Re: [whatwg] ARIA

<op.t7m1vjwlidj3kv@zcorpandell.palace.opera.no>

Current votes: None.

On Fri, 07 Mar 2008 03:16:04 +0100, Aaron Leventhal <aaronlev@moonset.ne=
t>  =

wrote:

>> Unfortunately a brief mention is insufficient as aria functionality
>> overlaps substantially with HTML functionality and so processing
>> requirements for aria-in-html need to be carefully considered (so we =
can
>> answer questions like "how does <div aria-role=3D'heading'> affect th=
e
>> outline algorithm"). This has not yet happened.
>>
>>
> Okay, so I can speak to this. I developed first browser implementation=
  =

> of ARIA -- the one in Firefox.
>
> ARIA doesn't really overlap with HTML, because ARIA only reports what =
a  =

> JS developer is using elements for.
> So ARIA semantics should not affect  behavior. Any code for dealing wi=
th  =

> ARIA markup should be strictly in the accessibility API support code  =

> (MSAA/IAccessible2/ATK/AT-SPI/UI Automation/Universal Access).
>
> A div need not affect the outline algorithm, etc. any more than a div =
 =

> does.

I would guess that it's the AT that would be the one to implement the  =

outline algorithm. So if <div role=3Dheading> is reported the same way a=
s  =

<h1> is, then <div role=3Dheading> does affect the document outline in t=
he  =

AT the same way as <h1> affects the document outline.

Otherwise, what is the AT supposed to do with the "heading" if not put i=
t  =

in the list of headings? Surprise the user when he stumbles upon it and =
 =

say "Oh snap, that's a heading right there! Didn't see that one coming."=
?  =

:-)

(BTW, I would be fine with solving this particular issue by dropping  =

"heading" from ARIA -- I don't see what problem it is trying to solve th=
at  =

<h1> doesn't.)

-- =

Simon Pieters
Opera Software