Throughout - Repeated references to EARL (Karl Groves)

[darthcav]

Reference

http://lists.w3.org/Archives/Public/public-wai-ert-tools/2014Jul/0005

Original Comment

This document makes 6 references to EARL (Evaluation and Report Language), a reporting format that has been under development since 2001. This specification has seen no measurable demand within the marketplace and nearly zero implementations in major testing tools in industry.

Accessibility testing tools that have claimed to support this specification either did not actually do so, no longer do so, or no longer exist. A Google search for “Evaluation and Report Language” shows – in the first 10 pages of results - only one mention of EARL by a tool vendor: SiteValet, a product that by all indications is abandonware. Filling in the remainder of those 10 pages of results are mostly discussions of EARL by academics, W3C employees, and various members of WAI-related working groups. There are no results from product vendors. While EARL is admittedly a robust and comprehensive reporting format, it is wholly irrelevant. Its mention in this document serves no use for actual end users and consumers. The repeated references to EARL will only serve to confuse consumers into believing they should look for products that feature such reporting format when none actually exist.

[darthcav]

Resolution

Closed - This document does not prescribe the use of any of the features it contains. It only lists such features. Whether readers consider EARL to be irrelevant is outside the scope of the document. The working group considers that pointing to existing languages, such as EARL could be of benefit to the reader. Furthermore, the document mentions other alternatives to reporting results, such as CSV or JSON. We will review the mentions of EARL and consider changes where necessary. See also Issue #13 and #23 for more specific actions.