Re: Requirements for research (Was: Dropping <input usemap="">)

On Aug 16, 2007, at 10:23 AM, Philip Taylor wrote:

> Robert Burns wrote:
>> On Aug 16, 2007, at 9:55 AM, Robert Burns wrote:
>>> In any event, it sounds like we wouldn't be breaking much content  
>>> if we specced <input usemap> in a slightly different way than the  
>>> current draft (or at least the draft before the changes were made  
>>> that did not reflect the views of the WG).
>
> If it is specced differently to how <input usemap> is currently  
> implemented in any browser, then <input usemap> is the worst  
> possible name for the feature. It doesn't act consistently in all  
> the current browsers, so it's very unlikely to degrade gracefully,  
> and it would be incompatible with a small amount of existing  
> content. <input anyothernewname> is consistently ignored and has  
> never been used, so it is likely to be a better choice for a new  
> feature.
>
> If you want a new feature that is not specified or implemented  
> anywhere, it should be proposed as a new feature, and if there are  
> suitable use cases (i.e. there are existing problems where the new  
> feature is a significantly better solution than any existing  
> technology) then details of syntax can be considered - that would  
> be much more helpful than starting with an existing syntax (<input  
> usemap>) and then trying to think of a feature to fit into that  
> syntax to justify its existence.

Well, I wasn't talking about making sweeping changes to it. The  
impression I've gotten from you is that its already implemented in a  
few browsers and not implemented at all in others. In that sense, I  
can't imagine what danger there would be in providing further  
guidance on how to further implement the feature. For example, your  
question about the coordinates to submit on keyboard navigation. If  
browsers don't currently implement that capability, there shouldn't  
be any danger in selecting and imposing a new norm related to this  
already existing feature.

Take care,
Rob

Received on Thursday, 16 August 2007 15:51:27 UTC