Re: H:TML Feedback (Re: H:TML draft for FPWD consideration)

Manu Sporny <msporny@digitalbazaar.com>, 2010-02-01 16:30 -0500:

> Some more feedback on the H:TML document:
> 
> One of our devs was wondering how he could use these new elements
> without a clear recommended fallback plan for many of them that could
> potentially mess up the page layout. So, for example, how does one do
> proper fallback for PROGRESS, VIDEO or METER. It may take years for
> browsers that don't support these elements to stop being supported, and
> most developers will create fallback code for the older browsers.

Providing that kind of guidance is intentionally out of scope for
the H:TML doc. The author edition of the HTML5 spec itself does
provide some -

  http://dev.w3.org/html5/spec-author-view/

> Having to come up with workarounds would be fine, because that is what
> he is used to doing on a weekly basis with cross-browser issues, but it
> would be nice if the fallback plan for each element was explained
> clearly to web developers (and browser manufacturers).

I personally think that there are a number of places in the HTML5
spec where it attempts to provide more usage guidance than is
appropriate for a technical spec. I think that in general that
specs should essentially be specifications of conformance
requirements and not usage guides, and I think attempting to make
a spec be both specifications and usage guide is a design error.

So, anyway, I think that the guidance your dev was looking for is
something better handled in a separate document whose specific
purpose it to be a how-to/tutorial, not a technical specification.

> He also said that he has no idea how to use the RUBY element, or what a
> "ruby annotation" was, nor how to use it correctly by looking at the
> H:TML document.

That problem I think I can help a bit with by adding examples for
each element, which is something I still plan to to.

  --Mike

-- 
Michael(tm) Smith
http://people.w3.org/mike

Received on Sunday, 7 March 2010 12:15:54 UTC