Re: HTML LINK tag

In terms of invisible improvements in HTML practice, One
possibility is to get people to go back and start using LINK
elements.

Another is to get the de-facto links, the A elements containing
the HREF attributes defining your choices of where to go, to be
better classified so that the best answer to standard questions
such as "Where am I?" would have an answer by searching out a
known REL or CLASS value on some A element.

Note: I am assuming "Where am I?" gets translated to "move to the
immediately enclosing index or table of contents or site guide."

This is not an either-or situation.  The browser function can
look for any LINK or A with the appropriate annotation.

Here the REL and CLASS vocabulary has to represent an agreement
between what the browsers and authors are going to do.  There is
some help in affecting what the authors do from the authoring
tools, but the author is still in charge.

RDF schemas may be the way to go in publishing the attribute
value recommendations.

Because it involves coordinated changes by different players,
this is going to take some careful homework [read: systematic
development activity, Working Group task].  Because the benefits
are critically dependent on having most browsers act in a common
way with the defined attribute values, it should be considered by
the Browser Guidelines (WAI-UI) working group before we think we
have a plan on which to proceed.

Al Gilman

Received on Saturday, 7 March 1998 15:29:06 UTC