Re: Thoughts on WCAG 2.0 {3.2}

Hi Sean,

actually CSS provides support for nested elements already - there are a
number of ways you can pick things that are nested.

Also, it may be interesting to use XSLT for this kind of stuff, by providing
a simple HTML version using classes, and a link to an XSLT stylesheet that
turns it back into mixed XHTML/RDF... (a similar approach to dealing with XSL
formatting objects where they specify a presentation that doesn't work for a
particular device)

cheers

Charles

On Thu, 16 Nov 2000, Sean B. Palmer wrote:

  Hi Everyone,
  I've just joined (hi!), and I thought I'd pitch this into the recent
  discussions about {3.2} in WCAG 2.0, because it seems pretty important.
  On swi-dev, we have been discussing styling content due to it's semantics.
  An example given was if Dublin Core was allowed in HTML:

       <html xmlns="[...]"
             xmlns:dc="http://purl.org/dc/elements/1.1/">
       <head><title>My Page</title></head>
       <body>
       <p dc:author="Robin">This bit was written by Robin</p>
       <p dc:author="Sean">This bit was written by Sean</p>
       </body>
       </html>

  Then, by using this CSS stylesheet:

       *[dc\:author="Robin"] { font-size: 50em; color: #ff0000; }

  Everything authored by Robin will be big and red, (according to his
  wishes!). While being a tacky example, it open up discussions for why CSS
  and all other types of styling should be intrinsically linked to the
  *semantics* of the document. If HTML/XML were semantic and used RDF etc. to
  markup it's contents, rather than the presenational rubbish that HTML
  currently provides (with the exception of the inline phrasal elements, for
  example), then we could stlye it according to content, not
  presentational/structural aspects. The trouble is, more CSS selectors will
  be needed to implement such systems, because RDF is often layered.

  BTW: As a new member, I *hope* to be at the telecon tonight if possible (I
  have to change our phone line over before then or the call charges will be
  astronomical!). I just thought I'd pitch this in before hand, so as you can
  discuss it if you wish. My full regrets if I don't make it.  I'm also a new
  member of the WAI ERT WG/IG, so busy times ahead!

  Kindest Regards,
  Sean B. Palmer
  http://xhtml.waptechinfo.com/swr/
  http://www.w3.org/WAI/ER/
  "Perhaps, but let's not get bogged down in semantics."
     - Homer J. Simpson, BABF07.


-- 
Charles McCathieNevile    mailto:charles@w3.org    phone: +61 (0) 409 134 136
W3C Web Accessibility Initiative                      http://www.w3.org/WAI
Location: I-cubed, 110 Victoria Street, Carlton VIC 3053, Australia
September - November 2000:
W3C INRIA, 2004 Route des Lucioles, BP 93, 06902 Sophia Antipolis Cedex, France

Received on Friday, 24 November 2000 12:29:23 UTC