- From: Nigel Peck - MIS Web Design <nigel@miswebdesign.com>
- Date: Mon, 3 Mar 2003 14:30:29 -0000
- To: "Michael Day" <mikeday@yeslogic.com>, <www-html@w3.org>
Nice argument, well written :) Sounds like a good idea to me. Nigel MIS Web Design http://www.miswebdesign.com/ > -----Original Message----- > From: www-html-request@w3.org [mailto:www-html-request@w3.org]On Behalf > Of Michael Day > Sent: 03 March 2003 06:28 > To: www-html@w3.org > Subject: a | abbr | acronym > > > > > a | abbr | acronym > A story of three tags. > > In the time of XHTML 2, when backwards compatibility was thrown to the > winds in the name of future coolness, the humble <a> tag -- which was once > the very heart of the web -- was lying useless and forlorn: > > "Every element can be a link! Every element can be an anchor! There is no > longer any purpose in my life, and the ongoing struggle between the > kingdoms of XLink, HLink, SkunkLink (and Vellum) shows no sign of adding > meaning to my existence in the future." > > Nearby, <abbr> and <acronym> continued their years long bickering, trying > to settle once and for all how NASA should be marked up, whether SOAP > stood for anything, what W3C was supposed to be, and whether being > supported by Internet Explorer or being supported by Mozilla gave you more > markup credibility. > > Presently a wandering monk, hearing their argument, pointed out that they > were both completely irrelevant. > > "I never use semantic markup due to the excessive strain on my fragile > wrists. If I had to type <abbr>XML</abbr> or heaven forbid, > <acronym>XML</acronym> every time I wanted to refer to > that-which-is-hierarchical, I would soon be reduced to a state of carpal > decrepitude, not to mention gibbering insanity." > > At this, <abbr> and <acronym> fell silent, but <a> was filled with a wild > hope. Surely people would not object to typing <a>XML</a>? That would be a > saving of many characters, encouraging more users to correctly mark up > their abbreviations and acronyms (both of which fortunately start with the > letter "a"). Not only that, but it would be a noble purpose for the lonely > <a> tag, allowing it to raise its head once more and bask in the glory of > <a title="XML HyperText Markup Language">XHTML</a> 2. > > Upon which <abbr> and <acronym>, overhearing its ambitions, ate <a> for > breakfast. > > --- > > Michael >
Received on Monday, 3 March 2003 09:30:43 UTC