Discussion on defining "Item"

[rachaelbradley]

In the discussion of views , we've needed to define items and interactive items within a page. Terms such as controls and components have also been used.

Definitions currently in WCAG 3:

• Items - The smallest testable unit for testing scope. They could be interactive components such as a drop down menu, a link, or a media player. They could also be units of content such as a phrase, a paragraph, a label or error message, an icon, or an image.
• Interactive component - to be defined
• Content - to be defined

Definitions in WCAG 2.2:

• content (Web content) - information and sensory experience to be communicated to the user by means of a user agent, including code or markup that defines the content's structure, presentation, and interactions.

Key Questions:

• Should we continue with the current terminology in WCAG 3 and work on defining these terms or should we shift the terms to something else?
• If we keep "Items", "Interactive Components", and "Content" what should the definitions be?
• Are any terms missing that are needed for this conversation?

[bruce-usab]

WCAG 2 definition for user interface component is:

a part of the content that is perceived by users as a single control for a distinct function

[rachaelbradley]

Summary 1 April 2025 Meeting

We discussed terminology and the challenge of nested pieces (ex: a selection list and the list items). I believe the current state of the proposal is:

Unit (Or User Interface Unit) - The smallest testable piece of content for testing scope. For example a drop down menu item, a link, a media player, an image, a word, etc. Units can have parents or nested parents.

[bruce-usab]

From the call today (4/8), I think I understood that "unit" could be relative to the specific written requirement. It follows that "testing scope" as a concept or part of a glossary term might be narrow (in WCAG 2 vernacular, a component or maybe an SC) or wide (in WCAG 2 vernacular, that could be page, set of pages, or what is covered by a conformance claim). Iterating on the above, I offer:

Unit - The smallest testable piece of content for evaluating a provision.

This allows the term (unit) to have its plain meaning and avoids "UI Unit". The last two sentences above work just as well as-is (and can be formatted a note).

[mraccess77]

I don't know if we need to smallest unit - it's more about the unit needed to address/assess the requirement.

[bruce-usab]

So "unit" means "testable piece of content for evaluating a provision"?