Re: longdesc="" in HTML5

On Sun, 7 Sep 2008, Joshue O Connor wrote:
> Ian Hickson wrote:
> > I hate to throw fuel on the fire here, but as far as longdesc="" is 
> > concerned, the reason it isn't in HTML5 is that there has never been 
> > any feedback sent that described a problem for which longdesc="" was 
> > even remotely considered as a solution.
> 
> Secondly, what about the need for a long descriptor? The authors of HTML 4 saw
> a need for it. Has this need gone away?

What is the problem that a long description is solving? A long description 
isn't a need, it's a solution to a need/requirement/problem. If the need 
is something like "users who can't see bar charts need a way to have the 
information in the bar chart conveyed to them", why isn't <p> sufficient? 
Are there any examples where putting the information on a different page 
in a way that requires explicit activation to show the information is ever 
a significantly better solution than just having the information be right 
there in the page for everyone to see?

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

Received on Sunday, 7 September 2008 19:55:41 UTC