handling of HTML title attribute

Hi there,

some web developers add a title attribute to an a element with the same 
text as the a element's content, e.g.

   <a href="foo" title="bar">bar</a>

because some screen readers allow the user the configuration of reading 
links (radio buttons!):

( ) read link text
( ) read title attribute

The HTML specification defines 
(<http://www.w3.org/TR/html4/struct/global.html#adef-title>) the title 
attribute to offer

   advisory information about the element for which it is set

which IMHO sounds like _additional_ information.

I was pointed to the UAAG, which seems to permit this sort of 
configuration for link titles.

UAAG 1.0, checkpoint 2.3
(<http://www.w3.org/TR/UAAG10/guidelines.html#tech-conditional-content>)
says:

2. When a specification does not explain how to provide access to this
    content, do so as follows:

     * If C is a summary, title, alternative, description, or expansion
       of another piece of content D, provide access through at least one
       of the following mechanisms:
           o (1a) render C in place of D;

But how can this be permitted when C is additional information for D?
-- 
Johannes Koch - Competence Center BIKA
Fraunhofer Institute for Applied Information Technology (FIT.LIFE)
Schloss Birlinghoven, D-53757 Sankt Augustin, Germany
Phone: +49-2241-142628

Received on Wednesday, 1 September 2004 09:46:13 UTC