RE: ISSUE-88 / Re: what's the language of a document ?

It doesn't ignore any purposes. It acknowledges that 
http-equiv="Content-Language"  has a secondary effect, that doesn't 
behave in a cross-browser compatible way, whenever there are multiple 
values in it but no @lang attribute. This is more an emphasis on the 
different functions of http-equiv="Content-Language" vs @lang. 

You have yourself documented that multiple values doesn't work in a 
cross-browser compatible way:

http://www.w3.org/International/tests/tests-html-css/tests-language-declarations/results-language-declarations#results


Providing a warning which asks authors to supply a @lang attribute 
whenever they use multiple values, could be of help to authors.

Leif Halvard Silli

Richard Ishida, Fri, 12 Mar 2010 17:35:48 -0000:
> I disagree, since it ignores the use of http-equiv="Content-Language" 
> for it's originally specified purpose to describe metadata, where two 
> or more languages may be appropriate regardless of whether you forgot 
> or remembered to declare the language of the element level content 
> using the lang attribute.
> 
> RI
> 
> ============
> Richard Ishida
> Internationalization Lead
> W3C (World Wide Web Consortium)
> 
> http://www.w3.org/International/

> http://rishida.net/

> 
> 
> 
> 
>> -----Original Message-----
>> From: Leif Halvard Silli [mailto:xn--mlform-iua@målform.no]
>> Sent: 12 March 2010 02:41
>> To: CE Whitehead
>> Cc: www-international@w3.org; public-html@w3.org; ishida@w3.org;
>> ian@hixie.ch
>> Subject: Re: ISSUE-88 / Re: what's the language of a document ?
>> 
>> CE Whitehead, Thu, 11 Mar 2010 20:02:40 -0500:
>>> I like Leif's solution--to use the first language specified in http
>>> as the text processing language when none is specified in the html
>>> tag.
>> 
>> Perhaps this is something you could live with as well, Ian?
>> 
>> Otherwise, if at least one more person agrees, then I will formally
>> write a change proposal which permits 'http-equiv="Content-Language"'
>> to contain more than one language, but only when the root element uses
>> the @lang attribute.
>> 
>> Leif H Silli
>> 
>> 
>>> From: Leif Halvard Silli <>
>>> Date: Thu, 11 Mar 2010 08:57:09 +0100
>>>> Ian Hickson, Thu, 11 Mar 2010 07:39:08 +0000 (UTC):
>>>>> On Thu, 11 Mar 2010, "Martin J. Dürst" wrote:
>>     ....
>>>>>> As a result, the HTML5 spec best should just say that <meta http-equiv
>>>>>> is used primarily as meta-information on the server side and is
>>>>>> therefore in general ignored on the client side.
>>>>> 
>>>>> It's not ignored on the client side in practice.
>>> 
>>>> Yes it is. As long as you use the @lang attribute, then META
>>>> content-langauge has no effect. Hence servers should be free to use it
>>>> as they want = according to the HTTP specs.
>>> 
>>>> So, hereby I propose a compromise solution:
>>> 
>>>> If the HTML document *doesn't* use the @lang attribute on the root
>>>> element, then the content-language pragma is forbidden from containing
>>>> more than one language tag - and this language tag will also define the
>>>> language of the document.
>>> 
>>>> However, if the document does use the @lang attribute on the root
>>>> element, then authors are free to use 'http-equiv="Content-Language"'
>>>> for what it is meant for according to HTTP.
>>> I like this solution.
>> [...]
>> --
>> Leif Halvard Silli
>> No virus found in this incoming message.
>> Checked by AVG - www.avg.com
>> Version: 9.0.733 / Virus Database: 271.1.1/2733 - Release Date: 03/11/10
>> 21:50:00
>

Received on Friday, 12 March 2010 18:02:29 UTC