Higher level of abstraction for 'input type='

• From: Richard Kennard <richard@kennardconsulting.com>
• Date: Tue, 08 Nov 2011 12:31:40 +1100
• To: public-html-comments@w3.org
• Message-ID: <4EB8867C.5090605@kennardconsulting.com>

Hello everyone,

Based on my experiences developing a UI library over the past few years, I have blogged an idea for HTML:

    http://blog.kennardconsulting.com/2011/11/should-htmlnext-have-higher-level-of.html

In summary: could we introduce a higher level abstraction over 'input type=' such that the developer specifies the *data* type, not the widget type, and
the device renders the most appropriate widget? This would stop the current proliferation of JavaScript-based widget libraries that are all duplicating
each other's effort.

I understand HTML 5 is introducing a date picker. But this is the thin end of the wedge. There are always going to be many more possible widgets than the
HTML specification can support (e.g. spinners, sliders, color pickers etc).

What if we could leave this choice to the browser? So that browsers could compete offering the best widget implementations to suit their target device,
accessibility requirements etc?

Regards,

Richard.

Received on Tuesday, 8 November 2011 01:34:38 UTC