RE: ABBR vs. ACRONYM

Hi all,

I believe that none of both should be eliminated. In Spanish the distinction
between acronym and abbreviation is very clear. I believe that if a person
doesn't understand this distinction and she finds the possibility to use an
or another form in HTML, this will make him to investigate which is the
difference, one can also put on an example that clarifies the terms and that
helps the user to choose in what moment to use an or another form.

The HTML is not only used to create pages in English.

On the other hand, in Internet Explorer when in a page there is an
identified acronym as such, if the pointer of the mouse is placed on him its
definition it can be read, that which doesn't happen with the abbreviations.
And this is logical because the abbreviations are of common use in a
language, and on the other hand the same acronym can mean different things
according to the environment in which is using, for example, the same
acronym can mean something different in medicine that in architecture.

I think. :-)

Regards,

Emmanuelle Gutiérrez y Restrepo
mailto: coordina@sidar.org
http://sidar.org

----- Original Message -----
From: McDonald, Ira <imcdonald@sharplabs.com>
To: 'Karl Ove Hufthammer' <huftis@bigfoot.com>; WAI Interest Group Emailing
List <w3c-wai-ig@w3.org>
Sent: Monday, February 21, 2000 9:53 PM
Subject: RE: ABBR vs. ACRONYM


Hi folks,

I agree with Karl's suggestion (below) to keep ABBR and delete entirely
(from HTML) ACRONYM.  The word 'abbreviation' may be within the limited
vocabulary of a speaker of English as a second language.  But 'acronym'
is FAR outside such a vocabulary.

Jargon and limited-use definitions defeat communication.

The IETF, ISO, ITU-T and other international standards bodies have always
followed the principle of using words with their *most common* definition:
a) to facilitate understanding by persons with limited vocabulary; and
b) to ensure accurate translations of standards texts.

Cheers,
- Ira McDonald (consulting architect at Sharp Labs America)
  High North Inc

-----Original Message-----
From: Karl Ove Hufthammer [mailto:huftis@bigfoot.com]
Sent: Monday, February 21, 2000 7:51 AM
To: WAI Interest Group Emailing List
Subject: Re: ABBR vs. ACRONYM


----- Original Message -----
From: "Charles McCathieNevile" <charles@w3.org>
To: "Emmanuelle Gutiérrez y Restrepo" <sinarmaya@retemail.es>
Cc: "Ann Navarro" <ann@webgeek.com>; "Kynn Bartlett"
<kynn-hwg@idyllmtn.com>; "Gregory J. Rosmaita" <unagi69@concentric.net>;
"WAI Interest Group Emailing List" <w3c-wai-ig@w3.org>
Sent: Sunday, February 20, 2000 11:24 PM
Subject: RE: ABBR vs. ACRONYM

> Acronym and abbreviation add something very important that is completely
> lacking in span - information about what kind of information is being
marked
> out (specifically, something that is an abbreviation or an acronym).
>
> If the two things are equivalent in HTML then there are a few
> possiblities. One is to remove one of them, and in this case I would
suggest
> abbr, as the one less supported.

I actually think removing acronym, as an acronym really *is* a type of
abreviation. And if we (people on the WAI-IG list) can't agree on acronyms
are and what's just abbreviations, I very much doubt "ordinary" people will
understand the difference. Since abbr and acroynm will be rendered the same
on all UAs, I really see no reason to keep both in the HTML specification,
especially since noone seems to know the difference (and the definition is
not the same in various languages/countries).

--
Karl Ove Hufthammer

Received on Tuesday, 22 February 2000 14:09:19 UTC