Re: 4.2 WCAG 1.0 Checkpoint

On 22/11/05, Patrick H. Lauke <redux@splintered.co.uk> wrote:
> even *if* abbr was
> in IE's DOM but the browser simply chose to completely ignore it, I'd
> contentiously ask from a pragmatic point of view: what use would it be
> then to the majority of web users if the browser didn't present them the
> expanded abbreviation in any useful form? Particularly if we're talking
> (like David's original remark) about "a learning or age-related
> impairment" - which does not automatically mean "they're using a screen
> reader"?

Even for learning or age-related issues, marking up abbreviations and
acronyms isn't as useful as it could be because of the poor way
they've been implemented in browsers. They're typically implemented as
a tooltip, which means the expansion is device-dependent (mouse),
difficult to read, and only displayed for a short duration. Coupled
with the fact that it's not exactly intuitive how to expand an acronym
or abbreviation for someone who isn't that familiar with the web, I
think user agent manufacturers could do a lot more to make them a
useful feature. At the moment, the best anyone can hope for is a
bookmarklet that either offers the option to display the expansion
inline, or collect all abbreviations and acronyms and display them as
a glossary of terms at the end of the document. That kind of
functionality would be far more useful if it was directly available
from the user-agent. At this point in time, I think abbreviations and
acronyms are only really useful for those using assistive technology
that is capable of doing something with them.

Best regards,

Gez

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Received on Tuesday, 22 November 2005 20:44:24 UTC