Re: summary="" in HTML5 ISSUE-32

Matt Morgan-May writes:

> On 2/26/09 2:54 PM, "Ian Hickson" <ian@hixie.ch> wrote:
> 
> > and hurts non-disabled users (by causing there to be information
> > hidden from them when the attribute _is_ used in a way that helps
> > disabled users).
> 
> ...except that to date, the content of the attribute is explicitly for
> the benefit of non-visual users. Any analysis of the existing data in
> coming to this conclusion is invalid, since visual users were never
> intended to receive it.

The claim[*1] is that in writing summary content for non-visual users
authors have, unintentionally, been writing things which would also be
useful to other users.  That visual users were never intended to receive
it is the whole point -- so analysis of existing data is a good way of
examining the truth of the claim.

_If_ it does turn out to be true, then that would be a reason in favour
of encouraging authors to do something different from the current use of
summary (though of course there may still be other factors in in the
opposite direction which outweigh this).

[*1] Note I'm not saying anything about the truthiness of the claim.
I'm disinterested in whether we have summary and I keep finding
arguments on both (several?) sides of this thread sounding plausibly
persuasive.

Smylers

Received on Friday, 27 February 2009 11:41:43 UTC