Re: [mediaqueries] MathML

On Wed, Oct 5, 2016 at 10:45 AM, Paul Topping <pault@dessci.com> wrote:
>> > Given a suitable definition of "UA implements MathML", there should be
>> no question that it exposes an important UA characteristic. Since MathML is
>> part of HTML5, it could be argued that it should have an MQ even if all UAs
>> report no implementation using it.
>>
>> There is not MQ for HTML5. There is no MQ for features of HTML5. So that's
>> not a very good guideline.
>
> I wasn't talking about MQ for features of HTML5. Just using MathML's presence in the HTML5 spec as an indication that it is significant.  If it can be argued that MathML support is a "characteristic of the rendering device", to use your phrase, then it is a significant one due to MathML's inclusion in HTML5.

(Sorry to be blunt here.) We don't make technical decisions based on
political reasoning. MathML doesn't get a MQ because it "deserves" it.
We make MQs when the information they expose has real use-cases for
authors: where there's some situation where the "default" rendering is
significantly worse for some reason, and being able to tell when
you're in that situation and adjust your styling accordingly has
significant benefits.

The original discussion about the math MQ in the CSSWG led us to
believe that it passed this bar (or was at least close to it; the MQ
itself was simple enough that it didn't need to clear a very high
hurdle).  Later discussion at TPAC, which Florian summarized and I
added to, has shifted our belief the opposite way.  It appears, based
on the current information available to us, that the above conditions
are not met - current rendering techniques generate results that are
acceptable to page authors regardless of whether MathML is natively
supported or not, and knowing whether or not it was natively supported
wouldn't allow authors to significantly improve their page rendering.

~TJ

Received on Wednesday, 5 October 2016 18:50:08 UTC