HTML-ISSUE-192: title attribute definition does not match reality [HTML 5 spec]

HTML-ISSUE-192: title attribute definition does not match reality  [HTML 5 spec]

http://www.w3.org/html/wg/tracker/issues/192

Raised by: Steve Faulkner
On product: HTML 5 spec

the HTML5 spec current states:

"The title attribute represents advisory information for the element, such as
would be appropriate for a tooltip. On a link, this could be the title or a
description of the target resource; on an image, it could be the image credit
or a description of the image; on a paragraph, it could be a footnote or
commentary on the text; on a citation, it could be further information about
the source; and so forth. The value is text."

The title attribute is mapped to the accessible name in all accessibility APIs
in all browsers (that implement mapping), so in the absence of other labelling
mechanisms, all HTML form controls are labelled by the title attribute content
if present. This reality is not reflected in the usage advice quoted above.

There is a WCAG technique that documents how to use the title attribute to
label controls:
H65: Using the title attribute to identify form controls when the label element
cannot be used http://www.w3.org/TR/WCAG20-TECHS/H65 

Suggest updating the specification text to take into account the reality of how
title is implemented in browsers.

Received on Saturday, 10 December 2011 08:22:49 UTC