Re: the use of the <br /> tag

Hi Michael,

it's not something I think causes massive problems, it's just a sign 
that people are thinking in terms of a particular layout size which 
isn't a valid assumption (or worse, that they are in fact making lists 
and so on without marking them up as such). There are cases where it is 
obviously useful - addresses are typically written with line breaks in 
particular places, for example. But there are few examples I can think 
of.

For &nbsp you should think about the requirement to scroll both 
horizontally and vertically, and how much more disorienting and 
fatiguing that can be. The sort of person who is going to find it a 
hassle is the sort of person who has their screen configured to show 
maybe a dozen or two characters on a line - someone with a simple, 
common, recognisable disability. If they have an additional problem 
such as a cognitive disability, or a mild mobility impairment, it gets 
a lot worse. Again, not going to stop someone completely, just slow 
them down and frustrate them enough that they can't work so effectively 
(which does amount to unequal access, probably needlessly, for many 
real use cases).

cheers

Chaals

On Monday, Jan 12, 2004, at 02:06 Europe/Rome, 
michael.virant@dse.vic.gov.au wrote:

> If you wouldn't mind I'd like to hear of your concerns regarding the 
> use of
> the <br> tag when used with slabs of text.
>
> I confess to using <br /> a little too liberally for formatting 
> purposes
> and am curious to learn what impact this may have on accessibility.
> Also, when used within <p></p> to prevent line wrapping.
>
> While I'm on the case - are there any accessibility issues with the 
> use of
> &nbsp; to likewise prevent line wrapping?
>
--
Charles McCathieNevile                          Fundación Sidar
charles@sidar.org                                http://www.sidar.org

Received on Tuesday, 13 January 2004 02:46:23 UTC