11 August 2005: Martyn Cooper (Open University, UK) m.cooper@open.ac.uk:
Label: Adaptability
I still have a problem with the term "Adaptibility" because what I believe what we are seeking to describe under this term is both the nature and the adaptibility of the resource that impinges on how it is interacted with by users and user agents. I accept that "Accessibility" should be viewed as an application profile of this and other DC elements such as Relation and not the name of the term. However I think we need a better portmanteau term that honestly indicates the element's intended use.
How about userInteractionCharacterisitcs? (a bit long I know but may be a starter for others to react off)
Definition: A statement describing characteristics of the resource that affect how it can be adapted so it can be perceived, understood or interacted with by users or agents.
Fine - I don't think this needs modification
Comment: An Adaptability description might be used to match a (digital or physical) resource to a description of user or user agent needs and preferences.
Examples: A Web resource (Web page) contains text and an embedded Flash animation (images only, no sound). Elsewhere there is a related resource that is a text description of the action in the Flash animation.
A user of a smart server seeks the Web page with all visual information replaced by textual description.
The Web page metadata description set identifies that the Web page has a component that has accessMode="visual" but that there is a related resource with accessMode="textual". The smart server retrieves the necessary resources and delivers them to the user.
I think an explicit accessibility use case would be adventageous here (along with other use cases).
Type of term: Element
Term qualified: None
Why needed:
Lots of work needed here but I will save comments to a later edit, perhaps after there is a draft to react to.
Working Group/community support:
ditto
Proposed status: Recommended
Related DCMI terms: