RE: Speak-Punctuation (+spoken ruby)

Maybe something like speak-as that would take a string
containing only words (or possibly pronunciation symbols?
I don't know if Unicode has those, though it seems to have
everything else). Otherwise, changes would be required in
HTML, XML, and probably stylesheets as well.

In a related topic, I noticed that in the International Layout
WD, under Ruby, there is no mention of aural properties. I
would assume that the ruby text and not the base would be
spoken, since the ruby is there to show pronunciation
anyway.

> -----Original Message-----
> From:	www-style-request@w3.org [SMTP:www-style-request@w3.org]
> Sent:	Thursday, August 12, 1999 1:22 PM
> To:	www-style@w3.org
> Subject:	RE: Speak-Punctuation
> 
> The main problem seems to me to be that the nuances of written English
> punctuation (and punctuation of other human languages) are too complex to
> be handled by a predefined set of CSS properties. It would be better to
> let page authors tell speech-based browsers exactly how to render complex
> text. This might be accomplished either by an HTML element similar to
> the proposed <RUBY> or by an HTML attribute similar to the "title"
> attribute of the <ABBR> and <ACRONYM> elements. Or maybe some sort of
> "alt"-like attribute for any inline text element. For example, an author
> could write:
> <p>But Lord Vader, it will cost us <span spoken="18 billion dollars">$18
> billion</span> to build another Death Star, and you <em>know</em> how the 
> Senate wants to cut defense spending.</p>
> A speech browser would then say "18 billion dollars," rather than
> "dollar-sign eighteen billion" or "eighteen dollars billion."
> 
> This line of thinking might properly belong in www-html@w3.org.
> 
> Benjamin Schak
> benjamin@schak.com
> http://www.schak.com/

Received on Thursday, 12 August 1999 17:29:22 UTC