Re: ARIA style sheet

Chris Blouch wrote:

> Why didn't we think of this before?

We did.

> Matt Machell had the bright idea that we should apply aria  
> attributes to a page using the same css selector process we use for  
> styling. Something like this:
>
> #first {
> role: slider;
> described-by: #second;
> value-min: 10;
> value-max: 30;
> }

Justin James had the same idea. See thread.
http://lists.w3.org/Archives/Public/wai-xtech/2008Jun/0024.html

> He then went on to write 12 lines of JQuery script to implement the  
> technique. See
> http://www.kryogenix.org/days/2009/02/22/a-wai-aria-stylesheet

I agree that it's useful if implemented through JavaScript.

As a potential solution for assigning semantics to the DOM, I think  
it's a reasonable idea, but I disagree with using this as the standard  
method to assign roles. In other words, the CSS WG should not add an  
official 'role' property in a style sheet to assign semantic meaning  
in the document.

If this is being used as a workaround for backwards compatibility,  
that's fine, but not as the standard way to assign roles. The method  
mixes semantics with style by having the JavaScript (controller) view  
style information in the CSS (view) to then add semantic information  
to the DOM (model) which could have been there to begin with.

> This just seems like  an infinitely useful solution that ought to be  
> developed and implemented native in the browsers.

It is supported, through XBL or HTC, but only the JavaScript option is  
well-supported.