Re: Response to your comments on WAI-ARIA 1.0 User Agent Implementation Guide

Janina Sajka, Wed, 15 Aug 2012 19:45:00 +0000:

My answer is at the bottom of the letter.

> Comment 372: Include description URLs (with longdesc as example) in 
> the img role
> Date: 2012-03-14
> Archived at: UNSET
> Relates to: WAI-ARIA 1.0 User Agent Implementation Guide - 5.4. Role 
> mapping 
> 
<http://www.w3.org/TR/2012/WD-wai-aria-implementation-20120110/#mapping_role>
> Status: Proposal not accepted
> 
> -------------
> Your comment:
> -------------
> See, the ARIA draft's description of the 'img' role.
> 
> The description fails to cover the 'img' role properly: The role
> description includes pointers to the definition of <img> in the host
> languages  HTML4 and and DTB, both of which can include a longdesc
> attribute. But despite these examples in the host languages elements, ARIA
> does no not include or mention longdesc - or 'description URLs' as one
> could call it more generally - in its description of the 'img' role.
> 
> In a situation where @longdesc place in HTML5 is contested, this could be
> interpreted as if even ARIA is contesting the usefulness of
> @longdesc/description urls.
> 
> That anyone who opens the one-page version of ARIA, will be able to search
> and locate 'longdesc', will be very useful.
> 
> 
> --------------------------------
> Response from the Working Group:
> --------------------------------
> @longdesc is an HTML attribute and this is out of scope for the WAI-ARIA
> User Agent Implementation Guide. Even though we have a few places where
> HTML-specific information is included, we have tried to minimize it so that
> the UAIG is applicable to any host language that implements WAI-ARIA.
> Browsers implementing HTML must expose the @longdesc information to ATs
> independently of whether or not the element has a WAI-ARIA role or other
> WAI-ARIA attributes. 

The title of my comment went, when I delete the parenthesis, like so: 
"Include description URLs in the img role". My comment did thus not say 
"Include longdesc in the img role". In other words: I proposed that the 
img role is changed.

That said, I understand that a new global URL attribute, without 
particular link to the img role, is planned for ARIA 1.1. So I will 
just accept the "not accepted" conclusion.

Leif Halvard Silli

Received on Wednesday, 15 August 2012 20:28:54 UTC