Re: Braille style sheets

On Wed, 06 Apr 2005 00:05:25 +1000, Bailey, Bruce <Bruce.Bailey@ed.gov>  
wrote:

> Yes, I agree, the term “emboss” very much implies paper.  But then that  
> table is wrong as it shows “interactive” for emboss where print  
> correctly gets the value of “static”.

Sigh. That would be worth noting in a bug report to the CSS editors, if it  
hasn't been picked up.

>> The idea is that you could replace one of the functions
>> of [Braille translation] with CSS styles.
>
> This is an intriguing idea, since it is easy to find compelling examples  
> the print media type in live use.  Moreover, there are embossers that  
> can perform half-decent (definitely not textbook quality, but generally  
> useable) on-the-fly grade two translation.
>
> How might, in actual use and application, support for the emboss media  
> type differ from the print media type?  Can you suggest some practical  
> examples?  CSS could certainly substitute fixed point fonts everywhere,  
> but I can't think of any utility beyond that.  Can CSS cause images to  
> display ALT content while otherwise hiding a graphic?  How about  
> rendering a character (like a leading asterisk or underscore) as a  
> substitute for EM or STRONG?

CSS 2 can indeed present the alt in place of the image, or insert  
characters before or after some element. I presume in the embossed mode it  
can also format things like page numbers, headers and footers (although as  
far as I know these are not too common in braille embossing), and other  
paged media effects. Certainly that happens in print style sheets.

Spacing after paragraphs etc. can also be varied. I guess looking at the  
relevant bits of the spec would be helpful, but I am not sure i have time  
at the moment to do much of a useful survey.

cheers

Chaals

-- 
Charles McCathieNevile                      Fundacion Sidar
charles@sidar.org   +61 409 134 136    http://www.sidar.org

Received on Tuesday, 5 April 2005 14:30:14 UTC