Re: Context of the main element

On Thu, 31 Jan 2013 18:08:37 -0000, Cameron Jones <cmhjones@gmail.com>  
wrote:

> It should probably also be noted that by recommending authors to markup
> "main" content using a potentially ambiguous and indeterminate element
> instead of a distinct role="main" attribute, this element could harm web
> accessibility through the effective obsoletion of deterministic
> functionality.

<main> would be exactly the same as role=main.

>
> I believe that web accessibility should have one clear voice - you should
> explicitly use ARIA for accessibility markup.

I diagree. It sends the message that accessiblity is an add-on. Where  
possible it should be build in to the native language, and ARIA only be  
used where it's not built in.

The ARIA spec says as much: "It is expected that, over time, host  
languages will evolve to provide semantics for objects that currently can  
only be declared with WAI-ARIA. This is natural and desirable, as one goal  
of WAI-ARIA is to help stimulate the emergence of more semantic and  
accessible markup. When native semantics for a given feature become  
available, it is appropriate for authors to use the native feature and  
stop using WAI-ARIA for that feature. Legacy content may continue to use  
WAI-ARIA, however, so the need for user agents to support WAI-ARIA  
remains." http://www.w3.org/TR/wai-aria/introduction#co-evolution


-- 


Bruce Lawson
Open standards evangelist
Developer Relations Team
Opera

http://dev.opera.com

Received on Thursday, 31 January 2013 18:19:44 UTC