- From: Ian Hickson <ian@hixie.ch>
- Date: Wed, 21 Feb 2007 02:39:22 +0000 (UTC)
On Tue, 20 Feb 2007, Vlad Alexander (xhtml.com) wrote: > > > > ...We could require editors to do this, but since nobody knows how to > > do it, it would be a stupid requirement. ... > > Is it due to a flaw in HTML that it is difficult to build authoring > tools, such as WYSIWYG editors, that generate markup rich in semantics, > embody best-practices and can be easily used by non-technical people? No, I think it's just something that is fundamentally hard. People think visually, trying to ask a Web designer to think in terms of (e.g.) headers instead of font sizes is just something that WYSIWYG implementors and UI researchers simply haven't solved yet. Personally I don't think it's a lost cause, but we're just not there yet. > Since much of the content on the Web is created using such authoring > tools, can we ever achieve a semantically rich and accessible Web? There will always be a continuum of sites from the unusable to the very accessible. As with all fields of human endeavour, there will always be the highly competent Web designers who understand fundamentally how to build device-independent sites that cater to all kinds of users, and there will always be the inexperienced and ignorant Web designers who think only in terms of their own personal experience, targetting a specific browser on a specific computer without taking into account any other potential user experience. Probably the best we can do is design the language to make "the right thing" easier, and invest more heavily in education. In this regard HTML is in the same boat as more important subjects; I imagine that as we improve the quality of education in general, understanding of the importance of accessibility and related topics will improve as well. -- Ian Hickson U+1047E )\._.,--....,'``. fL http://ln.hixie.ch/ U+263A /, _.. \ _\ ;`._ ,. Things that are impossible just take longer. `._.-(,_..'--(,_..'`-.;.'
Received on Tuesday, 20 February 2007 18:39:22 UTC