Re: example spec text for longdesc

Hi Ian,

>> Ian, I would really appreciate your advice on that spec text too. What
>> is technically wrong with it?
>
> Well, it reintroduces longdesc, a feature which is almost universally
> misused

The idea would be to improve longdesc to make it more useful.

> and will therefore do basically nothing but cause users pain,
> something which has been repeatedly explained. That's the main problem
> with it.

On February 28, 2011 WebAIM released the results of their latest
independent user survey which asked a question regarding the longdesc
attribute. The majority of respondents declared longdesc useful. The
report states:

"These responses show a strong usefulness of the longdesc attribute,
which is currently under debate for omission from HTML5. Also of note
is that 22.7% of respondents do not know the usefulness of longdesc,
suggesting a need for better education or presentation of this
functionality in screen readers."
http://webaim.org/projects/screenreadersurvey3/#longdesc

> I didn't examine it any closer since that's pretty much a fatal
> problem with the text as it is.

How could it not be a fatal problem? Your signature tag line says that
"things that are impossible just take longer."  There must be a way to
improve longdesc. Will you think about it?

Thanks.

Best Regards,

Laura

-- 
Laura L. Carlson