[Bug 15304] Nested <META> tags in <HEAD>

https://www.w3.org/Bugs/Public/show_bug.cgi?id=15304

--- Comment #12 from Evan Sandhaus <evan@nytimes.com> 2011-12-22 23:08:57 UTC ---
Tab, excellent questions and I should have reiterated the concerns I raised
about these two approaches in my initial comment.

> (3) Use @itemref to manually establish the scope/prop linkage across sibling
<meta> elements in the <head>

My concern with this approach is that it will be confusing to potential
implementors.  I am lucky to work with a bunch of super smart engineers who
make me feel humble every day, but even they wrestle (albeit successfully) with
the nuances of itemref.  Moreover, a several of the Microdata parsers currently
available do not support / properly parse the @itemref attribute.  This further
complicates development.

> (4) Use <div>s without any content in the <body> to carry the Microdata.

My concern with this approach is twofold.  

First, the HTML 5 Spec defines the <HEAD> element as "a collection of metadata
for the Document" whereas <BODY> element is defined as "the main content of the
document."   Based on these definitions, a bit of descriptive metadata, such as
the person a document is about, seems far more appropriate for the <HEAD> than
the <BODY>.   

Secondly, I am concerned that placing non-visible content in the <BODY> may be
interpreted as "cloaking" by search providers.  Should this happen, publishers
might actually opt not to implement microdata for feat that it would harm their
search standings.  After all, the documentation at schema.org says the
following of this approach:  "This technique should be used sparingly. Only use
meta with content for information that cannot otherwise be marked up."
[http://schema.org/docs/gs.html]

...

I think microdata is one of the most exciting aspects of the entire HTML 5
effort and I have done my best to be a driving force for its adoption in the
news industry, however, the inability to (legally) nest complex metadata in the
<HEAD> really is an obstacle to adoption.

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Received on Thursday, 22 December 2011 23:09:04 UTC