text:
[contents] [priorities] [techniques]
User Agent Accessibility Guidelines
W3C Working Draft 9-Mar-1999
This version:
http://www.w3.org/WAI/UA/WD-WAI-USERAGENT-19990309
http://www.w3.org/WAI/UA/WD-WAI-USERAGENT
Latest public version:
http://www.w3.org/TR/WD-WAI-USERAGENT
http://www.w3.org/WAI/UA/WD-WAI-USERAGENT-19990210/
Techniques for User Agent Accessibility Guidelines
Jon Gunderson <jongund@uiuc.edu>
Ian Jacobs <ij@w3.org>
Copyright © 1999 W3C (MIT, INRIA, Keio), All Rights Reserved. W3C liability, trademark, document use and software licensing rules apply.
This document provides guidelines to user agent manufacturers for making their products more accessible to people with disabilities and for increasing usability for all users. This document emphasizes the accessibility of interoperability between two important classes of user agents - graphical desktop browsers and dependent assistive technologies (screen readers, screen magnifiers, and voice input software). However, it is meant to be applicable to user agents in general, including text and voice browsers, multimedia players, and plug-ins.
This document is part of a series of accessibility documents published by the W3C Web Accessibility Initiative.
Status of this document
This is a W3C Working Draft for review by W3C Members and other interested parties. It is a draft document and may be updated, replaced or obsoleted by other documents at any time. It is inappropriate to use W3C Working Drafts as reference material or to cite them as other than "work in progress". This is work in progress and does not imply endorsement by, or the consensus of, either W3C or Members of the WAI User Agent (UA) Working Group.
Please note that previous versions of this document were entitled "WAI User Agent Guidelines".
This document has been produced as part of the W3C WAI Activity, and is intended as a draft of a Proposed Recommendation for how to improve user agent accessibility. The goals of the WAI-UA Working Group are discussed in the WAI UA charter. A list of the current Working Group members is available.
This document is available in the following formats:
http://www.w3.org/WAI/UA/WD-WAI-USERAGENT-19990309/wai-useragent.html
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http://www.w3.org/WAI/UA/WD-WAI-USERAGENT-19990309/wai-useragent.txt,
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A PDF file:
http://www.w3.org/WAI/UA/WD-WAI-USERAGENT-19990309/wai-useragent.pdf.
The definitive version of this document is http://www.w3.org/WAI/UA/WD-WAI-USERAGENT-19990309/wai-useragent.html.
Please send comments about this document to the public mailing list: w3c-wai-ua@w3.org.
1.1 Principles of Accessible Design
2 Guidelines, Checkpoints, and Techniques
2.1 Checkpoint priorities
2.2 Conformance
3.1 Documents, Elements, and Attributes
3.2 Properties, Values, and Defaults
3.3 Views, Viewports, and Point of Regard
3.4 Focus, Selection, and Insertion Point
3.5 Events and scripting
3.6 Alternative representations of content
4 Ensure that the user interface is accessible
4.1 Ensure accessible product installation, documentation, and configuration
4.2 Support input and output device-independence
4.3 Support accessible keyboard input
4.4 Ensure that users can disable features that might interfere with accessibility
5 Ensure that content is accessible
5.1 Ensure user control over document styles
5.2 Ensure user control over alternative representations of content
5.3 Ensure that links are accessible
5.4 Ensure that tables are accessible
5.5 Ensure that forms are accessible
6 Help the user remain oriented
6.1 Provide information about the document view
6.2 Provide information about document structure
6.3 Provide information about events
7 Follow W3C Recommendations and use standard interfaces
7.1 Support language accessibility features
7.2 Use and provide accessible interfaces to other technologies
8 Acknowledgments
For those unfamiliar with accessibility issues pertaining to user agent design, consider that many users may be using documents in contexts very different from your own:
They may not be able to see, hear, move, or process some types of information easily or at all.
They may be in a situation where their eyes, ears, or hands are busy or interfered with (e.g., driving to work, working in a loud environment, etc.)
They may have difficulty seeing, reading, or comprehending text.
They may have difficulty seeing, reading, or comprehending images.
They may not have or be able to use a keyboard or mouse.
They may have an early version of a browser, a different browser entirely, a voice browser, or a different operating system.
They may have a slow connection, a small screen, a text-only screen, etc.
They may not speak or understand fluently the language in which the document is written.
The guidelines in this document are designed to help developers understand and thereby reduce accessibility barriers that impede access to the Web. The associated Techniques Document provides practical solutions based on existing and upcoming technologies. Though developers may believe that implementing accessibility features in their products is difficult or of limited use, considering accessibility during the design phase of a product leads to more flexible, manageable, and extensible software.
These guidelines include information relevant to a wide class of user agents: graphical desktop browsers, screen readers, speech synthesizers, multimedia players, text browsers, voice browsers, plug-ins, etc., with a particular focus on two classes of user agents:
Graphical desktop browsers
Dependent user agents, which rely on of other user agents for input and/or output. Dependent user agents include:
screen magnifiers, which are used by people with visual impairment to enlarge and change colors on the screen to improve readibility of text and images.
screen readers, which are used by people who are blind or with reading disabilities to read textual information through speech or braille displays.
alternative keyboards, which are used by people with movement impairments to simulate the keyboard.
alternative pointing devices, which are used by people with movement impairments to simulate mouse pointing and button activations.
The guidelines emphasize interoperability between these two classes of user agents.
This document is organized according to several principles that will improve the design of any type of user agent:
Ensure that the user interface is accessible.
This document addresses some aspects of user interface that directly impact accessibility, including device-independence, accessible product documentation, and configurability. However, the more general topic of accessible user interfaces for computer software exceeds the scope of this document. User interfaces must be intuitive, simple, and tested. Features that are known to promote accessibility should be made obvious to users and easy to find.
Ensure that content is accessible.
The user agent must allow users to control the style (colors, fonts, speech rate, speech volume, etc.) and format of a document. Users must also be able to access both primary and alternative representations of content.
The user agent must enable navigation among different parts of the document: links, form controls, tables, etc., in an input device-independent manner. Navigation should follow any tabbing order that has been specified by the author. How tabbing order is defined typically depends on markup language (e.g., the "tabindex" attribute in HTML).
Help the user remain oriented
The user agent should provide users with information about views of a document, document structure, document summary information, and events to help the user remain oriented. Perhaps more importantly, the user agent should minimize the chances the user will become disoriented by allowing the user to control when windows are spawned, warning the user when events occur, avoiding sudden movements of the viewport, etc.
Use standard interfaces and operating system conventions.
Not all user agents satisfy the above principles natively, so they must make information available to assistive technologies. Even when a user agent implements a feature natively, it should make information available to other software. Information must be made available through interoperable and standard interfaces and generally according to operating system conventions (except where those conventions hinder accessibility).
Note. In general, software should be designed, installed, configured, and documented according to operating environment conventions.
This document refers to three concepts:
A guideline is a general principle of accessible design. A guideline addresses the question "What accessibility issues should I be aware of?"
A checkpoint is a specific way of satisfying one or more guidelines. While checkpoints describe verifiable actions that may be carried out by the user agent developer, implementation details are described elsewhere. A checkpoint answers the question "Where specifically can I improve accessibility?"
A technique is an implementation of one or more checkpoints in a given language (e.g., HTML, XML, CSS, DOM, ...). A technique answers the question "How do I do that in HTML or SMIL or CSS...?"
This document lists guidelines and the checkpoints that satisfy them.
The associated Techniques Document provides in-depth descriptions of the same checkpoints and examples of how to implement the checkpoints using HTML, CSS, and more. Please note that the Techniques Document will be updated more regularly than the current document in order to keep up with changes in technology.
Each checkpoint in this document is assigned a priority that indicates its importance for users.
[Priority 1]
This checkpoint must be implemented by user agents as a native feature or through compatibility with assistive technology, otherwise one or more groups of users with disabilities will find it impossible to access information. Satisfying this checkpoint is a basic requirement for some individuals to be able to use the Web.
This checkpoint should be implemented by user agents as a native feature or through compatibility with assistive technology, otherwise one or more groups of users will find it difficult to access information. Satisfying this checkpoint will remove significant barriers to accessing Web documents.
This checkpoint may be implemented by user agents as a native feature or through compatibility with assistive technology, to make it easier for one or more groups of users to access information. Satisfying this checkpoint will improve access to the Web for some individuals.
The terms "must", "should", and "may" (and related terms) are used in this document in accordance with RFC 2119 ([RFC2119]).
This document defines two categories of conformance in order to promote a standard of accessibility within, and interoperability between, two important classes of user agents - graphical desktop browsers and dependent assistive technologies. The two categories of conformance are:
Desktop graphical user agent
Dependent user agent
The conformance definitions use the following terms:
native support
A user agent supports a feature natively if it does not require another piece of software (e.g., plug-in or external program) for support.
A user agent is said to recognize markup, content types, or rendering effects when it can identify (through built-in mechanisms, DTDs, style sheets, headers, etc) the information. For instance, HTML 3.2 user agents may not recognize the new elements or attributes of HTML 4.0. Similarly, a user agent may recognize visually blinking content specified by elements or attributes, but may not recognize that an applet is blinking. The Techniques Document discusses some content that affects accessibility and should be recognized as such.
applicable checkpoint
A checkpoint applies to a user agent unless:
The checkpoint definition states explicitly that it only applies to a different class of user agent.
The checkpoint addresses a content type (script, image, video, sound, applets, etc.) that the user agent does not recognize.
The checkpoint refers to a content type that the user agent recognizes but does not support natively.
The checkpoint refers to the properties of an embedded object (e.g., video or animation rate) that may not be controlled or accessed by the user agent.
Conformance for desktop graphical user agents
In order to conform as a desktop graphical user agent, the user agent must do all of the following:
Satisfy all the Priority 1 checkpoints listed in this document that apply to that class of user agent, and
Satisfy those checkpoints natively unless the checkpoint explicitly indicates that it may be satisfied through communication with other software.
Even for those checkpoints that must be satisfied natively, desktop graphical user agents should make information available to other software through standard interfaces (e.g., specialized dependent user agents may provide a better solution to a problem than a desktop user agent).
Conformance for dependent user agents
In order to conform as a dependent user agent, the user agent must do all of the following:
Satisfy all the Priority 1 checkpoints listed in this document that apply to that class of user agent.
This section defines terms used in this document.
A document may be seen as a hierarchy of elements. Elements are defined by a language specification (e.g., HTML 4.0 or an XML application). Each element may have content, which generally contributes to the document's content. Elements may also have attributes that take values. Some attributes are integral to document accessibility (e.g., the "alt", "title", and "longdesc" attributes in HTML).
An element's rendered content is that which a user agent renders for the element. Often, this is what lies between the element's start and end tags. However, some elements cause external data to be rendered (e.g., the IMG element in HTML). At times, a browser may render the value of an attribute (e.g., "alt", "title" in HTML) in place of or in addition to the element's content. Rendering is not limited to only visual displays, but can also include audio (speech and sound) and tactile displays (braille and haptic displays).
A user agent renders a document by applying formatting algorithms and style information to the document's elements. Formatting depends on a number of factors, including where the document is rendered: on screen, paper, through speakers, a braille device, a mobile device, etc. Style information (e.g., fonts, colors, voice inflection, etc.) may come from the elements themselves (e.g., certain style attributes in HTML), from style sheets, or from user agent settings. For the purposes of these guidelines, each formatting or style option is governed by a property and each property may take one value from a set of legal values. (The term "property" in this document has the meaning ascribed in the CSS2 Recommendation.) A reference to "styles" in this document means a set of style-related properties.
The value given to a property by a user agent when it is started up is called the property's default value. User agents may allow users to change default values through a variety of mechanisms (e.g., the user interface, style sheets, initialization files, etc.).
Once the user agent is running, the value of a property for a given document or part of a document may be changed from the default value. The value of the property at a given moment is called its current value. Note that changes in the current value of a property do not change its default value.
Current values may come from documents, style sheets, scripts, or the user interface. Values that come from documents, their associated style sheets, or via a server are called author styles. Values that come from user interface settings, user style sheets, or other user interactions are called user styles.
User agents may handle different types of source information: documents, sound objects, video objects, etc. The user perceives the information through a viewport, which may be a window, frame, a piece of paper, a speaker, a virtual magnifying glass, etc. A viewport may contain another viewport (e.g., nested frames, plug-ins, etc.).
User agents may render the same source information in a variety of ways; each rendering is called a view. For instance, a user agent may allow users to view a document in one window and a generated list of headers for the document in another.
The view is how source information is rendered and the viewport is where it is rendered.
Generally, viewports give users access to all rendered information, though not always at once. For example, a video player shows a certain number of frames per second, but allows the user to rewind and fast forward. A visual browser viewport generally features scrollbars or some other paging mechanism that allows the user to bring the rendered content into the viewport.
The content currently available in the viewport is called the user's point of regard. The point of regard may be a two dimensional area (e.g., for graphical rendering) or a single point (e.g., for aural rendering or voice browsing). User agents should not change the point of regard unexpectedly as this can disorient users.
User agents generally offer several mechanisms for referring to parts of content in a view: focus, selection, and insertion point.
The user focus
The user focus designates an active element in a document. Which elements are active depends on the document language. In HTML documents, for example, active elements include links, form controls, elements with a value for the "longdesc" attribute, and elements with associated scripts. An element with the focus may be activated through any number of mechanisms, including the mouse, keyboard, an API, etc.
The effect of activation depends on the element. For instance, when a link is activated, the user agent generally retrieves the linked resource, which may be another Web page, program, etc. When a form control is activated, it may change state (e.g., check boxes) or may take user input (e.g., a text field). Activating an element with a script assigned for that particular activation mechanism (e.g., mouse down event, key press event, etc.) causes the script to be executed.
A view has at most one focus. When several views co-exist, each may have a focus, but only one is active, called the current focus. The current focus is generally presented (e.g., highlighted) in a way that makes it stand out.
The user selection
The user selection generally specifies a range of content (text, images, etc.) in a document. The range may be restricted to the content of a single element or may span several elements. The selection may be used for a variety of purposes: for cut and paste operations, to designate a specific element in a document, to identify what a screen reader should read, etc.
The user selection may be set by the user (e.g., by a pointing device or the keyboard) or through an application programming interface (API). A view has at most one user selection. When several views co-exist, each may have a user selection, but only one is active, called the current user selection.
The user selection is usually presented in a way the stands out (e.g., highlighted). On the screen, the selection may be highlighted using colors, fonts, graphics, or other mechanisms. Highlighted text is often used by dependent user agents to indicate through speech or braille output what the user wants to read. Most screen readers are sensitive to highlight colors. Dependent user agents may provide alternative presentation of the selection through speech, enlargement, or refreshable braille display.
Both the current focus and the current user selection must be in the same view, called the current view. The current view is generally highlighted when several views co-exist.
The insertion point.
The insertion point is the location where document editing takes place. The insertion point may be set by the user (e.g., by a pointing device or the keyboard editing keys) or through an application programming interface (API). A view has at most one insertion point. When several views co-exist, each may have an insertion point, but only one is active, called the current insertion point
The insertion point is generally rendered specially (e.g., on the screen, by a vertical bar or similar cursor).
When certain events occur (document loading or unloading events, mouse press or hover events, keyboard events, etc.), user agents often perform some task (e.g., execute a script). For instance, in most user agents, when a mouse button is released over a link, the link is activated and the linked resource retrieved. User agents may also execute author-defined scripts when certain events occur. The script bound to a particular event is called an event handler. Note. The interaction of HTML, style sheets, the Document Object Model [DOM1] and scripting is commonly referred to as "Dynamic HTML" or DHTML. However, as there is no W3C specification that formally defines DHTML, this document will only refer to event handlers and scripts.
Certain types of content (e.g., images, audio, video, applets, etc.) may not be accessible to all users, so user agents must ensure that users have access to author-supplied alternative representations of content. The Techniques Document describes the different mechanisms authors may use to supply alternative representations of content. Please also consult the Web Content Accessibility Guidelines ([WAI-PAGEAUTH]).
Guideline 4.1 Ensure accessible product installation, documentation, and configuration
User agent accessibility requires that the user be able to install the software, learn about its features, configure it, and find help when necessary.
Documentation must be accessible so that users may learn about software features, notably those that relate to accessibility. Users who may not be able to access print material, including individuals with visual impairments, learning disabilities, or movement impairments, may be able to use accessible electronic documentation or documents in alternative hardcopy formats.
Documentation includes all product documentation, notably installation instructions, the help system, and all product manuals.
4.1.1 [Priority 1]
Ensure that the software may be installed in a device-independent manner using any supported input and output devices.
Ensure that all product documentation conforms to the Web Content Accessibility Guidelines ([WAI-PAGEAUTH]).
Describe product features known to promote accessibility in a section of the product documentation.
Allow the user to configure the user agent in named profiles that may be shared (by other users or software).
See also checkpoint 7.2.4.
Guideline 4.2 Support input and output device-independence
One of the keys to an accessible user interface is device-independence. Users must be able to interact with a user agent (and the document it renders) using the supported input and output devices of their choice. Input devices may include pointing devices, keyboards, braille devices, head wands, microphones, and others. Output devices may include monitors, speech synthesizers, braille devices, and printers.
Please note that "device-independent support" does not mean that user agents must support every input or output device. User agents should offer redundant input and output mechanisms for those devices that are supported. For example, if a user agent supports keyboard and mouse input, users should be able to interact with all features using either the keyboard or the mouse.
Ensure that all functionalities offered by the user agent interface are available through all supported input devices. These include the installation procedure, access to documentation, and software configuration.
Ensure that all messages to the user (e.g., warnings, errors, etc.) are available in an output device-independent manner using any supported output devices.
Ensure that the user can activate the links and form controls in a document in an input device-independent manner.
Guideline 4.3 Support accessible keyboard input
For those user agents that support keyboard input, the input methods must be accessible. Some users require single-key access, others require that keys activated in combination be physically close together, while others require that they be spaced physically far apart. Configurability is vital to accessible keyboard input.
The more apparent the keyboard commands are to all users, the more likely it is that new users with disabilities will find them and use them.
Allow the user to configure keyboard access to user agent functionalities. Configuration includes the ability to specify single keystroke commands as well as commands that require keystroke combinations.
Ensure that user can find out about all keyboard bindings (e.g., through menus).
Provide a mechanism to render the presence of a keyboard binding for an active element.
Guideline 4.4 Ensure that users can disable features that might interfere with accessibility
Users must be able to turn on and off support for features that may interfere with accessibility. User agents are only expected to provide this control for content that it recognizes. See also guideline 5.1.
Allow the user to turn on and off rendering of images.
Allow the user to turn on and off rendering of background images.
Allow the user to turn on and off rendering of video.
Allow the user to turn on and off rendering of sound.
Allow the user to turn on and off rendering of captions.
Allow the user to turn on and off animated or blinking text.
Allow the user to turn on and off animations and blinking images.
Allow the user to turn on and off support for scripts and applets.
Allow the user to turn on and off support for user style sheets.
4.4.10 [Priority 1]
Allow the user to turn on and off support for author style sheets.
Allow the user to turn on and off rendering of frames.
Allow the user to turn on and off support for spawned windows.
Allow the user to turn on and off automatic page forwarding.
Allow the user to turn on and off automatic page refresh.
In order to access a document, some users may require that it be rendered in a manner other than what the author intended. Users who are color-deficient may not be able to perceive certain color combinations. Users with low vision may require large fonts. Users who are blind may require audio or tactile rendering. Users who are deaf may require captions for audio files.
User agents must therefore allow the user to control:
The document's style (e.g., fonts, colors, aural parameters, etc.)
The document's formatting: whether the document is presented textually, graphically, linearly, aurally, for tactile use, or some combination of these.
The document's content. This means whether primary content or alternative representations of content or both are rendered.
The user interface. Since authors may make changes to the user interface through scripting (e.g., by spawning new windows, causing dialog boxes to appear, etc.), users must be able to override changes that make the user agent or document inaccessible.
Guideline 5.1 Ensure user control over document styles
The user must be able to control the colors, fonts and other stylistic aspects of a document and to override (have final control over) author styles and user agent default styles. Otherwise, users who are blind, have visual impairments, some types of learning disabilities, or any user who cannot or has chosen not to view the primary representation of information will not know content of the information on the page.
The following checkpoints state which styles the user must be able to control. The checkpoints also require user agents to allow users to override author styles and user agent defaults. The checkpoints apply to alternative representations of content as well as primary content.
Checkpoints for fonts and colors:
Allow the user to control font family.
Allow the user to control font size.
Allow the user to control foreground color.
Allow the user to control background color.
Allow the user to control selection highlighting (e.g., foreground and background color).
Allow the user to control focus highlighting (e.g., foreground and background color).
See also checkpoints 5.3.6 and 5.3.7.
Checkpoints for applets and animations:
Allow the user to control animation rate.
Checkpoints for video.
Allow the user to control video frame rates.
Allow the user to start, stop, pause, and rewind video.
Allow the user to control the position of captions.
Checkpoints for audio:
Allow the user to control audio playback rate.
Allow the user to start, stop, pause, and rewind audio.
Allow the user to control audio volume.
Checkpoints for speech:
Allow the user to control speech playback rate.
Allow the user to control speech volume, pitch, gender and other articulation characteristics.
Checkpoints for changes to the user interface:
When new windows or user interface components are spawned, allow the user to control window size and position.
Guideline 5.2 Ensure user control over alternative representations of content
User agents must give users access to author-supplied alternative representations of content (descriptions of images, captions for video or audio, etc.) since some users cannot perceive the primary content due to a disability or a technological limitation (e.g., browser configured not to display images). See also guideline 5.3.
General checkpoints:
Ensure that the user has access to alternative representations of content (e.g., the value of "alt" in HTML or SMIL, the resource designated by "longdesc", or the content of OBJECT in HTML 4.0, the "summary" attribute for tables in HTML, etc.).
When no alternative text representation has been specified, indicate what type of object is present.
When alternative text has been specified explicitly as empty (i.e., an empty string), render nothing.
If a technology allows for more than one caption or description track for audio, allow the user to choose from among tracks.
Allow the user to specify that captions for audio be rendered at the same time as the audio.
Checkpoints for video:
If a technology allows for more than one caption or description track (e.g., text, video of sign language, etc.) for video, allow the user to choose from among tracks.
If a technology allows for more than one audio track for video, allow the user to choose from among tracks.
Allow the user to specify that captions or descriptions for video be rendered at the same time as the video.
Allow the user to specify that audio descriptions of video be rendered at the same time as the video.
Guideline 5.3 Ensure that links are accessible
For all link navigation or searching, the focus is moved to the target link. See also guideline 4.3.
Allow the user to navigate sequentially among links. See also checkpoint 6.2.1.
Allow the user to search for a link in the current document based on its link text.
Allow the user to search for a link based on its attribute values.
Allow the user to move the focus to a link based on its integer (tabbing-order) position.
Provide the user with information about the number of links in a document.
Provide a mechanism (e.g., through style sheets) to distinguish visited links from unvisited links.
Allow the user to specify (e.g., through style sheets) that images used in links must have borders.
The following checkpoints refer to links to long descriptions of content. See also guideline 5.2.
Allow the user to navigate among elements with associated long descriptions. See also checkpoint 6.2.1.
Allow the user to search linked long description text (i.e., in another document). In case of a match, the focus should be moved to the link in the current document.
Guideline 5.4 Ensure that tables are accessible
Tables were designed to structure relationships among data. In visual media, tables are often rendered on a two-dimensional grid, but this is just one possible interpretation of the data. On the Web, the HTML TABLE element has been used more often than not to achieve a formatting effect ("layout tables") rather than as a way to structure true tabular data ("data tables")
Layout tables cause problems for some screen readers and when rendered, confuse users. Even data tables can be difficult to understand for users that browse in essentially one dimension, i.e. for whom tables are rendered serially. Large tables pose particular problems since remembering cell position and header information becomes more difficult as the table grows.
User agents facilitate browsing by providing access to specific table cells and their associated header information. How headers are associated with table cells is markup language-dependent.
Tabular navigation is required by people with visual impairments and some types of learning disabilities to determine the content of a particular cell and spatial relationships between cells (which may convey information). If table navigation is not available users with some types of visual impairments and learning disabilities may not be able to understand the purpose of a table or table cell.
Provide access to the contents of a specific table cell.
Provide access to header information for a specific table cell.
Allow the user to navigate among tables in a document. See also checkpoint 6.2.1.
Allow the user to navigate among table cells of a table (notably left and right within a row and up and down within a column).
Allow the user to search for a table cell based on its contents or header information.
Allow the user to select a table cell and find out its row/column coordinates in the table.
Allow the user to find out the dimensions of a table.
Allow the user to find out the number of tables in a document.
Guideline 5.5 Ensure that forms are accessible
For all form control navigation or searching, the focus is moved to the target form control. See also guideline 4.3.
Allow the user to navigate among form controls within a form. See also checkpoint 6.2.1.
Allow the user to navigate among forms in a document. See also checkpoint 6.2.1.
Allow the user to search for a form control based on its text content.
Allow the user to search for a form control based on its attribute values.
Provide the user with access to any label explicitly associated with a form control.
Provide the user with information about the number of forms in a document.
Provide the user with information about the number of controls in a form.
Allow the user to request to be prompted before a form is submitted.
Orientation - the sense of where one is within a document or series of documents - is fundamental to a successful Web experience. Visual clues that help orientation often abound:
proportional scroll bars indicate how much of the document has been read
frames suggested relationships among documents
graphical site maps describe page organization
Not all users can use visual orientation clues, however, so user agents must complement them with other mechanisms, including:
Contextual information about the document or views (e.g., how many views, how whether the document has finished loading, how much of the document has been read).
Summary information about specific elements (e.g., the dimensions of a table).
Context information about elements in the document (e.g., a cell's position in a table, the number of links in a document).
Navigation sequentially among parts of the document (e.g., headers).
Searching for information in the document.
Alerts when events occur during browsing (e.g., a window opens, a script is executed, etc.).
See also guidelines 5.3, 5.4, and 5.5.
Guideline 6.1 Provide information about the document view
Users that are viewing documents through linear channels of perception like speech (since speech is temporal in nature) and tactile displays (current tactile technology is limited in the amount of information that can be displayed) have difficulty maintaining a sense of their relative position in a document. The meaning of "relative position" depends on the situation. It may mean the distance from the beginning of the document to the point of regard (how much of the document has been read), it may mean the cell currently being examined in a table, or the position of the current document in a set of documents.
For people with visual impairments, blindness, or certain types of learning disabilities, it is important that the point of regard remain as stable as possible. The user agent should not disturb the user's point of regard by shifting focus to a different frame or window when an event occurs without notifying the user of the change.
Provide a mechanism for highlighting and identifying (through a standard interface where available) the current view.
Provide a mechanism for highlighting and identifying (through a standard interface where available) the user selection.
Provide a mechanism for highlighting and identifying (through a standard interface where available) the current focus.
Ensure that when the selection changes, it is in the viewport after the change.
Ensure that when the focus changes, it is in the viewport after the change.
Allow the user to navigate views (notably those with frame viewports). Navigating into a view makes it the current view.
Keep track of the user's point of regard in each view and restore it when the user returns to the view.
Provide the user with information about the number of viewports.
When a document is loaded or when requested by the user, make available document summary information.
Provide the user with information about how much of the document has been viewed (i.e., where the point of regard is with respect to the beginning of the document).
Provide the user with information about document loading status (e.g., whether loading has stalled, whether enough of the page has loaded to begin navigating, whether following a link involves a fee, etc.)
Guideline 6.2 Provide information about document structure
Hierarchical navigation (through the document tree) is useful for efficiently navigating the major topics and sub-topics of a document.
Allow the user to navigate sequentially among all active elements in the document. See also checkpoints 5.3.1, 5.3.8, 5.4.3, 5.5.1, and 5.5.2.
Allow the user to view a document outline constructed from its structural elements (e.g., from header and list elements).
Allow the user to navigate the document tree.
Allow the user to navigate sequentially among headers.
Allow the user to navigate sequentially among block elements (e.g., paragraphs, lists and list items, etc.)
Allow the user to search for content. In case of a match, move the selection to the content.
Guideline 6.3 Provide information about events
It is important to alert users, in an output device-independent fashion, when important events occur during a browsing session. To avoid confusion that the effects of scripts may cause, users should be notified when scripts are executed (or be able to disable scripts entirely). This is also important for security reasons; users should be able to decide whether to allow scripts to execute on their machines.
Allow the user to navigate among elements with associated event handlers.
Alert the user when scripts or applets are executed.
Provide information about document changes resulting from the execution of a script.
Many types of software: assistive technologies, scripting tools, automated test engines, etc., benefit from having access to user agent information.
Guideline 7.1 Support language accessibility features
A user agent that supports a language should implement the accessibility features for the language. The techniques document lists the accessibility features of the following languages, defined by W3C specifications:
Support accessibility features defined by W3C Recommendations for HTML.
Support accessibility features defined by W3C Recommendations for CSS.
Support accessibility features defined by W3C Recommendations for SMIL.
Guideline 7.2 Use and provide accessible interfaces to other technologies
When a user agent communicates with other software (dependent user agents, the operating system, plug-ins), must do so through applicable interfaces. To promote interoperability, open standards should be used wherever possible.
Some operating systems have operating system-level flags and settings that are pertinent to accessibility, such as high-contrast colors and "show" sounds for people with hearing impairments. User agents should take these global settings into account for their own settings.
For desktop graphical browsers. Export programmatic interfaces to ATs and follow operating system conventions to do so (e.g., Microsoft Active Accessibility, Sun Microsystems Java Accessibility).
For desktop graphical browsers. Ensure that exported interfaces conform to those specified by a W3C DOM Recommendation.
Use standard interfaces defined for the operating system.
Follow operating system conventions and accessibility settings in user interface design, configuration (including configuration profiles), product installation, and documentation.
Many thanks to the following people who have contributed through review and comment: Paul Adelson, James Allan, Denis Anson, Kitch Barnicle, Harvey Bingham, Olivier Borius, Judy Brewer, Bryan Campbell, Kevin Carey, Wendy Chisholm, David Clark, Chetz Colwell, Wilson Craig, Nir Dagan, Daniel Dardailler, B. K. Delong, Neal Ewers, Geoff Freed, John Gardner, Al Gilman, Larry Goldberg, John Grotting, Markku Hakkinen, Earle Harrison, Chris Hasser, Kathy Hewitt, Philipp Hoschka, Masayasu Ishikawa, Phill Jenkins, Leonard Kasday, George Kerscher, Marja-Riitta Koivunen, Josh Krieger, Catherine Laws, Greg Lowney, Scott Luebking, William Loughborough, Napoleon Maou, Charles McCathieNevile, Masafumi Nakane, Mark Novak, Charles Oppermann, Mike Paciello, David Pawson, Michael Pederson, Helen Petrie, David Poehlman, Michael Pieper, Jan Richards, Hans Riesebos, Joe Roeder, Lakespur L. Roca, Greg Rosmaita, Lloyd Rutledge, Liam Quinn, T.V. Raman, Robert Savellis, Rich Schwerdtfeger, Constantine Stephanidis, Jim Thatcher, Jutta Treviranus, Claus Thogersen, Steve Tyler, Gregg Vanderheiden, Jaap van Lelieveld, Jon S. von Tetzchner, Willie Walker, Ben Weiss, Evan Wies, Chris Wilson, Henk Wittingen, and Tom Wlodkowski,
[CSS1]
"CSS, level 1 Recommendation", B. Bos, H. Wium Lie, eds. The CSS1 Recommendation is:
http://www.w3.org/TR/1999/REC-CSS1-19990111.
"CSS, level 2 Recommendation", B. Bos, H. Wium Lie, C. Lilley, and I. Jacobs, eds. The CSS2 Recommendation is:
[DOM1]
"Document Object Model (DOM) Level 1 Specification", V. Apparao, S. Byrne, M. Champion, S. Isaacs, I. Jacobs, A. Le Hors, G. Nicol, J. Robie, R. Sutor, C. Wilson, and L. Wood, eds. The DOM Level 1 Recommendation is:
http://www.w3.org/TR/1998/REC-DOM-Level-1-19981001.
[HTML40]
"HTML 4.0 Recommendation", D. Raggett, A. Le Hors, and I. Jacobs, eds. The HTML 4.0 Recommendation is:
http://www.w3.org/TR/1998/REC-html40-19980424.
"HTML 3.2 Recommendation", D. Raggett, ed. The HTML 3.2 Recommendation is:
http://www.w3.org/TR/REC-html32.
[MATHML]
"Mathematical Markup Language", P. Ion and R. Miner, eds. The MathML 1.0 Recommendation is:
http://www.w3.org/TR/1998/REC-MathML-19980407.
[RFC2119]
"Key words for use in RFCs to Indicate Requirement Levels", S. Bradner, March 1997. Available at http://www.ietf.org/rfc/rfc2119.txt
[SMIL]
"Synchronized Multimedia Integration Language (SMIL) 1.0 Specification", P. Hoschka, editor. The SMIL 1.0 Recommendation is:
http://www.w3.org/TR/1998/REC-smil-19980615
[WAI-AUTOOLS]
"Authoring Tool Accessibility Guidelines", J. Treviranus, J. Richards, I. Jacobs, C. McCathieNevile, eds. The latest Working Draft of these guidelines for designing accessible authoring tools is available at:
http://www.w3.org/TR/WD-WAI-AUTOOLS/
[WAI-PAGEAUTH]
"Web Content Accessibility Guidelines", W. Chisholm, G. Vanderheiden, and I. Jacobs, eds. The latest Working Draft of these guidelines for designing accessible Web pages and sites is available at:
http://www.w3.org/TR/WD-WAI-PAGEAUTH.
[XML]
"Extensible Markup Language (XML) 1.0.", T. Bray, J. Paoli, C.M. Sperberg-McQueen, eds. The XML 1.0 Recommendation is:
http://www.w3.org/TR/1998/REC-xml-19980210


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Cleveland Cavaliers acquire future second-round pick, Rayjon Tucker from Utah Jazz
Rayjon Tucker appeared in 20 games for the Utah Jazz as a rookie last season.Getty Images
By Chris Fedor, cleveland.com
CLEVELAND, Ohio -- The Cleveland Cavaliers continue to stockpile draft picks.
On Friday afternoon, the Cavs made a deal with the Utah Jazz, acquiring a 2027 second-rounder along with shooting guard Rayjon Tucker in exchange for cash considerations. This marks the third second-round draft pick the Cavaliers have acquired this offseason, getting one each from the Milwaukee Bucks, Los Angeles Lakers and now Utah.
Tucker, 23, signed a two-year minimum contract with the Jazz in late December. The former G League standout appeared in 20 games as a rookie, totaling 62 points, 20 rebounds, five assists, one steal and one block in 161 minutes. He spent most of the season in the G League, bouncing between the Wisconsin Herd and the Salt Lake City Stars, averaging 23.3 points, 4.8 rebounds and 2.5 assists in 33.4 minutes.
Even though Tucker has the developmental upside the Cavs want when it comes to rounding out their roster and they were impressed with him during last year's G League Showcase, Tucker is likely to be waived before Nov. 29, when his contract becomes fully guaranteed. The two sides, however, could work on amending the guarantee date over the next few days, which would allow Tucker to compete for one of the Cavs' final roster spots in training camp.
Friday's deal temporarily puts the Cavs at the maximum of 15 players.
More Cavaliers coverage
Cavaliers to open preseason at home on Dec. 12
Tristan Thompson leaving Cavs; Love staying? Nance developing? – Hey Terry!
Matthew Dellavedova to rejoin Cavaliers on one-year deal
An ode to Tristan Thompson, a welcome to JaVale McGee: Podcast
Cavaliers agree to two-year deal with shooting guard Damyean Dotson

redpajama_set_name: RedPajamaCommonCrawl


Concerts at St. James's has several exciting performances in 2019 by various artists as well as the St. James's Choir. Click the link below for information on our spring 2019 lineup.
Join the Mailing List: To receive news about upcoming events from Concerts at St. James's, please join our mailing list.
After many months of anticipation, the extensive re-building and enlargement of the three-manual Austin Organ at St James's is complete! Please join us for a very special recital to re-dedicate this marvelous instrument. Vaughn Mauren, Organist and Choirmaster at St James's, has chosen a program of "Grand Organ Music of Great Britain," with selections by Elgar, Stanford, Howells, Bairstow, Whitlock, and Walton. Organ specs here: http://stjameswh.org/assets/files/Organ-Specs-for-Website.pdf. No tickets are required for this special event.
Support the Series with your Program Ad! Concerts at St James's invites local businesses and organizations to advertise in our concert programs. For more information and to reserve your advertising space, please download the PDF Advertiser Guide below.


30% discount with the code "EASTER"
Paint eggs! Decorate lovely bunches of birch twigs! And let the creativity flow up on the walls.
Use easter for a small interior decoration project in the kids' room. Figure out a way to make the room even more personal and choose a project that is small enough, but can create a big change.
If "new walls" is your project, enter the discount code "EASTER" when checking out to get 30% discount on all our posters.
Walladore sells posters online for children and design-interested adults. With us, you will find high quality posters, wall art or prints at reasonable prices. Our focus is on children's posters, art for kids and motives for decorating children's rooms, but it is really just your creativity that limits where they fit.
We aim to inspire anyone who enjoys interior design to create beautiful, lively spaces that capture both current trends and personal expressions. Whether you prefer illustrations or photo posters, fairy tales, quotes or timeless Scandinavian design, clever monsters or animal motives, we want to contribute to the overall feel of the room. We think it should be easy and cheap to experiment and vary the interior; all our posters fit in standard frames and are printed on thick, high-quality paper in order to stay without frame.
The motives for our posters are created by artists in our international design network and by our own design team. We add new material continuously; based on customer preferences, current trends and where the artists' creativity brings us. We like what is beautiful, well thought-out and of high quality - hope we can inspire many beautiful compositions, walls and rooms. If you have questions or, like us, enjoy sharing interior decoration ideas, please feel free to contact us via email, or anyone interested in design on Instagram.


The all-new Nissan Skyline Crossover makes its foray into the crossover segment with a unique and distinctive design that arrives from a fusion of a coupe with an SUV. The luxury crossover utilizes smooth, soft-to-the-touch and high-quality materials to provide an elegant and personalized interior space. Powered by a VQ37VHR engine with VVEL technology, the powertrain delivers high response and high torque for an exhilirating driving experience.
The powertain also offers cleaner emissions and good fuel-efficiency. Powerful, seamless and continuous acceleration is realized by mating the powertrain to a 7-speed automatic transmission with a manual shift mode. Stable handling and supple ride comfort are optimally balanced for a pleasurable drive. The all-new Nissan Skyline Crossover will be showcased at Nissan Galleries nationwide starting April 18, 2009.
JVC VN-V685U - World's first fully functional Power over Ethernet PTZ dome camera.


Rasa does a lot of RAW memes; this is one I particularly liked. (Follow him on Facebook for more).
About this one, Rasa says, "Don't think that Bob did not believe in anything. He believed in degrees of certainty. He had a very high degree of certainty that if he left his office, he could walk to his kitchen and make a cup of coffee. He had an extremely low degree of certainty that 'God has a willy'."


CoilyQueens™ : Look at her hair growth!
Diane signed up for the "Double your Hair Growth Challenge".
After doing the challenge steps for 30 days, her front grew to 7.25 inches!
YES she gained one inch in 30 days!
The challenge lasts for 9 weeks.
Your hair can be 1 inch longer in 30 days!


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Lulu Harwell, Ernie Harwell's widow, dies at 99. This is their love story
Lulu Harwell, the beloved widow of the late and legendary Detroit Tigers broadcaster Ernie Harwell, died on Friday in Novi.
Lulu Harwell, Ernie Harwell's widow, dies at 99. This is their love story Lulu Harwell, the beloved widow of the late and legendary Detroit Tigers broadcaster Ernie Harwell, died on Friday in Novi. Check out this story on Freep.com: https://www.freep.com/story/sports/mlb/tigers/2019/03/02/lulu-harwell-dies-ernie-harwell/3041514002/
Chris Thomas, Detroit Free Press Published 4:36 p.m. ET March 2, 2019 | Updated 5:41 p.m. ET March 2, 2019
Ernie Harwell and Lulu Harwell, through the years
Ernie and Lulu Harwell in the 1940s. Ernie Harwell Collection
Lulu and Ernie met at a dance in 1940 and were married the next year. Ernie Harwell Sports Collection, Detroit Public Library
Lulu Harwell with twin daughters, Julie, left, and Carolyn. The twins were born in 1958 when Ernie was a broadcaster for the Baltimore Orioles. Ernie Harwell Sports Collection, Detroit Public Library
Ernie and Lulu pose for a photo with their oldest children, Gray and Bill. Gray bought Ernie his first beret while the family was staying in Spain during the winter before the 1965 baseball season. Courtesy of the Ernie Harwell Sp
Ernie Harwell at his first sports announcing job at WSB in Atlanta in 1940. Courtesy of the Ernie Harwell Sports Collection/Detroit Public Library
Tigers second baseman Frank Bolling, left, talks to William Harwell, second from left, Gray Harwell, Lulu Harwell and Ernie Harwell. Bolling spent six seasons with the Tigers. Ernie Harwell Sports Collection, Detroit Public Library
Ernie Harwell goes "bananas" at a good play by the Detroit Tigers. Paul Carey (in background) gets a kick out of the play too. Scott Ecker/Detroit Free Press
Ernie Harwell and Lulu Harwell are photographed by during spring training on March 6, 1991. Julian H. Gonzalez, Detroit Free Press
Ernie and Lulu Harwell made an appearance at the Fox Theater in 1993. Here, they're shaking hands with longtime doorman Walter Ware. Ernie Harwell Sports Collection, Detroit Public Library
Sparky Anderson, manager of the Detroit Tigers, and Ernie Harwell, the radio voice of the Tigers, on the pitcher's mound at Joker Marchant Stadium in Lakeland, Fla., during spring training. Mary Schroeder, Detroit Free Press
Paul Carey with Ernie Harwell, at Tiger stadium in 1990. Detroit Free Press
Ernie Harwell practices his putting at Grasslands Golf and Country Club, where he and his wife are staying for the winter on Jan. 22, 1998 in Lakeland, Fla. Scott Wheeler, The Ledger
Detroit Tigers Hall of Fame broadcaster Ernie Harwell with his wife Lulu Harwell, Feb. 24, 2002. Eric Seals, Detroit Free Press
Detroit Tigers Hall of Fame broadcaster Ernie Harwell with his wife, Lulu Harwell, Feb. 24, 2002. Eric Seals, Detroit Free Press
Hall of Fame Detroit Tigers announcer Ernie Harwell shares a laugh with his wife Lulu, after announcing Feb. 25, 2002, in Lakeland, Fla., that he will leave the broadcast booth after the season. Duane Burleson, AP
Lulu Harwell, with husband Ernie Harwell, waves to baseball fans during a ceremony for Harwell at Comerica Park in Detroit to celebrate Ernie Harwell Day, Sept. 15, 2002. Kirthmon F. Dozier, Detroit Free Press
Detroit Tigers announcer Ernie Harwell in the broadcast booth Sept. 16, 2002, after leaving the game earlier to check on his wife, Lulu, who became ill during the Tigers celebration in his honor the day before. Kirthmon F. Dozier, Detroit Free Press
Ernie and LuLu Harwell walk near their Farmington home back in 2003. Ernie led a state-wide effort by Blue Cross/Blue Shield to get Michiganders walking. Hugh Grannum, Detroit Free Press
Ernie Harwell with wife Lulu at a book signing. Kirthmon F. Dozier, Detroit Free Press
Ernie Harwell sits with Lulu in their home after he was honored by the Detroit Lions on Sept. 20, 2009. MANDI WRIGHT, Detroit Free Press
Marian Ilitch stands with Ernie Harwell and her husband Mike Ilitch during a reception for the new "Lulu and Ernie Harwell Collection" room at the Detroit Public Library in Detroit in 2004. William Archies, Detroit Free Press
Ernie Harwell, long time Detroit Tiger broadcaster, thanks fans and is honored during the game against the Royals, Sept. 16, 2009 at Comerica Park. Mandi Wright, Detroit Free Press
Lulu Harwell with a baseball that was given to her during Ernie Harwell day at Fox Run retirement community in Novi, Mich. on April 8, 2010. Brian Kaufman, Detroit Free Press
Left to right: Detroit Free Press columnist Mitch Albom, Lulu Harwell, 92, Bill Harwell, 67, and "Ernie" castmember TJ Corbett at the City Theatre on Aug. 18, 2011, as the inaugural season of Albom's play "Ernie" is set to close. B.J. Hammerstein, Detroit Free Press
Lines wrap around the stadium past a statue of Detroit Tigers Announcer Ernie Harwell seen during the Detroit Tigers' TigerFest at Comerica Park in Detroit on Saturday, Jan. 23, 2016. Kimberly P. Mitchell/DFP
The Harwell Field at Wayne State University in Detroit honors the late Ernie Harwell, Tuesday, April 18, 2017. Kathleen Galligan, Detroit Free Press
Lulu Harwell, the beloved widow of legendary Detroit Tigers play-by-play voice Ernie Harwell, died on Friday at the Fox Run Village senior development in Novi. She was 99.
Lulu Harwell's death was confirmed to the Free Press by Gary Spicer, a lawyer and longtime friend of the family.
Mrs. Harwell's death comes nearly nine years after Ernie's death in 2010, when Ernie died at 92 eight months to the day after learning he had cancer of the bile duct.
Born Lula Tankersley and named after her mother's sister, she grew up in Kentucky when the songs "Don't Bring Lulu" and "Lulu's Back in Town" were popular. "People in my school started calling me Lulu," she once said, "and it just stuck."
Affectionately known as "Miss Lulu" — out of Southern habit — Mrs. Harwell was the matriarch of the Tigers broadcast family for decades.
Detroit Tigers Hall of Fame broadcaster Ernie Harwell with his wife Lulu Harwell, Feb. 24, 2002. (Photo: Eric Seals, Detroit Free Press)
[ Mitch Albom: Ernie Harwell still inspires man who plays him ]
She met Ernie while he was attending Emory University in Atlanta and she was at Brenau College, which at the time was an all-female school in Gainesville, Ga.
"Emory, though, has changed since to include both sexes, and I'm glad it wasn't that way then," Lulu said in 1991. "I had a better chance. I had met one of Ernie's fraternity brothers and we went to a dance, where this fraternity brother introduced me to Ernie.
"And when our school had a dance a few weeks later, I invited Ernie instead of the other guy. After that, we just mostly corresponded, and when we were in school we saw each other quite a bit on weekends. Ernie waited for me to graduate the next year, and we got married the next summer."
Over the next seven decades, they stitched a family together through love and baseball.
Mrs. Harwell tended to their four children — and often her garden — while Ernie traveled the road. He started broadcasting with the Atlanta Crackers (1943; 1946-48), then the Brooklyn Dodgers (1948-49), N.Y. Giants (1950-53), Baltimore Orioles (1954-59) and, eventually, the Tigers (1960-91; 1993-2002).
"I know some announcers' wives have a difficult time with this life," Lulu Harwell said in 1993, sitting in a chair in the Harwells' tidy Farmington Hills home.
"But I knew Ernie would be doing this from the day I married him. We used to walk in the parks in Atlanta — we didn't own a car then — and he would say, 'What do you want to hear? Baseball? Tennis? Golf?' And I would pick and he would start announcing, right there, a make-believe game."
Ernie spent 55 years broadcasting major league baseball, retiring in 2002 at 84. During 42 seasons with the Tigers, fans learned his signature calls by heart, including his calls to "Miss Lulu."
[ Audio: Ernie Harwell recites 'Voices of the Turtle' ]
While not a great fan of the game, Mrs. Harwell was a devoted follower of her husband's work: "I listen to Ernie every time I can get to a radio," she once said.
The Harwells began living at Fox Run in Novi in September 2003. They often went on long walks, and during spring baseball season and in Michigan summers, they walked at dusk to avoid the heat.
Mrs. Harwell was a great cook, according to Ernie, who was a fan of her cornmeal and almond-crusted tilapia. Her fried apples, burned in sugar and olive oil, were his weakness.
"She's the best thing that ever happened to me," Ernie once said.
Mitch Albom and Free Press archives contributed to this report.
Chris Thomas is the sports editor at the Detroit Free Press. Contact him at cdthomas@freepress.com or follow him on Twitter @bychristhomas.
Tigers rocked by Cleveland, 8-6, after rain delay


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Categories: Ancient Egypt | Archaeology | Death customs
A mummy is a preserved corpse that, due to shielding from decomposition by either natural or artificial means, has retained its physical form. This can be achieved by exposing the body to extreme draught or cold, lack of oxygen, or use of chemicals.
The best-known mummies are those that have been embalmed with the specific purpose of preservation, particularly those in ancient Egypt. Egyptians believed the body was home to a person's Ka which was essential in one's afterlife.
In China, preserved corpses have been recovered from submerged cypress coffins packed with medicinal herbs.
Mummies formed as a result of naturally occurring environmental conditions, such as extreme cold (Ötzi the Iceman), acid (Tollund Man) or desiccating dryness have been found all over the world. Some of the best-preserved mummies formed under natural conditions date from the Inca period in Peru.
2 Mummies in Ancient Egypt
3 Egyptian mummification process
3.1 Egyptian burial rituals
4 Mummies in other civilizations
4.1 Chinese Mummy
5 Mummies in modern times
6 Famous mummies
6.1 From Egypt
8.1 Books
The word "mummy" is thought to be derived from the Arabic word mumiyah, which means bitumen. Because of the blackened skin of unwrapped mummies, bitumen was once thought to be used extensively in ancient Egyptian embalming procedures. Another possible source for the name is the Egyptian Coptic word mum, for wax of which the use in Egyptian embalming was in fact documented.
Mummies in Ancient Egypt
Mummified cat from Ancient Egypt. Musée du Louvre, Paris
In Egypt, the dead were originally not mummified with the extensive process that happened during the first dynasty. The dead were originally buried in reed caskets in the sand. The searing hot sand caused the remains to dry quickly, preventing decomposition. After a while, though, they started constructing wooden tombs, and the extensive process of mummification was made so that the bodies would not decompose in the afterlife. The mummified individual was placed at his/her final resting place through a set of rituals and protocol.
The earliest 'mummified' individual dates back to approximately 3300 BC, although it is not a 'true' mummy. The body is on display in the British Museum and has been given the nickname of 'Ginger' because he has red hair. Ginger was buried in the hot desert sand with maybe some stones piled on top to prevent the corpse being eaten by jackals. The hot, dry conditions desiccated the body, preventing the muscle and soft tissues from decaying. Ginger was buried with some pottery vessels, which would have held food and drink to sustain him on his long journey to the other world. There are no written records of the religion or gods from that time, and it is not known if it was the intention of the ancient Egyptians that the deceased were being preserved.
However, from the First dynasty onwards, the ancient Egyptians were trying preserve the bodies of the death, so their spirit had a body to guide them to the afterlife.
The Egyptians also expanded the practice of mummification to animals. Sacred animals central to cults, such as ibis, hawks, and cats, were mummified by the thousands.
Egyptian mummification process
Embalmers were given the task to preserve the deceased. Not only did they have to have knowledge of human anatomy, they also had to perform rituals at several stages during the process.
A typical mummification took 70 days in which craftsmen raced to finish the tomb.
The first step in a mummification was the removal of all internal organs which were prone to rapid decay. The brain was removed by breaking the bone at the end of the nose with a chisel and inserting a special hook up the nostrils and into the skull.
Embalmers also removed the stomach, liver, lungs and intestines through a small incision on the left side of the abdomen. Only the heart was left in place. The organs which were removed from the abdomen were stored in so called canopic jars, modelled after the four sons of Horus who would protect the organs, and placed in the tomb during the burial ritual. In later dynasties, these organs were treated and wrapped and returned to the body, but unused canopic jars continued to be placed into tombs. The incision was covered with a metal plate bearing the Eye of Horus (wedjat) which symbolically healed it.
Next, all moisture would be removed from the body, by covering it in natron, a type of salt found on the banks Lake Wadi Natrun . The result was a dried-out, but recognizable body.
Finally, the body was wrapped in large amounts of linen, some of which contained spells to help the deceased in their passage to the afterlife. After several stages of wrapping, the body would also be coated in warm resin, before wrapping was continued.
To further protect the deceased, magical amulets were placed on specific parts of the body between the layers of wrappings. These included:
Djed pillar
Egyptian burial rituals
Finally, the mummy would be interred in varying ways that were dictated by the social status of the deceased. Relatively low-status individuals would simply be mummified and laid in a simple tomb or on a ledge in a larger tomb. Higher-status individuals would be interred in an elaborately decorated case, though perhaps not a stone sarcophagus. The highest-status individuals, such as pharoahs, would be interred in a set of nesting mummy cases and sarcophagi, which were often extremely elaborate.
Mummies in other civilizations
A number of other civilizations are known to have practised the art of mummification.
Incas, whose practices were also adopted by Chachapoyas (which were conquered by the Incas).
Tibetans, who reserved this honor for people who reached a highest level of enlightenment.
Chinese Mummy
An ancient mummy dubbed the "handsome Yingpan man" was found in China's remote northwest province of Xinjiang. Archaeologists from the Xinjiang Archeological Institute found the mummified body when they opened a coffin in a graveyard dating back 1,900 years, according to Xinhua news agency. The mummy had thick brown hair, a shrunken face and body, and gray and brown skin. Its beard, eyebrows and eyelashes were clearly discernible and its clothes were intact and retained their bright color.
The mummified man, believed to have lived during the Eastern Han Dynasty (25-220 AD), was 1.8 meters (nearly six feet) tall and might have died at about 25 years of age. His coffin which had colorful paintings on the outside was discovered together with over 150 ancient tombs dating back to the Eastern Han Dynasty at Yingpan near Lop Nur in the Xinjiang Uighur Autonomous Region. This coffin along with five others had been shipped to Urumqi, the regional capital, and were kept in the institute, unopened, for three years. The mummy is believed to be significant for the study of economic and cultural exchanges between China and Western countries in ancient times.
The "handsome Yingpan man" is thought to be comparable to the "beautiful Loulan woman," a 3,800-year-old female mummy discovered in 1980 at the Tiebanhe Delta , about 200 kilometers east of Yingpan, said the report. Loulan was an ancient kingdom along China's Silk Road in Xinjiang.
Mummies in modern times
Mummies have been an object of intense interest in the West since archaeologists began finding them in large numbers. 19th century aristocrats would often entertain themselves by buying mummies, having them unwrapped, and holding observation sessions. These sessions destroyed several mummies, because the exposure to the air caused them to desintegrate.
Mummies were also believed to have medicinal properties, and were sold as pharmaceuticals in powdered form. However, they were not used as fuel for steam locomotives, and the idea that they were came from a joke by Mark Twain. However, during the First World War, mummy wrapping linens were manufactured into paper.
During the 20th century, horror films and other mass media popularized the notion of a curse associated with mummies. Most famous among these are the 1932 film "The Mummy" starring Boris Karloff and a 1999 film by the same name. This more or less facetious belief probably stems in part from the supposed curse on the tomb of Tutankhamun.
Science has also taken notice of mummies. Dr. Bob Brier, an Egyptologist, has been the first modern scientist to successfully recreate a mummy using the Egyptian method. Mummies have been used in medicine, to calibrate CAT scan machines at levels of radiation that would be too dangerous for use on living people. In fact, mummies can be studied without unwrapping them using CAT scan and X-ray machines to form a picture of what's inside.
They have been very useful to biologists and anthropologists, as they have provided a wealth of information about the health and life expectancy of ancient peoples. In particular, mummies have demonstrated that even 5,000 years ago, humans were anatomically indistinguishable from their present-day counterparts. This has had important repercussions for the study of human evolution.
Egyptian mummies were much sought-after by museums worldwide in the 19th and early 20th centuries and many exhibit mummies today. Notably fine examples are exhibited at the Egyptian Museum in Cairo, at the Ägyptisches Museum in Berlin, and at the British Museum in London. The Egyptian city of Luxor is also home to a specialised Mummification Museum.
Famous mummies
Mummy of Pharaoh Ramesses II
From Egypt
Ramses I
Nesperennub
Amenophis III
Thutmosis II
Ötzi the Iceman
Tollund Man
Christian Friedrich von Kalbutz
Bog body
Barber, Elizabeth Wayland. 1999. The Mummies of Ürümchi. 1999. London. Pan Books. Also: W. W. Norton & Company. ISBN 0393045218.
Davis-Kimball, Jeannine, with Behan, Mona. 2002. Warrior Women: An Archaeologist's Search for History's Hidden Heroines. Warner Books, New York. First Trade Printing, 2003. ISBN 0446679836.
Mallory, J. P. and Mair, Victor H. 2000. The Tarim Mummies: Ancient China and the Mystery of the Earliest Peoples from the West. Thames & Hudson. London. 2000. ISBN 0500051011.
Pringle, Heather. 2001. Mummy Congress: Science, Obssession, and the Everlasting Dead. Penguin Books. ISBN 0-14-028669-1.
Taylor, John H. 2004. Mummy: the inside story. The British Museum Press. ISBN 0-7141-1962-8.
Mummies at Answers.com.
Mummies at Howstuffworks.com.
The Straight Dope explains the myth that mummies were once used as fuel.
Mummies from the Smithsonian Institute.
Rameses: Wrath of God or Man? at Discovery Channel.
Cat Mummies
Last updated: 08-31-2005 23:13:30


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LG leads the OEMs for Nexus phones now
So, today we heard about the brand new Nexus devices today. Wow. Currently I'm in an airport waiting for a flight, so I haven't really had a chance to go through it all (but I will soon).
And as much as we 'knew' about LG being one of the OEMs today, we still didn't officially 'know' until today.
What I thought was especially interesting was the fact that this now puts LG 'in the lead' for being a Nexus phone OEM with their 3rd (first the Nexus 4, then the Nexus 5).
If you count all Nexus devices it would be a 3 way tie with Samsung (Nexus S, Galaxy Nexus and Nexus 10) and Asus (Nexus 7 2012 & 2013 and Player). But strictly on phones, it's LG in the lead!
So let's just have a quick look at their announcement of the Nexus 5X (which, as we know, isn't quite available in Canada yet).
SEOUL, Sep. 30, 2015 — LG Electronics (LG) and Google today officially unveiled their third collaborative effort. Nexus 5X features Android 6.0 Marshmallow, Google's newest operating system for mobile devices and delivers impressive performance, great imaging and enhanced security. It also delivers the best of Google and LG know-how in a single package.
Powerful And Fast PerformanceNexus 5X features a sharp 5.2-inch 423ppi Full HD IPS display with advanced In-Cell Touch technology that enables faster recognition, better outdoor visibility and crisper images. Powered by a Qualcomm Snapdragon 808 Processor, Nexus 5X delivers smooth and effortless performance for any demanding task. And with its fast Type-C USB port, a 10-minute charge will provide enough power for almost four hours of battery life.
Great Imaging Under Any ConditionsNexus 5X sports a 12.3MP rear camera and a 5MP camera in the front. Both the 1.55µm sensor on the rear camera and 1.4µm above the display absorb more light than any previous Nexus device, delivering brighter photos with stunning details even in less than ideal lighting conditions. Nexus 5X is also capable of capturing 4K and slow-motion videos, making this phone the most advanced multimedia Nexus device to date.
Enhanced Security With Just A FingertipNexus 5X is more secure than ever and simpler to use with Nexus Imprint, a fingerprint sensor conveniently located on the back, where your finger naturally falls. A single touch of the sensor is all it takes to power on and unlock Nexus 5X for immediate use. For owners in the United States, Nexus Imprint will also work with Android Pay for quick and easy purchases at thousands of locations nationwide.
"We are excited to be able to work with Google again on developing Nexus 5X, our best Nexus yet," said Juno Cho, president and CEO of LG Electronics Mobile Communications. "This time, we wanted to deliver the best hardware for Google's most advanced software and we're very proud of what we've accomplished together."
"We are excited to partner with LG again to introduce a sequel to a fan-favorite — the new Nexus 5X — and Android 6.0 Marshmallow, our most polished and highest-performing OS yet," said Hiroshi Lockheimer, vice president for Android, Chromecast and Chrome OS at Google.
Nexus 5X will initially be available for pre-order on the Google Store (store.google.com) starting today in the United States, Canada, UK, Ireland, Korea and Japan with shipping to start late next month. Starting October 19, Nexus 5X will begin rolling out to additional markets with nearly 40 countries to offer the device via Google Store or local retail establishments in the fourth quarter. Prices and availability will be announced locally in the weeks to come.
Chipset: 1.8 GHz Qualcomm®Snapdragon™ 808
Operating System: Android 6.0 Marshmallow
Display: 5.2-inch Full HD IPS (1920 x 1080 / 423ppi)
Memory: 2GB LPDDR3 RAM / 16 or 32GB eMMC ROM
Camera: Rear) Up to 12.3MP with F2.0 Aperture / Front) 5MP with F2.0 Aperture
Battery: 2,700mAh (embedded)
Size: 147 x 72.6 x 7.9mm
Network: LTE-A Cat 6
Connectivity: Wi-Fi 802.11 a, b, g, n, ac / Bluetooth 4.2 / NFC / Type-C USB
Colors: Carbon / Quartz / Ice
Other: 4K Video / Dual Flash / IR Laser Auto-Focus / Fingerprint Sensor
LG nexus SmartPhone