PROPOSAL: @xml:lang and @lang in XHTML+RDFa 1.0

Folks,

As part of the process of updating XHTML 1.1, the XHTML 2 Working Group 
has agreed to re-introduce @lang.  The main reason for this is 
accessibility - most assistive technology software out there does not 
look at xml:lang, so if you want to make your web page maximally 
accessible you either need to 1) avoid XHTML 1.1 or 2) make your pages 
invalid.  Clearly neither was a great choice!

In the latest XHTML 1.1 draft, there is the following text:

    This specification also adds the |lang| attribute to the I18N
    attribute collection as defined in [XHTMLMOD
    <http://www.w3.org/MarkUp/2009/PER-xhtml11-20090507/references.html#ref_xhtml_modularization>].
    The |lang| attribute is defined in [HTML4
    <http://www.w3.org/MarkUp/2009/PER-xhtml11-20090507/references.html#ref_html4>].
    When this attribute and the |xml:lang| are specified on the same
    element, the |xml:lang| takes precedence. When both |lang| and
    |xml:lang| are specified on the same element, they SHOULD have the
    same value.


I propose that we add similar text to RDFa Syntax section 8 [2] in the 
next revision (I expect that revision to be a Proposed Edited 
Recommendation with minor tweaks like this).  Obviously this would also 
require minor changes to the DTD and XML Schema implementations.

[1] 
http://www.w3.org/MarkUp/2009/PER-xhtml11-20090507/doctype.html#s_doctype
[2] http://www.w3.org/TR/rdfa-syntax/#s_xhtmlrdfa

-- 
Shane P. McCarron                          Phone: +1 763 786-8160 x120
Managing Director                            Fax: +1 763 786-8180
ApTest Minnesota                            Inet: shane@aptest.com

Received on Friday, 12 June 2009 15:30:25 UTC