Re: @title's relation to accessibility

Sander wrote:
>(Plus, it
>seems confusing to me that authors need to use @title differently in one
>specific situation.

The title also has a specific machine readable use for the link element.

"The title <http://www.w3.org/TR/html4/struct/global.html#adef-title>attribute
has an additional role when used with the
LINK <http://www.w3.org/TR/html4/struct/links.html#edef-LINK> element to
designate an external style
sheet.<http://www.w3.org/TR/html4/present/styles.html#style-external>Please
consult the section on links
and style sheets
<http://www.w3.org/TR/html4/struct/links.html#linksandss>for details."

http://www.w3.org/TR/html4/struct/global.html#adef-title

>But all these seem to be about how @title can be used to guess at
>missing information.

The WAI - ARIA use of the @title does not fit into your assertion.



On 03/09/07, Sander Tekelenburg <st@isoc.nl> wrote:
>
>
> At 09:46 +0100 UTC, on 2007-09-03, Steve Faulkner wrote:
>
> > sander wrote:
> >
> >>[... HTML 4.01:]  "inspired by concerns for accessibility" is
> >>extremely vague. So I still don't see what exactly @title has to do with
> >>accessibility.
> >
> > a few instances:
> >
> > 1.Use of the title attribute on frames to describe the purpose of the
> >frames is a WCAG 1.0 checkpoint.
>
> OK, I can see how that might be useful. But the HTML spec should be clear
> about this then. It needs to inform authors that @title on frames has a
> special purpose, so that they can know how to use it properly. (Plus, it
> seems confusing to me that authors need to use @title differently in one
> specific situation. Something like @summary for frames might provide more
> consistency.)
>
> > 2. MSAA uses the title attribute value for the name property on images,
> >form controls (if the control does not have a text label programmatically
> >associated with it)
> > 3. The WAI - ARIA spec uses the the title attribute for the nameref
> >property; [...]
> >
> > 4. screen readers such as jaws or window eyes make use of the title
> >attribute when images and form controls do not have alt text or
> >programmatically associated text labels.
>
> Understood. But all these seem to be about how @title can be used to guess
> at
> missing information. Similar to browsers' "ESP engines" (guessing what
> authors meant with their invalid HTML). They don't change the meaning of
> @title. We should not want authors to author for specific UAs.
>
>
> --
> Sander Tekelenburg
> The Web Repair Initiative: <http://webrepair.org/>
>
>


-- 
with regards

Steve Faulkner
Technical Director - TPG Europe
Director - Web Accessibility Tools Consortium

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