Re: Identifying D-links with "rel"

At 09:58 AM 09/06/98 +0200, Daniel Dardailler wrote:
>
>> Think of an embedded logo, say the one at the beginning of
>> <http://www.htmlhelp.com/>.  This image has alternative text, "The Web
>> Design Group", to communicate the information contained in the object.  The
>> image could also be given a title, "Web Design Group Logo", which acts as a
>> short description in this (and most) cases.  The image might also have a
>> long description:  "The Web Design Group's logo shows the letters W, D, and
>> G in black next to a picture of the Earth..."
>
>What's wrong with:
>
><OBJECT title="Web Design Group Logo" data=wdg.gif>
>  The Web Design Group. <A href=wdg.htm rel=dlink>D</A>
></OBJECT>

It's just a more cryptic version of

<OBJECT title="Web Design Group Logo" data=wdg.gif>
  The Web Design Group. <A href=wdg.htm rel=dlink>Long description</A>
</OBJECT>

which forces the user to recognize "The Web Design Group." as an object
with a visual description.  Many users (i.e., me) would prefer when
browsing non-visually to be given a completely non-visual page.  The notion
of some text actually being an image is an unnecessary distraction for
these users.

>> Different users may want some or all of this information, but we should not
>> force it on everyone.  The non-visual user who treats the Web as a
>> non-visual medium would probably prefer simply the alternative text.  We
>> need LONGDESC on OBJECT to allow for this level of granularity.
>
>To get more specific, we could also advocate using
>
><OBJECT title="Web Design Group Logo" data=wdg.gif>
><PARAM name="longdesc" value="wdg.htm">
>  The Web Design Group
></OBJECT>
>
>But I don't think we need a new attribute on OBJECT.

I think the universal applicability of a long description would make
LONGDESC as useful on OBJECT as some of its other attributes like TYPE or
WIDTH, which could also be specified using the PARAM element.  However, I
do like the way that your use of PARAM allows the user to choose exactly
how he or she wants to deal with objects, without forcing the concept of a
visual page on the user.  Using PARAM for the long description would be a
great interim solution, or a good second-best if the idea of LONGDESC on
OBJECT is rejected.

-- 
Liam Quinn

Received on Tuesday, 9 June 1998 07:53:18 UTC