RE: ARIA roles added to the a element should be conforming in HTML5.

Another reason is ambiguity of element usage, for instance, you can use <a> and <button> in a similar fashion. 
This has never been strictly forbidden or technically made impossible, so misusage simply happens.

ARIA is also to end up discussions like "ok .. manual says "press the button there". Which button? My AT announces 'link'".

- Stefan

-----Original Message-----
From: wai-xtech-request@w3.org [mailto:wai-xtech-request@w3.org] On Behalf Of Schnabel, Stefan
Sent: Mittwoch, 21. Oktober 2009 09:43
To: Jonas Sicking; Steven Faulkner
Cc: HTMLWG WG; W3C WAI-XTECH
Subject: RE: ARIA roles added to the a element should be conforming in HTML5.

> Or maybe they currently "can't" because you can't style a
> button enough to give it the desired rendering.

This is exactly one of the reasons why ARIA was invented .. in artwork for web development, function follows form and not vice versa. This lesson is hard to learn, I know.

- Stefan


-----Original Message-----
From: wai-xtech-request@w3.org [mailto:wai-xtech-request@w3.org] On Behalf Of Jonas Sicking
Sent: Mittwoch, 21. Oktober 2009 09:37
To: Steven Faulkner
Cc: HTMLWG WG; W3C WAI-XTECH
Subject: Re: ARIA roles added to the a element should be conforming in HTML5.

On Wed, Oct 21, 2009 at 12:17 AM, Steven Faulkner
<faulkner.steve@gmail.com> wrote:
> Currently the a element is defined in the HTML5 specification as an element
> that cannot have its native role overriden by ARIA roles [1]
>
> This is contrary to use in the wild as it has been overriden by the addition
> of a number of roles in popular javascript UI libraries.
>
> Examples:
> button
> http://jqueryui.com/demos/dialog/
> http://developer.yahoo.com/yui/examples/carousel/carousel-ariaplugin_source.html
> tab
> http://developer.yahoo.com/yui/examples/tabview/tabview-ariaplugin_clean.html
> menutiem
> http://developer.yahoo.com/yui/examples/menu/menuwaiaria_source.html
>
> It is important to understand that it is not ARIA that is making the link
> into a button, its the developers use of javascript, event handlers and CSS
> that is making it look and act like a button or tab or menutiem. The
> addition of ARIA is merely providing the information that other users get by
> default. So making the addition of an ARIA role non conforming, to an
> element that has been designed to act and look like something other than its
> native role, is not the appropriate repsonse.

Wouldn't it be better for these sites to use a <button> element
instead? Or maybe they currently "can't" because you can't style a
button enough to give it the desired rendering.

/ Jonas

Received on Wednesday, 21 October 2009 07:57:11 UTC