ISSUE: States should just be Properties with isDynamic=True

ISSUE: States should just be Properties with isDynamic=True

I'm concerned that the current ARIA distinction between States and  
Properties is primarily due to an AT implementor perspective on  
managed states. I understand the benefit to implementors, but I think  
this "subtle  difference" is not well defined, and I think it will  
lead to confusion among web application authors. Considering that  
number of authors reading ARIA specs will likely be much higher the  
number of AT implementors in existence, I'd lean towards skewing the  
readability in favor of the authors' perspective.

Current definitions of Properties versus States.

> Property: Attributes that are essential to the nature of a given  
> object. As such, they are less likely to change than states; a  
> change of a property may significantly impact the meaning or  
> presentation of an object. Properties mainly provide limitations on  
> objects from the most general case implied by roles without  
> properties applied.
>
> State: A state is a dynamic property expressing characteristics of  
> an object that may change in response to user action or automated  
> processes. States do not affect the essential nature of the object,  
> but represent data associated with the object or user interaction  
> possibilities.

Current web authors are very familiar with "properties as attributes"  
in HTML. I believe it hurts the readability of the document to  
separate dynamic properties (states) from standard properties.  
Likewise, splitting them into separate lists decreases the readability/ 
understandability of the document.

I propose we reconcile the list of states and properties into one  
master properties list. In the "Definitions for Properties" section,  
the properties-previously-known-as-states could be marked as  
isDynamic=True. isDynamic would then be defined as:

isDynamic: Dynamic properties are not essential to the nature of a  
given object. As such, they are more likely to change than non-dynamic  
properties; a change of a non-dynamic property may significantly  
impact the meaning or presentation of an object.

Comments?

Received on Tuesday, 24 June 2008 21:23:59 UTC