Re: <em><em><em>, degree of emphasis attribute?

----- Original Message ----- 
From: "John Lewis" <lewi0371@mrs.umn.edu>
Subject: Re: <em><em><em>, degree of emphasis attribute?


> The class attribute doesn't have any intrinsic meaning.

Yes, I am aware of that. That is why I would rather see <strong> remain in
the specification. I was suggesting the use of the class attribute as an
alternative for rendering only. It is, of course, inappropriate for semantic
differentiation.


> > As I indicated in an earlier post, however, I do think there is a
> > case for <strong> to remain. In the future, the structural elements
> > of a web document may be used to describe all manner of
> > environments. A <strong> element might be used to indicate a
> > powerful smell, for example. An <em> element might be used to
> > indicate a physical texture.
>
> I'm not sure I understand what you mean about smells or textures (or
> how it relates). Could you explain this a little?


I guess it was a little vague. I was suggesting that XHTML 2.0 might
conceivably be used for all manner of unexpected things, and existing (and
new) elements may play a part in describing them. Just as <em> might be used
to indicate an aside, and <strong> might be used to indicate shouting, they
might be used to describe more tangible things. As authors, we must keep in
mind that we do not necessarily know what kind of user agent will be
rendering our documents. Suppose that user agent is non-visual,
non-auditory, and even non-tactile? In the future, web documents may be used
to describe smells, or perhaps differentials in temperature. While this may
seem fantastic at this point (and may be utterly beyond the scope of XHTML
2.0), it is important that structures exist for this to happen eventually.

I think I've gone a little off topic here, so I'll shut up now :)



Simon Jessey

w: http://jessey.net/blog/
e: simon@jessey.net

Received on Thursday, 15 May 2003 22:13:47 UTC