- From: Geoffrey Sneddon <gsneddon@opera.com>
- Date: Mon, 27 Jul 2009 13:15:33 +0200
- To: Sam Ruby <rubys@intertwingly.net>
- CC: Maciej Stachowiak <mjs@apple.com>, William Loughborough <wloughborough@gmail.com>, Laura Carlson <laura.lee.carlson@gmail.com>, HTML WG <public-html@w3.org>, W3C WAI-XTECH <wai-xtech@w3.org>, Ian Jacobs <ij@w3.org>
Sam Ruby wrote: > Option #4 is to toss out some general and somewhat vague ideas of > what a straw poll might look like and hope that somebody else > continues with #3. To attempt to do this: The summary attribute on the table element has existed since HTML 4.0, and is defined in HTML 4.01 as follows: > summary = text [CS] > > This attribute provides a summary of the table's purpose and > structure for user agents rendering to non-visual media such as > speech and Braille. Should we, the HTML WG, as proposed by the PFWG, add this attribute, as conforming and not obsolete, to the current "HTML 5" editor's draft? The PFWG's rational, as given to the HTML WG, is at http://lists.w3.org/Archives/Public/www-archive/2009Jun/0026.html [Does any more need be said on this front, seeming the point of the poll, as far as I can tell, is to decide whether to follow the PFWG's recommendation for @summary.] The reasons given for it currently being conforming but obsolete in the current draft are that it is seen by some as hurtful to accessibility, due to widespread misuse: http://code.google.com/webstats/2005-12/tables.html http://www.paciellogroup.com/blog/misc/summary.html http://canvex.lazyilluminati.com/misc/summary-20090226.html http://my.opera.com/ODIN/blog/2009/05/19/opera-mama-a-sneak-peek-at-headings-images-and-summary http://philip.html5.org/data/table-summary-values-dotbot.html It is proposed that some alternative solution by used (and added to the draft if needed) to fulfil the use of the summary attribute. -- Geoffrey Sneddon — Opera Software <http://gsnedders.com/> <http://www.opera.com/>
Received on Monday, 27 July 2009 11:16:37 UTC