Re: Call for consensus on longdesc change proposal

Hi Cynthia,

> We've talked about adding an aria attribute called aria-describedat that
> would take a URL, and work like longdesc.  There is no objection to this in
> the ARIA TF.  It also has the advantage of being available in other markup
> languages (like SVG).  Could people live with this instead?

No.

aria-describedat is addressed in the Change Proposal:
http://www.w3.org/html/wg/wiki/ChangeProposals/InstateLongdesc/AlternativesAreNotViableSolutions#aria-describedat

Related Solutions Do Not Negate the Need for longdesc
http://www.w3.org/html/wg/wiki/ChangeProposals/InstateLongdesc/RelatedSolutionsDontNegateNeed

> It seems like a
> path that allows us to spend our time on solutions rather than procedure.

We have the solution:
Include the longdesc attribute as an allowed attribute on images.
http://www.w3.org/html/wg/wiki/ChangeProposals/InstateLongdesc#Summary

"...task force participants and facilitators to act in good faith.
During discussion on a topic, participants should raise objections
liberally to make sure all angles are considered. However, when the
facilitators issue a call for objections, objections should only be
raised if the individual strongly believes the decision is the wrong
one in spite of discussion, and the individual cannot "live with" the
decision. Compromise on points that the individual considers
suboptimal but can "live with" is an essential part of group decisions
that must meet various requirements."
http://www.w3.org/WAI/PF/HTML/consensus-procedures.html
We have now discussed this proposal for three and a half months,
Cynthia. Raising objections at this stage AFTER the discussion and
AFTER I was asked to freeze the document seems counter productive to
consensus values. Even though it is true, I certainly would have
removed the bullet point regarding developers not learning  something
not native HTML like ARIA had you mentioned it earlier. It is very
disheartening you didn't.

Best Regards,
Laura
-- 
Laura L. Carlson

Received on Wednesday, 18 May 2011 00:52:42 UTC