Changes in Language Techs, part 2 (was Re: Techniques for 2.2.3)

aloha, marja!

Marja wrote:
quote
  I hope this is OK as starting point. Gregory promised to make another
  iteration.
unquote

i think you provided an excellent basis on which to build...  the only
additions slash modifications i have to offer are:

1) in addition to your proposed example

quote
For  instance, a screen reader might change the pronunciation of the text
according to the language definition. 
unquote

i would advocate adding something about screen magnification, such as:

quote
For  instance, a screen reader might change the pronunciation of the text, or a
screen magnification program might change fonts, in accordance with the
language definition. 
unquote

2) use of CSS2 pseudo-elements to signal language change -- actually, that's
really more of a WCAG technique, so let me rephrase that to read:

quote
Support CSS2 pseudo-elements and offer the user the option to have the user
agent render pseudo-elements.

For example, with the following definition in the stylesheet:

    P:before { content : "paragraph "; }
    P.spanish { font-weight : bold; }
    [lang|=es]:before { content: "start Spanish:"; }
    [lang|=es]:after { content: "end Spanish"; }

the following snippet:

<p lang="es" class="spanish"><a href="foo_esp.html" 
hreflang="es">Esta pagina en espa&ntilde;ol</a></p>

should, in a CSS2 capable browser that supports pseudo-elements (anyone know of
one?), be rendered thus:

paragraph start Spanish _Esta pagina en espanol_ end Spanish

unquote

ok, you can excise the acerbic aside, and note that i utilized underscores in
the expected rendering to signify hyperlink text..  oh, and the relevant
snippets above validate using the W3C CSS and HTML Validation services,
respectively...

support of CSS2's pseudo-elements also provides a cheap means of satisfying
Checkpoint 2.9 (which is where, perhaps, my second addition to Marja's proposal
properly belongs--or, at least, where the snippets of code belong)

thanks to Charles McCN for assisting me in debugging the language-specific
portions of my stylesheet in the absence of a rendering agent that will
actually render pseudo-elements...

and if anyone does have a browser that supports pseudo-elements, you can check
out the hypertextualized version of Jon's GIF at:
        http://www.hicom.net/~oedipus/wai/ua/pseudo_element_example-v2.html

i'm still trying to figure out how to get pseudo-elements to calculate the
depth of nested list items, i.e.:

<UL>
<LI>
     <UL>
     <LI>
          <UL>
          <LI>
          </UL>
     </UL>
<LI>
</UL>

to translate to:

* level 1 list item
        + level 2 list item
                o level 3 list item 
* level 1 list item

but that one has me (for now at least) flummoxed...  Jim Allen, i think this is
where _YOU_ (and any of the WG's other CSS mavens) come in!

gregory

Marja's proposed Techniques for UAGL Checkpoint 2.3 
>2.3 Render content according to natural language identification
>
>Let user select the default natural language or languages in priority order
>that she normally prefers to receive content.  As content in the preferred
>language might not always be available, the user needs to be able to see
>what languages are available in the current presentation and select from
>these.
>
>Many assistive technologies understand different languages and can render
>them according to the language attribute defined for a certain part of the
>document. For  instance, a screen reader might change the pronunciation of
>the text according to the language definition. This is usually desired and
>done according to the capabilities of the tool. Some specialized tools
>might give some finer user control for the pronunciation as well.
>
>Sometimes the user might also want to know when the text contains parts in
>other languages. How to render the change of language should be made user
>controllable by the user agent. For instance, the user might choose to hear
>"language:new language e.g. German" when the language changes to German and
>"language: default language" when it changes back. Alternatively or in
>addition, the language change could also be rendered visually as text
>withing the document. User should be able to turn this on or off as it
>might be disturbing to users understanding the languages. (Maybe the UA
>could use stylesheets for implementing the change when available.) In
>addition, if possible the UA might have interpretations available behind a
>link or provide a separate function for that.
--------------------------------------------------------
He that lives on Hope, dies farting
     -- Benjamin Franklin, Poor Richard's Almanack, 1763
--------------------------------------------------------
Gregory J. Rosmaita <unagi69@concentric.net>
   WebMaster and Minister of Propaganda, VICUG NYC
        <http://www.hicom.net/~oedipus/vicug/index.html>
--------------------------------------------------------

Received on Thursday, 25 November 1999 00:53:31 UTC