Re: Comments from PFWG on CSS3 Speech Module

Hello Janina (et al),

We decided [1] to split the 'speak' property because there was a technical flaw with the single-property design: i.e. conflicting goals between {1} switching aural rendering on/off, and {2} specifying "how" to speak the selected element, resulting in ambiguous edge-cases when using nested definitions. Furthermore, the 'speak' property was not handling the relationship with 'display:none' correctly, so we fixed that too.

Consequently, this feature needed a number of important updates that were going to break existing implementations. Although I noted [2] the existence of some kind of preliminary support in WebKit, I was not aware of any active development targeting iOS5.

At any rate, I would suggest adopting the improved syntax and semantics. It is regrettable that the 2004 Working Draft of CSS Speech Module Level 3 had to stagnate in transient state for such a long time. At last, new resources means that we were/are able to fix the previous drafts shortcomings, and I am delighted to hear that Apple might be able to participate with reference implementations during the CR stage. :)

As for you remark regarding the 'speak-as' values, doesn't the current syntax already meet your requirements?

normal | spell-out || digits || [ literal-punctuation | no-punctuation ]

Please let us know if this is a satisfactory response.
Many thanks for your feedback!

Regards, Daniel

[1]
http://lists.w3.org/Archives/Public/www-style/2011Feb/0029.html

[2]
http://lists.w3.org/Archives/Public/www-style/2011Mar/0389.html

On 11 Oct 2011, at 20:25, Janina Sajka wrote:
> 3.)	speak:/speak-as:
> 
> WebKit and VoiceOver in the iOS5 betas implement partial support for the original values of the 'speak' property in CSS 2.1 as well as some additional values defined by the previous working draft of CSS 3, which seemed a logical progression from the CSS 2.1. Since the Working Group had not published an updated draft in over five years, we would not have expected this property to change so drastically. Please reconsider this property split, since 1) it is not apparent why the split was made, and 2) there is existing implementation that is unlikely to change in the pending release.
> 
> Previous values, from the most recent draft published in December 2004.
> http://www.w3.org/TR/2004/WD-css3-speech-20041216/#speak
> 
> speak:/speak-as: values.
> Whether or not the 'speak' and 'speak-as' properties are recombined, the values for the 'speak-as' property are listed as single token values, but are not mutually exclusive. We would expect to be able to use a token list to specify multiple values that apply. Perhaps:
> 
> .telephone {
>     speak-as: digits no-punctuation; /* e.g., (415) 555-1212 */
> }
> .internetProtocol {
>     speak-as: digits literal-punctuation; /* e.g., 127.0.0.1 */
> }

Received on Sunday, 16 October 2011 22:24:22 UTC