Re: ARIA's role="" attribute (was Re: [Bug 7509] Consider <dl type="dialog"> instead of <dialog>)

Jonas Sicking On 09-09-10 07.22:

> On Wed, Sep 9, 2009 at 10:15 PM, Jonas Sicking <jonas@sicking.cc> wrote:
>> On Wed, Sep 9, 2009 at 6:02 PM, Leif Halvard Silli
>> <xn--mlform-iua@xn--mlform-iua.no> wrote:
>>>> Microdata or the class="" attribute can both be used to annotate HTML
>>>> elements with more specific semantics than their native semantics
>>>> provide.
>>> If - say - AT software is supposed to recognize something as a dialog, then
>>> neither of those a likely to be enough.
>> I'm personally not at all a fan of using class to add semantics. I
>> think the class attribute namespace should belong to authors. That is
>> why I was arguing for the removal of predefined class values back when
>> they were in the HTML5 drafts.
>>
>> However I don't see why something like a microformat or RDFa wouldn't
>> be an acceptable way to expose something to AT software. Once that
>> microformat or RDFa vocabulary has become popular enough that it gains
>> some sort of critical mass that is.
> 
> Arg, that should have said "Once that microdata format or RDFa
> vocabulary has become..".
> 
> I am a big fan of microformats, however I don't like that they many
> times use the class attribute. However I understand that they chose to
> do that given what "hooks" that HTML4 provided. That's why I'm a fan
> of microdata in HTML5 as it provides better hooks.


One of those hooks were the @compact attribute. Very helpful when 
working with DL lists. And used in at least one microformat. But 
not allowed in HTML 5.

@rel and @rev also are - or offer - hooks. They are used in 
microformats.

@role is also a "hook" thing - and thus a good candidate for being 
used in microformats.
-- 
leif halvard silli

Received on Thursday, 10 September 2009 09:24:46 UTC