- From: Jeroen van der Gun <noreplytopreventspam@blijbol.nl>
- Date: Tue, 1 Dec 2009 20:59:11 +0100
- To: public-html@w3.org
The real question that needs to be asked is: are tables and images fundamentally different? The answer is no. They are both objects in a document. They are both usually numbered. They are both referenced from within the document text. They can both be moved around if they are referenced properly. In other words, they are both suitable to be the content of a figure element. This also applies to other objects, such as large equations, blocks of computer code and the other objects mentioned earlier in this discussion. That they are usually styled the same, as indicated earlier, confirms this. I am not talking about inline images here (such as emoticons) and tables/equations/etc. that have one exact position in the document text. Because of this they are naturally described by the text and a caption should not be permitted. They simply cannot be seen as individual units. The aside element has also be mentioned. The aside element cannot fulfil the role of the figure element, since it is a too strong separation from the main content. Aside elements pretty much do not convey any information related to the document that is not mentioned elsewhere inside the document. Figure elements on the other hand have a strong connection to the document and convey additional information; that they are not tied to one specific point in the document, does not mean that they can be removed from the document without loss of information. Then there is only one issue left. Tables already have their own way of attaching a caption. I therefore suggest dropping the caption element in favour of the figure element. Tables that need a caption can be embedded in a figure element, just like images, large equations, blocks of computer code and the rest. This way there is one universal mechanism that works the same for all of these. Jeroen van der Gun http://www.jeroenvandergun.nl
Received on Tuesday, 1 December 2009 20:01:08 UTC