Re: Styling text for Braille Display?

On Tuesday 22 July 2008 03:05, Gregory J. Rosmaita wrote:
> aloha, gary!
>
> thanks for the info on TarHeelReader and the pointer to your
> projects...
>
> as for controlling braille "styling", one has a choice of using
> either CSS2 or CSS 2.1's media types -- braille is the applicable
> media type for refreshable braille displays:

(CSS 2.1 is an update of CSS2. Whenever they contradict each other, 
assume that CSS 2.1 is right. Formally, CSS 2.1 isn't a Recommendation 
yet, so CSS2 isn't officially obsolete, but in practice CSS2 is buggy, 
while CSS 2.1 is very precise and stable and most implementations have 
already upgraded.)

>
> CSS2: http://www.w3.org/TR/CSS2/media.html
>
> CSS 2.1: http://www.w3.org/TR/CSS21/media.html

That's correct. The keyword 'braille' can be used to mark a style sheet 
as applicable only to a braille reader.

But, personally, I've never seen a braille reader that supports CSS. And 
if they exist, I don't know what CSS properties they implement.

CSS has no properties specifically for braille, but certain general 
properties such as 'text-indent' or 'margin' are expected to apply. It 
is in theory possible to add braille-specific properties to CSS (as 
we've done for SVG and for printed media, e.g.), but there is nothing 
concretely planned in the working group's charter.

>
> a "preliminary requirements analysis" for Braile CSS can be found
> at:
>
> http://www.w3.org/WAI/PF/braillecss.html
>
> then there is the still-born CSS3 Reader Module,
>
> http://www.w3.org/TR/css3-reader/
>
> which was "dropped" by the Style activity at the W3C in March 2008,
> despite CSS3-Reader's promise to:
>
> <q
> cite="http://www.w3.org/Style/CSS/current-work.html#reader">
> The keyword 'reader' is a media type for use in Media Queries
> (similar to 'screen', 'print', 'projection', etc.). Devices that
> might choose to apply rules inside '@media reader' are devices like
> screen readers, that display a page on screen and speak it at the
> same time, or display the page and simultaneously render it on a
> dynamic braille device. The properties that apply to this media type
> are therefore the
> combination of the properties for screen, speech and braille.
> </q>
>
> and i can not identify a clear-cut successor to the CSS3-Reader
> module, or anything like a CSS3-braille profile (remember, in CSS,
> "braille" is refreshable/dynamic while "embossed" is static, paged
> media -- i am including bert bos, the w3c's CSS contact and the
> wai-xtech list in order to tease out an answer to your question)

There is nobody in the CSS working group who is able to work on that 
idea. It reached the working group at a time when the group thought it 
might be possible to find resources for it. But we've not found 
anybody. We've also not had any more requests for it. So the inevitable 
conclusion was that it was not such a good idea after all.

>
> there is also information about the braille media type in CSS3's
> Media Queries Candidate Recommendation:
>
> http://www.w3.org/TR/css3-mediaqueries/
>
> a "snapshot" of the state-of-the-art in CSS is contained in the
> CSS Snapshot document (a.k.a. CSS Beijing)
>
> http://www.w3.org/TR/css-beijing
>
> which, like the CSS working group's "current work" document:
>
> http://www.w3.org/Style/CSS/current-work.html
>
> does not contain any specifics as to using CSS to control refreshable
> braille displays, but i am sure that there are many others on this
> list more knowledgeable about the subject than i am...  i just wanted
> to provide you with some pointers and points-of-departure...

The CSS WG can at any time modify its charter. But it requires an 
implementer and an editor. The editor has to be from a W3C member or 
eligible for Invited Expert status. The editor and the implementer can 
be the same person.

(Eventually we would need not one but two implementations to progress 
beyond a draft, although it may be possible to convince the W3C members 
of special circumstances that make two implementations impractical.)



Bert
-- 
  Bert Bos                                ( W 3 C ) http://www.w3.org/
  http://www.w3.org/people/bos                               W3C/ERCIM
  bert@w3.org                             2004 Rt des Lucioles / BP 93
  +33 (0)4 92 38 76 92            06902 Sophia Antipolis Cedex, France

Received on Wednesday, 23 July 2008 15:48:43 UTC