Call for Review: HTML Image Description Extension (longdesc)

Dear WAI Interest Group Participants,

The W3C HTML Working Group today published the First Public Working Draft of:
     HTML Image Description Extension
     http://www.w3.org/TR/html-longdesc

This specification ("HTML-longdesc") enables web authors to provide longer text descriptions for complex images. It defines the "longdesc" attribute to link descriptions with images in HTML5 content.

HTML-longdesc is an extension specification that is part of the HTML5 family of specifications [1], which enables it to evolve independently and be finalized more rapidly. HTML-longdesc is part of W3C's work to ensure that the Open Web Platform [2] is accessible to people with disabilities [3].

Based on this publication, the following changes will be implemented in the coming weeks:
* W3C validator [4] will validate longdesc as conforming HTML5.
* longdesc will be removed from the HTML obsolete features list.

Comments: Please send any comments on this Draft to the publicly archived HTML Accessibility Task Force mailing list:
     public-html-a11y@w3.org
     by 10 April 2013

Working Groups: HTML-longdesc was developed by the HTML Accessibility Task Force under the WAI Protocols and Formats Working Group (PFWG) and the HTML Working Group (HTML WG). [5]

About the URI: The first URI above goes to the latest version of the specification. The "dated" version of this Working Draft is: <http://www.w3.org/TR/2013/WD-html-longdesc-20130312/> The difference between these URIs are explained in Referencing and Linking to WAI Guidelines and Technical Documents at: <http://www.w3.org/WAI/intro/linking>

Please let us know if you have any questions. Thank you in advance for your comments.
Feel free to circulate this message to other lists; please avoid cross-postings where possible.

Regards,
~Shawn Henry, WAI Outreach
HTML Accessibility Task Force Co-Facilitators: Steve Faulkner, Charles McCathie-Neville, Janina Sajka
HTML WG Chairs: Paul Cotton, Sam Ruby, Maciej Stachowiak
PFWG Chair: Janina Sajka
W3C Staff: Judy Brewer, Michael Cooper, Philippe Le Hégaret, Michael Smith


[1] Blog about extension specifications <http://www.w3.org/QA/2012/09/getting_html5_to_recommendatio>
[2] Open Web Platform standards <http://www.w3.org/standards/>
[3] Accessibility - W3C <http://www.w3.org/standards/webdesign/accessibility>
[4] HTML Validator (W3C Markup Validation Service) <http://validator.w3.org/>
[5] HTML Accessibility Task Force <http://www.w3.org/WAI/PF/html-accessibility-tf>
      W3C WAI PFWG <http://www.w3.org/WAI/PF/>
      W3C HTML WG <http://www.w3.org/html/wg/>



-----
Shawn Lawton Henry
W3C Web Accessibility Initiative (WAI)
Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT)
e-mail: shawn@w3.org
phone: +1.617.395.7664
about: http://www.w3.org/People/Shawn/

Received on Tuesday, 12 March 2013 13:09:57 UTC