RE: 48-Hour Consensus Call: InstateLongdesc CP Update

Joshue O Connor wrote:
> 
> I think we need to step back further John. We need to work out what it
> should be before we ask any vendor to implement a solution. They will
> certainly support some form of long descriptor if it is present in the
> spec. 

If that were only true Josh.  We've had a "solution" for this issue for over
a decade in the previous Specification, and have not seen any implementation
in browsers worth noting. Instead I sadly note that many engineers at the
various browser vendors want to instead obsolete a solution they've never
even tried to implement, and yet have not come forward with anything to
replace it.

It comes down to 2 paths forward as I see it: one is that we mandate
something that browsers will continue ignore, or we actively engage them in
crafting the solution, one that meets all of the user requirements.

I think it's fairly obvious which I hope will be chosen - the "which group
dictates to the other" approach is not working. (I will also note in passing
that active listening is a requirement on BOTH parts)


> 
> Right, with all due respect to the work that Steve and Rich are doing
> it
> could involve some rather heavy lifting that may be disproportionate to
> the reward (for both the end user and the vendor).
> 
> Then I think that they may think that @longdesc is fundamentally flawed
> and are taking a year zero approach (that the new ARIA spec offers).

If that is the case, then what else? Convoluted authoring practices that
involves multiple hoops? There needs to be an elegant solution to this
issue, not a series of "maybe this would work in this scenario" authoring
suggestions, which is what I've seen brought forward to date.

JF

Received on Monday, 17 September 2012 22:27:06 UTC