Re: HTML5's Q element

On Fri, 4 Sep 2009, Ryan Roberts wrote:
> > 
> > If you want quote marks in the source, use quote marks in the source, 
> > and don't use<q>.
> > 
> > If you want quote marks added automatically, use<q>.
>
> This makes little sense. What you're saying is <q> has no semantic 
> purpose anymore, it's there for presentation (see your further down).

I'm not sure what you mean by "semantic purpose". In what sense is all of 
HTML not just "there for presentation"?

The whole point of HTML is to be a media-independent, platform- 
independent, stylable documenta and application language. Presentation (on 
multiple media, devices, etc) is the most important use case.


> > It would be stupid of us to try to change this now given that all four 
> > major browsers ship with a<q> that inserts quote marks. This was 
> > discussed in depth last year, and the spec was changed (from not 
> > inserting quotes to inserting quotes) after it was concluded that 
> > swimming against the browser vendors here was futile.
>    
> Then hand the spec over to them.

In what sense have we not handed the spec over to them? Browser vendors, 
as the most high-profile implementors of the spec, have full control over 
what ends up being implemented. I'm not going to make the spec say 
somethin they won't do; that would just turn the spec into an especially 
dry form of science fiction.


> > At this point, the<q> element's purpose is to enable CSS-based 
> > quotation mark injection. If you don't want that, then don't use<q>.
>
> So at this point how do you mark up an inline quote?

One of the following:

   <p>Ryan asked "So at this point how do you mark up an inline 
   quote?"</p>

   <p>Ryan asked <q>So at this point how do you mark up an inline 
   quote?</q></p>

-- 
Ian Hickson               U+1047E                )\._.,--....,'``.    fL
http://ln.hixie.ch/       U+263A                /,   _.. \   _\  ;`._ ,.
Things that are impossible just take longer.   `._.-(,_..'--(,_..'`-.;.'

Received on Friday, 4 September 2009 21:46:30 UTC