WD-xhtml2-20030506: <qst>ions and <ans>wers

Hello,

A lot of the contents on the web is made up of a series of questions and 
answers -- whether it's a technical FAQ or an interview with a movie 
star.  As a result, I propose two new elements within the XHTML Inline 
Text Module -- a <qst> element, which contains a question, and an <ans> 
element, which contains an answer.

     ELEMENT    ATTRIBUTES    MINIMAL CONTENT MODEL
     ----------------------------------------------
     ans        Common        (PCDATA | Inline)*
     qst        Common        (PCDATA | Inline)*

Typical usage would be:

     <section class="qa">
         <p><qst>It's been a decade since 242 released any new material.
             What does it feel like writing and recording new
             songs?</qst></p>
         <p><ans>We haven't stopped writing new material and we kept on
             experimenting new fields in sound research.  The difference
             is that we have decided to finalise a product; so we need to
             consider how to translate those works into acceptable
             formats: songs, instrumental tracks, etc.  Music where
             people can find a reference.</ans></p>
     </section>
     <section class="qa">
         <p><qst>Was there a period when 242 effectively disbanded or was
             it always just lying low?</qst></p>
         <p><ans>We were always good friends although musical views could
             be different.  We had no problems to come back
             together.</ans></p>
     </section>

It may also be possible to answer a question with another question, as 
in this example:

     <section class="qa">
         <p><qst>I understand you think dynamite isn't used enough in
             conservation.  Can you tell us a little more about
             that?</qst></p>
         <p><ans><qst>Did I really say that?</qst></ans></p>
     </section>

(Some thought would have to be given as to whether a <qst> within an 
<ans>, etc. is actually desirable and whether the module implementations 
should allow it.)

Finally, if there is any move to create more semantically relevant 
variants of the <section> element, a <qasection> (as a container for a 
<qst> and zero or more <ans> elements) might also be worth looking at.

Thanks in advance for considering my suggestion.

Regards,

Dave

Received on Tuesday, 22 July 2003 16:27:59 UTC