Re: Follow-up on Balance Text Proposal

• From: Zack Weinberg <zackw@panix.com>
• Date: Sun, 12 Oct 2014 12:17:16 -0400
• To: Bobby Mozumder <mozumder@futureclaw.com>
• Cc: "Lewis, Eric" <eric.lewis@nytimes.com>, www-style list <www-style@w3.org>
• Message-ID: <CAKCAbMimVMP-JyqW5zMzXcXG9Oe0sk029H6BPW4_ehz8kLDeBA@mail.gmail.com>

I'm concerned that this proposal codifies behavior at too low a level,
making it difficult to do better in the future.  Specifically, because
'text-wrap: balance' is defined in terms of a concrete algorithm, it
could wind up forcing browsers to implement that exact algorithm for
'text-wrap: balance', and, worse, forcing browsers to continue using
first-fit for 'text-wrap: normal' permanently.

I'm also concerned that this is a "yes, fix this bug" switch.  Under
what circumstances would one NOT want a headline, a section heading,
or indeed an entire paragraph to be wrapped such that all lines are of
similar length?  Wouldn't it be better to encourage browsers to
implement better algorithms *which are on by default*?

zw

Received on Sunday, 12 October 2014 16:17:42 UTC