- From: Nir Dagan <nir@nirdagan.com>
- Date: Wed, 27 Jan 1999 03:00:43 GMT
- To: w3c-wai-gl@w3.org
Content negotiation and the type attribute are distinct topics. I would say: 1. Serve your documents with the correct Content-Type HTTP header. Include a charset parameter whenever might be ambiguity the encoding. [Priority 1] 2. When refrering from an HTML document to a document with a MIME type which is not natively undertood to many user agents, specify the type attribute. [Priority 3] The rationale for this is that this may save the user agent work, and reduce internet traffic (I am not sure that this has to do with accessibility). E.g., if the type of an OBJECT is not supported by a browser it can avoid making an HTTP request for it. Or save indexing robots retrieving documents that they can't analize. Content negotiation. 3. If a resource is served in various formats or languages use content negotiation to determine the format/language preferred to the user. [priority 3] Also provide a "manual option" (e.g., a link) to switch from one version to another. [priority 1] The last one is not only for backward compatibility. Sometimes a user may like to check out more than one format. (e.g., HTMl to read online, and then if I like it PDF to make a printed version) Nir Dagan Assistant Professor of Economics Universidad Pompeu Fabra Ramon Trias Fargas 25 08005 Barcelona Spain http://www.nirdagan.com mailto:nir@nirdagan.com "There is nothing quite so practical as a good theory." -- A. Einstein
Received on Tuesday, 26 January 1999 12:58:44 UTC