Re: [css-counter-styles] allow use of CSS4 "alt" property with @counter-style/symbols

On Tue, May 20, 2014 at 4:18 PM, Tab Atkins Jr. <jackalmage@gmail.com>wrote:

> On Thu, May 15, 2014 at 9:51 AM, James Craig <jcraig@apple.com> wrote:
> > The current Counter Styles draft <
> http://www.w3.org/TR/css-counter-styles-3/> has an accessibility problem.
> It allows use of meaningful symbol-based list markers, without the ability
> to declare alternative text for the list markers. List markers are
> currently spoken by many screen readers, but the spec's example would be
> meaningless or mispronounced at best.
> >
> > @counter-style box-corner {
> >     system: fixed;
> >     symbols: ◰ ◳ ◲ ◱;
> >     suffix: ':';
> > }
> >
> > I think this could possible be resolved by extending the CSS4 "alt"
> property [1].
> > Previous discussion only allowed its use on pseudo elements. E.g.
> >
> > li::before {
> >     content: counter(box-corner);
> >     alt: counter(numbered);
> > }
> >
> > But I think the "alt property could be extended to be part of the
> counter declaration so that each use of the counter style would get it by
> default:
> >
> > @counter-style box-corner {
> >     system: fixed;
> >     symbols: ◰ ◳ ◲ ◱;
> >     alt: '1' '2' '3' '4';  /* or alt: decimal; ? */
> >     suffix: ':';
> > }
> >
> > Cheers,
> > James Craig
> >
> > [1] Alt in CSS4 on generated content pseudo elements:
> > http://lists.w3.org/Archives/Public/www-style/2012Nov/0318.html
> >
> > PS. I'm aware ◰ ◳ ◲ ◱ means 5, 3, 5, 7 in some number sets, not 1, 2, 3,
> 4. ;-)
>
> So, based on this thread and subsequent CSSWG discussion, we've added
> a "words" value to the 'speak-as' descriptor that we think solves all
> the use-cases.
>
> If you just want to read out the 'symbols' values, that's all you need
> to set.  If you want to provide "alt text" for the 'symbols' values,
> instead make a separate counter style with the words you want in
> 'symbols' and "speak-as: words", then set "speak-as:
> your-spoken-style;" in the real counter style.  Xidorn provided
> several examples of this.
>

One question about the new value "words": the new spec says:
"Generate a counter representation for the value as normal, then speak it
as normal text in the document language. "
So, if I have

@counter-style go-spoken { system: alphabetic; symbols: 'white' 'black';
speak-as: words; }

and use value 4, it will say "whiteblack" instead of "white black", and the
author has to add spaces himself to separate the words, is it right?

- Xidorn