RE: a | abbr | acronym

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