[ResourcePriorities] Only specify lazyload on img

https://dvcs.w3.org/hg/webperf/raw-file/tip/specs/ResourcePriorities/Overview.html  
says

[[
The lazyload attribute can be specified on the following HTML elements  
capable of fetching resources:

audio
embed
iframe
img
link
object
script
svg
video
]]

Please remove all elements except img.

As far as I know, the stated use case that the lazyload attribute is  
intended to address is only about images. The solution should focus on  
addressing the stated use case and not immediately feature creap to  
everything you can think of.

Let's have a brief look at whether having lazyload makes sense on the  
listed elements:

audio
video

These already have the preload="" attribute to control loading. The states  
are "auto", "metadata" and "none". On the face of it, it seems reasonable  
to also support "lazy" where it acts like "none" if the element is outside  
the viewport and "metadata" or "auto" if it's visible or is soon about to  
be visible. However, I think it would be better to start small and wait  
until the lazyload attribute has proven its merits on the img element  
before extending it to media elements.

embed
iframe
object

These can create nested browsing contexts. It seems like it would cause  
various complications if these can be lazy-loaded. They are complicated as  
it is.

link

It has been proposed that an attribute be added to stylesheet link to not  
block execution of scripts. However, the spec doesn't address that.  
"lazyload" also seems like the wrong semantic -- a link element is always  
invisible, and the proposed attribute is more like <script async> i.e.  
fetch now but don't block scripts.

script

This already has means to control when the script is executed (async and  
defer). Since scripts are invisible, lazyload seems like the wrong  
semantic. If the author wishes to load a script at a certain point, that  
is possible by creating and inserting a script at that point.

svg

This doesn't even fetch anything.

-- 
Simon Pieters
Opera Software

Received on Tuesday, 25 June 2013 15:54:20 UTC