Re: feedback requested on WAI CG Consensus Resolutions on Text alternatives in HTML 5 document

On Aug 18, 2009, at 11:25 AM, Sam Ruby wrote:

>
> It is clear to me that there will be second order issues uncovered  
> by ARIA integration.  For example there appears to be a gap between  
> what Steven and Maciej appeared to agree to (just yesterday!) and  
> what Ian and Smylers believes (again yesterday!):
>
> http://lists.w3.org/Archives/Public/public-html/2009Aug/0874.html
> http://lists.w3.org/Archives/Public/public-html/2009Aug/0899.html

For what it's worth - I found the arguments from Ian and Smylers  
persuasive. aria-labeledby is (by definition of ARIA) only for  
assistive technologies, but alt is also for text-only browsers or  
browsers with images disabled, so aria-labeldby does not fully satisfy  
the need for a text equivalent.

I'm not sure if I agree with Ian's stronger statement that removing  
ARIA attributes should never render content nonconforming (or,  
equivalently, that adding ARIA attributes can't by itself render  
content conforming if it wouldn't be otherwise). It's hard for me to  
have an opinion on this without seeing the concrete implications.

>
> Note: I'm not suggesting in any way that this particular issue is a  
> showstopper.  What I am saying is that ARIA integration is likely to  
> uncover other issues, and finding out what they are is important.

Agreed.

Regards,
Maciej

Received on Tuesday, 18 August 2009 20:00:48 UTC