Re: Dave Raggett: Re: IMG ALT attribute in HTML 4.0 (fwd)

On Thu, 11 Sep 1997, Al Gilman wrote:

> I don't yet see what a new LONGDESC attribute would do for users
> of current and older browsers that don't process it.  The
> immediate solution that works with legacy browsers is an
> always-visible link created with the existing Anchor element.  It
> means you have to change pages to read the description -- this
> can get one lost -- but it does what it does with the browsers
> our customers have now.

If you have good evidence that content providers are willing
to support the "D" tag then perhaps longdesc is unnecessary.
I have yet to see this on popular sites though.
 
> There are two questions I don't think we have answered fully yet,
> and to the extent that we can answer them better before the
> November meeting I think we should try to:
> 
> 	- Is this the best solution we can get from 4.0?
> 
> 	- Does this build progressively toward the long-term
> 		solution, or will we want to backtrack later?
> 
> On the other hand, I fear we have bigger fish to fry.  I was
> talking to Daniel today and he said he would put together a
> workplan for the Cougar Review action item so we can prioritize
> and structure our work a little.

As an editor of the HTML 4.0 spec, I would like to get the
input of accessibility experts and content providers as soon
as possible since the window on changes to 4.0 will close within
days not months.

There are 2 major issues I would like help with:

  a) whether the DTD should include/reserve longdesc for IMG
     as a precaution for dealing with transition issues

  b) whether the latest HTML 4.0 proposals provide a
     sufficiently rich basis for rendering tables to speech

A new public version of 4.0 is expected this coming week.
This will include significant changes to the section dealing
with tables.

Regards,

-- Dave Raggett <dsr@w3.org> http://www.w3.org/People/Raggett
phone: +44 122 578 2521 (office) +44 385 320 444 (gsm mobile)
World Wide Web Consortium (on assignment from HP Labs)

Received on Friday, 12 September 1997 18:25:15 UTC