[Bug 9631] New: Change name of <figcaption> to <summary>

http://www.w3.org/Bugs/Public/show_bug.cgi?id=9631

           Summary: Change name of <figcaption> to <summary>
           Product: HTML WG
           Version: unspecified
          Platform: All
               URL: http://dev.w3.org/html5/spec/semantics.html#the-figcap
                    tion-element
        OS/Version: All
            Status: NEW
          Severity: normal
          Priority: P2
         Component: HTML5 spec bugs
        AssignedTo: dave.null@w3.org
        ReportedBy: xn--mlform-iua@xn--mlform-iua.no
         QAContact: public-html-bugzilla@w3.org
                CC: ian@hixie.ch, mike@w3.org, public-html@w3.org


<figcaption> is an odd element name. At the same time, <summary> doesn't seem
especially good as the name of the caption of the <details>. I do not see that
"summary"  better sums up the purpose of the caption of <details> than it would
sum up the purpose of the caption of <figure>. 

But, by "joning forces", then <summary> could become a good name both for the
caption of <figure> as well as the caption of <details>. In other words: change
the name of <figcaption> to <summary>. HTML5 anyway designates a wider role for
captions than HTML4 does. (Consider the content model of <caption> in HTML4 vs
the content model in HTML5.)  Thus, 'summary' seems like a good name for the
caption of <figure> - a caption can be a summary of the figure.

Changing the name to <summary> would also cut down on the amount of new
elements. A shared caption element would also make authors see that <details>
and <figure> share the same structure. Which in turn may help authors to
consider both elements and thus better make the right choice. Also, in case a
script were to turn a <details> into <figure> or vice-versa, then this would be
simpler if the have a shared caption element.

Documentation of how similar HTML5 define <summary> and <figcaption>:

       <summary>'s definition:   ]]  The summary element represents a summary,
caption, or legend for the rest of the contents of the summary element's parent
details element, if any. [[

       <figcaption>'s definition: ]]  The figcaption element represents a
caption or legend for the rest of the contents of the figcaption element's
parent figure element, if any.  [[

       <summary> in <details>'s definition:   ]]  The first summary element
child of the element, if any, represents the summary or legend of the details.
If there is no child summary element, the user agent should provide its own
legend (e.g. "Details").  [[

       <figcaption> in <figure>'s definition:  ]]     The first figcaption
element child of the element, if any, represents the caption of the figure
element's contents. If there is no child figcaption element, then there is no
caption.   [[

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Received on Saturday, 1 May 2010 10:37:05 UTC