- From: Gez Lemon <gez.lemon@gmail.com>
- Date: Tue, 7 Jul 2009 22:29:09 +0100
- To: Ian Hickson <ian@hixie.ch>
- Cc: Joshue O Connor <joshue.oconnor@cfit.ie>, Henri Sivonen <hsivonen@iki.fi>, Jim Jewett <jimjjewett@gmail.com>, Laura Carlson <laura.lee.carlson@gmail.com>, Janina Sajka <janina@rednote.net>, Sam Ruby <rubys@intertwingly.net>, Michael Cooper <cooper@w3.org>, "W3C WAI Protocols & Formats" <w3c-wai-pf@w3.org>, "wai-liaison@w3.org" <wai-liaison@w3.org>, John Foliot <jfoliot@stanford.edu>, www-archive <www-archive@w3.org>, HTML WG Public List <public-html@w3.org>
Hi Ian, 2009/7/7 Ian Hickson <ian@hixie.ch>: > The point is that we need solutions that aren't just capable _in theory_ > of solving the problem; we need solutions that _in practice_ actually > solve the problem. Time and time again, it is shown that summary="" isn't > able to solve the problem *even when the authors truly want to solve it*. The example I host on Juicy Studio that Josh provided is a bad example of summary text - mea culpa. The client version was corrected way back when we were working with them. > We need a better solution. The summary="" attribute is harming the cause > of accessibility by leading people astray, letting people think they are > solving a problem they are not solving. Continuing to make it conforming > when we have half a dozen better suggestions already in HTML5 is not > helping the blind or other AT users. I'm open to the suggestion that has been put forward about user agents automatically generating a summary describing the structure. I also believe that the summary attribute is useful even on simple data tables, as it reduces the cognitive load for non-sighted users having to navigate the table to build up a mental picture of the data, as David pointed out in an earlier email. If it's any use, I'll put together some examples of useful summary text on simple and complex data tables. We can then review the usefulness of the summary attribute and examine methods for user-agent generated summary information. Gez -- _____________________________ Supplement your vitamins http://juicystudio.com
Received on Tuesday, 7 July 2009 21:30:16 UTC