Re: Alert: accessibility and HTML Q element

to follow up on what Jason White said:

> 
> 1. The Q element is important for purposes of accessibility, since it
> allows audio and braille styles to control the rendering of quotations.
> This functionality can not be achieved if the quotation marks are inserted
> directly.
> 

If you are using styles, the styles would recognize a SPAN with a
CLASS indicating quotation, would they?

> 
> 3. In English braille, the conventions concerning quotation marks are
> slightly different from those of print. Double quotation marks are used to
> denote the outermost level of quotation; inner quotations are indicated by
> single quotation marks. This is the inverse of print conventions. Thus,
> when formatting a document in braille, it would be preferable that the
> insertion of quotation marks be the responsibility of the user agent,
> subject to any applicable style sheets.
> 

Aha! another area where English is not English.  To get the quote
styling correct one will need to distinguish national variations
in English style.  The Braille quoting is done in U.S. style.
See e.g. "The Chicago Manual of Style" rule 10.26.

-- Al

Received on Tuesday, 28 October 1997 20:19:26 UTC