ACT 1.1 Backward Compatibility with ACT 1.0

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As we make changes to the ACT Rules format I thought it would be helpful to track those changes and if/how they are backwards compatible. Below is a list of the changes we are planning on making to the rules format and how I would argue that they are backwards compatible:

Partial Accessibility Requirement Mappings

Backward compatibility depends on if the partial mappings are required or not. If they are required then past rules may need to be updated with partial mappings to become conformant. NOTE: We have typically disallowed rules that would use partial mappings from being published, they are put in the waiting state on the rules sheet.

Subjective Applicability

In ACT 1.1 we may allow the applicability to be subjective. This is clearly backwards compatible as the current objective requirement is a higher threshold.

Inclusion of State and State Transitions

In ACT 1.1 we may allow the inclusion of states and state transitions. This should not make any rules non-conformant, but does open the door for past rules to be re-written using state to make them more expressive and easier to understand.