CP remove hgroup add an outlineMask attribute.

Hi all,

CP remove hgroup add an outlineMask attribute.
http://www.w3.org/html/wg/wiki/ChangeProposals/OutlineMask

Change Proposal

Replace <hgroup> with an attribute outlineMask that simply flags that a
heading should not be included in the document outline when producing an
outline using the outline algorithm.


Rationale

The <hgroup> element has no uniquely useful function other than to remove a
heading from the outline generated using the outline algorithm.
It does not codify an existing usage pattern on the web. The creator of
<hgroup> describes it
thus<http://www.w3.org/Bugs/Public/show_bug.cgi?id=11828#c2>
:

"<hgroup> is in fact the result of awaiting patterns. The pattern is that
people
use <h1> and <h2> as heading and subheading respectively (without meaning
heading and subsection). All <hgroup> does is wrap them up so they don't
impact the outline algorithm."

Problem being with the statement "The pattern is that people use <h1> and
<h2 as heading and subheading respectively (without meaning heading and
subsection)" is that it is not a pattern that prevails over the other patterns
that people <http://wiki.whatwg.org/wiki/Hgroup_element> use to mark up
headings and subtitles. No cow paths are being paved with the addition of
the <hgroup>, in fact it is the opposite, it is an attempt to force a
pattern upon the markup where none previously existed, simply to support
the newly created outline algorithm.

The outlineMask attribute does not suffer from the issues ineherent with
the introduction of the <hgroup> as it simply does the same thing as the only
rationale<http://wiki.whatwg.org/wiki/Rationale#hgroup_and_other_heading_elements>provided
for the inclusion of <hgroup> in HTML5:

"The point of <hgroup> is to hide the subtitle from the outlining
algorithm."

Details

Remove <hgroup> element.

Add outlineMask attribute, which is a boolean attribute. It can be set on
<h1> to <h6> elements. When present it indicates that the heading should
not be included in the document outline.

Author conformance advice should be provided to indicate when it should be
used. i.e. only on headings that the author considers are acting as
subtitles or subheadings.

The ARIA role mapping for a <h1> to <h6> that has an outlineMask attribute
is the same as a <h1> to <h6> without an outlineMask attribute set. User
agents MAY provide an indication that a heading is a subheading when the
attribute is set.

Examples

<body>
<h1>Title</h1>
<h2 outlinemask>Subtitle</h2>

<h1>Second Title</h1>
<div>
   <h2 outlinemask>Second Subtitle 1</h2>
   <h2 outlinemask>Second Subtitle 2</h2>
</div>
</body>

<article>
   <h2 outlinemask>The Magical</h2>
   <h1>Title</h1>
   <h2 outlinemask>That Has</h2>
  <h2 outlinemask>Multiple Subtitles</h2>
</article>

<section>
 <hsub>Preceeding subtitle</hsub>
 <h1>Title</h1>
</section>

Risks

Removal of the <hgroup> element.

Legacy UAs will ignore the outlineMask attribute. This is not a big
problem, as legacy no user agents support the semantic processing of
<hgroup>.

authors may misuse the outlineMask attribute

--
with regards

Steve Faulkner
Technical Director - TPG

www.paciellogroup.com | www.HTML5accessibility.com |
www.twitter.com/stevefaulkner
HTML5: Techniques for providing useful text alternatives -
dev.w3.org/html5/alt-techniques/
Web Accessibility Toolbar -
www.paciellogroup.com/resources/wat-ie-about.html

Received on Monday, 7 November 2011 13:29:36 UTC