[whatwg] <video> element feedback

Ian Hickson wrote:

> > However, I think if <object> is so widely derided by everyone, than I 
> > think it needs to be depreciated sooner rather than later.
> 
> I have seriously considered doing this. Unfortunately I don't think we can 
> actually do it given the large amount of legacy content, e.g. tutorials 
> for how to embed flash which encourage use of <object>.

In the unlikely event that <object> be in any way discouraged, can we
ensure we allow element level fallback content for <img> (or some
replacement element) as opposed to the alt attributes we're currently
lumbered with and the longdesc attribute that WHATWG has done away with?

> > Browsers should see if a video is unsupported and show the fallback 
> > message, which would contain a link to download the appropriate 
> > software.  For example,
> > 
> > <video src="example.wmv">
> >     This is a Windows Media Video file, but you need to download
> > such-and-such to display it in your browser.
> > </video>
> 
> The fallback isn't done that way in the spec today because that kind of 
> fallback has been a source of bugs in browsers when it comes to other 
> features (e.g. <object>); however, the spec provides the information to 
> the script, though 'error' events, so you can achieve the same effect.

Error events are in any case preferable, so that text alternatives can
be separated from download suggestions.

--
Benjamin Hawkes-Lewis

Received on Tuesday, 20 March 2007 14:50:06 UTC