some thoughts on LEGEND

aloha!

i hope this makes sense, because it is a thought that was nagging me
and keeping me from (hopefully temporarily) resting in peace, and since 
i don't trust my memory to post about it tomorrow, i've booted my laptop 
back up, and logged back on to the web to advance an analogy and propose 
that PF/WAI formally point out to the HTML WG the advantage of applying 
the LEGEND element -- in addition to the DETAILS element -- more broadly,
as the two elements provide authors creating HTML5 documents with a 
consistent means of strongly binding together collections of uniquely 
labeled objects and/or widgets...

tell me if i'm off-base, but my understanding of the purpose and function 
of the LEGEND element as defined for FIGURE is derived from the use of 
LEGEND in the FIELDSET, LEGEND, LABEL model inherited from HTML 4.01 -- 
the LEGEND provides a terse description of a group of related items: in 
a FORM, a group of related INPUT controls are labeled by the LEGEND 
defined for the FIELDSET, while each individual INPUT control is bound to 
its LABEL with a for/id relationship, just as each IMG in a FIGURE which 
contains multiple images (as in GreggV's "3 Stages of a Butterfly's Life"
example) needs to be bound to a unique terse descriptor through use of 
@alt and/or aria-labelledby

so, my very fuzzy brain concludes that PF should also advise the HTML WG 
since re-use and consistency are a hallmark of a well-designed markup 
language, the LEGEND element should be used whenever the situation 
calls for a terse descriptor/heading for a collection of related 
objects or widgets, when contained in any of HTML5's media specific 
elements, such as VIDEO, AUDIO, FIGURE, etc.

both the HTML WG and WAI have a vested interest in simplifying the 
markup language that is intended to become the new lingua franca (or
lowest common denominator, depending upon one's point of view)

gregory. finally and actually shutting down for the night.
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A conclusion is simply the place where someone got tired of thinking.
                                                      -- Arthur Bloc
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   Gregory J. Rosmaita - oedipus@hicom.net AND gregory@ubats.org
        Camera Obscura: http://www.hicom.net/~oedipus/
 United Blind Advocates for Talking Signs (UBATS): http://ubats.org
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Received on Thursday, 5 March 2009 04:14:46 UTC