Re: aria-describedat

Features:

* Should an element be able to have both @aria-describedAT
  and @aria-describedBY on the same element?

* When linking to a page-internal element, why prefer describedAT
  over describedBY? What is the difference, for the user?

* Should describedAT be allowed to point to hidden elements? Note
  that this would permit using the :target{} selector to make
  hidden content visible.

Name features:

Silvia Pfeiffer, Thu, 22 Mar 2012 12:28:34 +1100:
> Hmm, can we break out completely with something simpler? I was
> considering @transcription for video, which would in a long
> description transcribe everything that happens in a video (not just
> what is being said). Could @transcription work on images? On canvas?

I'll defend the current name. To use the aria- prefix, does at least do 
two good things:

* It follows an established pattern within ARIA. Why is 
  describedAT so 'special' that it needs a unique naming style?
  A single attribute without the prefix only sounds confusing.
* It learns from the antipattern set by @longdesc and @summary:
  Unique names for seldom used/seen attributes is no good. Better
  with an often seen prefix for a range of related attributes.

@aria-DESCRIBEDat, is not completely void of benefits:

* It indicates relationship to aria-DESCRIBEDby
* The 'AT' part has hyperlink connotations - @.
* Less technical than 'fooURL' and leads the thought towards the
  content that one points to and thus delegitimizes misuse.
-- 
Leif Halvard Silli

Received on Thursday, 22 March 2012 06:03:00 UTC