and CSS validators,=
 I see a total of 447 errors and warnings:

Markup: https://validator.w3.org/nu/?doc=3Dhttps%3A%2F%2Fwww.durham.ca%2Fen=
%2Findex.aspx
CSS: https://jigsaw.w3.org/css-validator/validator?uri=3Dhttps%3A%2F%2Fwww.=
durham.ca%2Fen%2Findex.aspx
  2.  At the top of Durham.ca's markup, Durham.ca's webmaster has declared =
"http://www.w3.org/1999/xhtml" as the website's XML namespace, which means =
that Durham.ca is claiming compliance with W3C's XHTML standard, even thoug=
h it isn't.  W3C created the XHTML standard in 1999, and finalized it in ea=
rly 2000, over seventeen years before Durham.ca was revamped in late 2017. =
 XHTML also predates the existence of Durham.ca, which wasn't created until=
 2007 as the replacement for Durham.on.ca.
  3.  CSS errors can cause significant usability problems in web browsers a=
nd in screen readers that can parse CSS.  If such software/hardware is unab=
le to parse a website's CSS due to errors in the website's CSS, then it wil=
l typically respond by not using any of the website's CSS to render its pag=
es.
  4.  Mozilla Firefox is a web browser with a feature that allows a user to=
 temporarily display a website without the website's CSS.  If you use Mozil=
la Firefox to access Durham.ca, and then go to "View" menu -> "Page Style" =
-> "No Style", you'll discover that Durham.ca would be extremely difficult =
to use without CSS.  You can enable CSS again by going to "View" menu -> "P=
age Style" -> "Basic Page Style".
  5.  While the web browsers and screen readers that Durham.ca's webmaster =
used to test Durham.ca may have been designed to work around Durham.ca's ma=
rkup and CSS problems, I'm not aware of any standards that require all web =
browsers and screen readers to do this, and there's no guarantee that the m=
ost popular web browsers and screen readers will continue to tolerate these=
 problems indefinitely....  More importantly, these problems are causing Du=
rham.ca to be non-compliant with AODA.
  6.  Fortunately, all these problems can be corrected fairly easily.  For =
example, Durham.ca's "meta" markup elements with attributes http-equiv=3D"C=
ontent-Style-Type" and http-equiv=3D"Content-Script-Type" are obsolete vest=
iges from HTML 4 that don't exist in XHTML, so Durham.ca's webmaster could =
eliminate two markup errors by simply removing these two elements.
Judy Christianson
THIS MESSAGE IS FOR THE USE OF THE INTENDED RECIPIENT(S) ONLY AND MAY CONTA=
IN INFORMATION THAT IS PRIVILEGED, PROPRIETARY, CONFIDENTIAL, AND/OR EXEMPT=
 FROM DISCLOSURE UNDER ANY RELEVANT PRIVACY LEGISLATION. No rights to any p=
rivilege have been waived. If you are not the intended recipient, you are h=
ereby notified that any review, re-transmission, dissemination, distributio=
n, copying, conversion to hard copy, taking of action in reliance on or oth=
er use of this communication is strictly prohibited. If you are not the int=
ended recipient and have received this message in error, please notify me b=
y return e-mail and delete or destroy all copies of this message.

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<p class=3D"MsoNormal"><span style=3D"font-size:11.0pt;font-family:&quot;Ca=
libri&quot;,sans-serif;mso-fareast-language:EN-US">Hi Judy,<o:p></o:p></spa=
n></p>
<p class=3D"MsoNormal"><span style=3D"font-size:11.0pt;font-family:&quot;Ca=
libri&quot;,sans-serif;mso-fareast-language:EN-US">Whoever wrote those stat=
ements is seriously over-stretching their case. Most of what they have writ=
ten is either out of date or plain wrong. My views
 are:<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<ol style=3D"margin-top:0in" start=3D"1" type=3D"1">
<li class=3D"MsoListParagraph" style=3D"margin-left:0in;mso-list:l0 level1 =
lfo4"><span style=3D"font-size:11.0pt;font-family:&quot;Calibri&quot;,sans-=
serif;mso-fareast-language:EN-US">WCAG 1.0 used to require that the HTML an=
d CSS validated without errors, but this requirement
 was dropped in WCAG 2.0, which only requires that &#8220;elements have com=
plete start and end tags, elements are nested according to their specificat=
ions, elements do not contain duplicate attributes, and any IDs are unique,=
 except where the specifications allow
 these features&#8221;.<br>
<br>
This means you don&#8217;t need to validate the CSS at all. You do need to =
validate the HTML, but you need to filter the results to only display the r=
elevant ones. You can get a bookmarklet that does this from
<a href=3D"https://dotjay.github.io/wcag-parsing-filter/bookmarklet/">https=
://dotjay.github.io/wcag-parsing-filter/bookmarklet/</a>. When you do this =
on your website, there is only one relevant error, which is a stray closing=
 tag. I have looked at the code, and
 in this case browsers will ignore it, so it actually has zero impact in pr=
actice.<br>
<br>
I would never argue against fixing the code so it validates, but almost non=
e of your errors constitute a WCAG non-conformance. If the errors have any =
impact at all, they are likely to cause browser compatibility issues rather=
 than accessibility ones.<o:p></o:p></span></li><li class=3D"MsoListParagra=
ph" style=3D"margin-left:0in;mso-list:l0 level1 lfo4"><span style=3D"font-s=
ize:11.0pt;font-family:&quot;Calibri&quot;,sans-serif;mso-fareast-language:=
EN-US">The presence of xmlns=3D&#8221;<a href=3D"https://www.w3.org/1999/xh=
tml/">https://www.w3.org/1999/xhtml/</a>&#8221;
 in the &lt;html&gt; element does not mean the website is claiming to use t=
he XHTML doctype. The website is using HTML5 as you would expect. I am no e=
xpert on namespaces, but the page at
<a href=3D"https://www.w3.org/1999/xhtml/">https://www.w3.org/1999/xhtml/</=
a> says that &#8220;The namespace name http://www.w3.org/1999/xhtml is inte=
nded for use in various specifications such as&#8230;HTML5&#8221;.<o:p></o:=
p></span></li><li class=3D"MsoListParagraph" style=3D"margin-left:0in;mso-l=
ist:l0 level1 lfo4"><span style=3D"font-size:11.0pt;font-family:&quot;Calib=
ri&quot;,sans-serif;mso-fareast-language:EN-US">The statement is completely=
 untrue. The HTML specification has always stated that pages do
 not have to validate and that browsers can do what they like if they encou=
nter invalid code. They may choose to ignore that particular piece of code,=
 but they often attempt to fix it by taking a guess at what the author inte=
nded.<br>
<br>
I would challenge whoever wrote that statement to provide any example (even=
 one they have fabricated) where a browser ignores valid CSS.<o:p></o:p></s=
pan></li><li class=3D"MsoListParagraph" style=3D"margin-left:0in;mso-list:l=
0 level1 lfo4"><span style=3D"font-size:11.0pt;font-family:&quot;Calibri&qu=
ot;,sans-serif;mso-fareast-language:EN-US">In WCAG 1.0 it was a requirement=
 that pages were usable without CSS, but this requirement
 was dropped in WCAG 2.0. in order to claim conformance with WCAG 2.0 or 2.=
1, the website must only rely on &#8220;accessibility supported&#8221; tech=
nologies. CSS is an accessibility supported technology, so conformant websi=
tes are allowed to rely on it. See
<a href=3D"https://www.w3.org/TR/UNDERSTANDING-WCAG20/conformance.html#uc-a=
ccessibility-support-head">
https://www.w3.org/TR/UNDERSTANDING-WCAG20/conformance.html#uc-accessibilit=
y-support-head</a><o:p></o:p></span></li><li class=3D"MsoListParagraph" sty=
le=3D"margin-left:0in;mso-list:l0 level1 lfo4"><span style=3D"font-size:11.=
0pt;font-family:&quot;Calibri&quot;,sans-serif;mso-fareast-language:EN-US">=
From a WCAG conformance perspective, it is irrelevant whether browsers and =
screen readers
 exist that do not work with the Durham.ca website. From a validation persp=
ective, the only requirement is that the website uses accessibility support=
ed technologies (which include HTML and CSS) and that certain types of HTML=
 validation errors do not occur.
 If users choose to use browsers and screen readers that do not work with a=
 WCAG conformant website, that is not the website owner&#8217;s problem.<br=
>
<br>
Also, I cannot find anything in AODA that requires anything other than conf=
ormance with WCAG 2.1 level AA. The statement that &#8220;these problems ar=
e causing Durham.ca to be non-compliant with AODA&#8221; is not true in my =
opinion (or it will not be true when the one
 spurious closing tag is removed, which in any case is not having any effec=
t on anything).<o:p></o:p></span></li><li class=3D"MsoListParagraph" style=
=3D"margin-left:0in;mso-list:l0 level1 lfo4"><span style=3D"font-size:11.0p=
t;font-family:&quot;Calibri&quot;,sans-serif;mso-fareast-language:EN-US">ht=
tp-equiv=3D&quot;Content-Style-Type&quot; and http-equiv=3D&quot;Content-Sc=
ript-Type&quot; do not exist in HTML5,
 so they can indeed be removed. However, that won&#8217;t actually fix anyt=
hing because browsers will already be ignoring them.<o:p></o:p></span></li>=
</ol>
<p class=3D"MsoNormal" style=3D"margin-top:0in"><span style=3D"font-size:11=
.0pt;font-family:&quot;Calibri&quot;,sans-serif"><o:p>&nbsp;</o:p></span></=
p>
<p class=3D"MsoNormal" style=3D"margin-top:0in"><span style=3D"font-size:11=
.0pt;font-family:&quot;Calibri&quot;,sans-serif;mso-fareast-language:EN-US"=
>Steve Green<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class=3D"MsoNormal" style=3D"margin-top:0in"><span style=3D"font-size:11=
.0pt;font-family:&quot;Calibri&quot;,sans-serif;mso-fareast-language:EN-US"=
>Managing Director<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class=3D"MsoNormal" style=3D"margin-top:0in"><span style=3D"font-size:11=
.0pt;font-family:&quot;Calibri&quot;,sans-serif;mso-fareast-language:EN-US"=
>Test Partners Ltd<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class=3D"MsoNormal"><span style=3D"font-size:11.0pt;font-family:&quot;Ca=
libri&quot;,sans-serif;mso-fareast-language:EN-US"><o:p>&nbsp;</o:p></span>=
</p>
<div>
<div style=3D"border:none;border-top:solid #E1E1E1 1.0pt;padding:3.0pt 0in =
0in 0in">
<p class=3D"MsoNormal" style=3D"margin-top:0in"><b><span lang=3D"EN-US" sty=
le=3D"font-size:11.0pt;font-family:&quot;Calibri&quot;,sans-serif">From:</s=
pan></b><span lang=3D"EN-US" style=3D"font-size:11.0pt;font-family:&quot;Ca=
libri&quot;,sans-serif"> Judy Christianson &lt;[email protected]&=
gt;
<br>
<b>Sent:</b> 03 March 2020 16:12<br>
<b>To:</b> [email protected]<br>
<b>Subject:</b> Markup / CSS / XHTML <o:p></o:p></span></p>
</div>
</div>
<p class=3D"MsoNormal"><o:p>&nbsp;</o:p></p>
<p class=3D"MsoNormal"><span lang=3D"EN-US">Hi,<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class=3D"MsoNormal"><span lang=3D"EN-US">I am not a web developer, but I=
 am working with the accessibility of document. Someone has commented on th=
e accessibility of our website and wondered if I could get input and feedba=
ck from you regarding the comments received.
 What I am looking for is the validity of the six statements below and what=
 you would suggest for fixes if you are able to. The website was developed =
by a third party service provider.<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class=3D"MsoNormal"><span lang=3D"EN-US">Comments received are listed be=
low:<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<ol style=3D"margin-top:0in" start=3D"1" type=3D"1">
<li class=3D"MsoListParagraph" style=3D"margin-left:0in;mso-list:l2 level1 =
lfo3"><span lang=3D"EN-US">WCAG 2.0 indicates that websites must have corre=
ctly formed markup and CSS, but testing today (2020-02-18) with W3C's marku=
p and CSS validators, I see a total of
 447 errors and warnings:<br>
<br>
Markup: </span><span lang=3D"EN-CA"><a href=3D"https://validator.w3.org/nu/=
?doc=3Dhttps%3A%2F%2Fwww.durham.ca%2Fen%2Findex.aspx"><span lang=3D"EN-US">=
https://validator.w3.org/nu/?doc=3Dhttps%3A%2F%2Fwww.durham.ca%2Fen%2Findex=
.aspx</span></a></span><span lang=3D"EN-US"><br>
CSS: </span><span lang=3D"EN-CA"><a href=3D"https://jigsaw.w3.org/css-valid=
ator/validator?uri=3Dhttps%3A%2F%2Fwww.durham.ca%2Fen%2Findex.aspx"><span l=
ang=3D"EN-US">https://jigsaw.w3.org/css-validator/validator?uri=3Dhttps%3A%=
2F%2Fwww.durham.ca%2Fen%2Findex.aspx</span></a><o:p></o:p></span></li><li c=
lass=3D"MsoListParagraph" style=3D"margin-left:0in;mso-list:l2 level1 lfo3"=
><span lang=3D"EN-US">At the top of Durham.ca's markup, Durham.ca's webmast=
er has declared &quot;</span><span lang=3D"EN-CA"><a href=3D"http://www.w3.=
org/1999/xhtml"><span lang=3D"EN-US">http://www.w3.org/1999/xhtml</span></a=
></span><span lang=3D"EN-US">&quot;
 as the website's XML namespace, which means that Durham.ca is claiming com=
pliance with W3C's XHTML standard, even though it isn't. &nbsp;W3C created =
the XHTML standard in 1999, and finalized it in early 2000, over seventeen =
years before Durham.ca was revamped in
 late 2017. &nbsp;XHTML also predates the existence of Durham.ca, which was=
n't created until 2007 as the replacement for Durham.on.ca.</span><span lan=
g=3D"EN-CA"><o:p></o:p></span></li><li class=3D"MsoListParagraph" style=3D"=
margin-left:0in;mso-list:l2 level1 lfo3"><span lang=3D"EN-US">CSS errors ca=
n cause significant usability problems in web browsers and in screen reader=
s that can parse CSS. &nbsp;If such software/hardware is unable to parse a =
website's
 CSS due to errors in the website's CSS, then it will typically respond by =
not using any of the website's CSS to render its pages.</span><span lang=3D=
"EN-CA"><o:p></o:p></span></li><li class=3D"MsoListParagraph" style=3D"marg=
in-left:0in;mso-list:l2 level1 lfo3"><span lang=3D"EN-US">Mozilla Firefox i=
s a web browser with a feature that allows a user to temporarily display a =
website without the website's CSS. &nbsp;If you use Mozilla Firefox to acce=
ss
 Durham.ca, and then go to &quot;View&quot; menu -&gt; &quot;Page Style&quo=
t; -&gt; &quot;No Style&quot;, you'll discover that Durham.ca would be extr=
emely difficult to use without CSS. &nbsp;You can enable CSS again by going=
 to &quot;View&quot; menu -&gt; &quot;Page Style&quot; -&gt; &quot;Basic Pa=
ge Style&quot;.</span><span lang=3D"EN-CA"><o:p></o:p></span></li><li class=
=3D"MsoListParagraph" style=3D"margin-left:0in;mso-list:l2 level1 lfo3"><sp=
an lang=3D"EN-US">While the web browsers and screen readers that Durham.ca'=
s webmaster used to test Durham.ca may have been designed to work around Du=
rham.ca's markup and CSS problems,
 I'm not aware of any standards that require all web browsers and screen re=
aders to do this, and there's no guarantee that the most popular web browse=
rs and screen readers will continue to tolerate these problems indefinitely=
.... &nbsp;More importantly, these problems
 are causing Durham.ca to be non-compliant with AODA.</span><span lang=3D"E=
N-CA"><o:p></o:p></span></li><li class=3D"MsoListParagraph" style=3D"margin=
-bottom:12.0pt;margin-left:0in;mso-list:l2 level1 lfo3">
<span lang=3D"EN-US">Fortunately, all these problems can be corrected fairl=
y easily. &nbsp;For example, Durham.ca's &quot;meta&quot; markup elements w=
ith attributes http-equiv=3D&quot;Content-Style-Type&quot; and http-equiv=
=3D&quot;Content-Script-Type&quot; are obsolete vestiges from HTML 4 that d=
on't
 exist in XHTML, so Durham.ca's webmaster could eliminate two markup errors=
 by simply removing these two elements.</span><span lang=3D"EN-CA"><o:p></o=
:p></span></li></ol>
<p class=3D"MsoNormal" style=3D"margin-top:0in"><span lang=3D"EN-CA">Judy C=
hristianson</span><span lang=3D"EN-US"><o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class=3D"MsoNormal" style=3D"margin-top:0in"><span lang=3D"EN-CA" style=
=3D"font-size:11.0pt;font-family:&quot;Calibri&quot;,sans-serif">THIS MESSA=
GE IS FOR THE USE OF THE INTENDED RECIPIENT(S) ONLY AND MAY CONTAIN INFORMA=
TION THAT IS PRIVILEGED, PROPRIETARY, CONFIDENTIAL,
 AND/OR EXEMPT FROM DISCLOSURE UNDER ANY RELEVANT PRIVACY LEGISLATION. No r=
ights to any privilege have been waived. If you are not the intended recipi=
ent, you are hereby notified that any review, re-transmission, disseminatio=
n, distribution, copying, conversion
 to hard copy, taking of action in reliance on or other use of this communi=
cation is strictly prohibited. If you are not the intended recipient and ha=
ve received this message in error, please notify me by return e-mail and de=
lete or destroy all copies of this
 message. <o:p></o:p></span></p>
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