[uf-discuss] OBJECT Pattern Page Updated

[paul_wilkins at xtra.co.nz]

From: Tantek Çelik <tantek at cs.stanford.edu>
> On 11/6/07 12:22 PM, "paul_wilkins at xtra.co.nz" <paul_wilkins at xtra.co.nz>
wrote:
> > The text that follows states that the hyperlink "can require repeating a small
> > piece of information (such as a person's name in an hCard)"
> > If the names in the examples were consistent, they would help to reinforce the
> > stated requirement.
> > The names (ben ward and james levine) should be consistant with each other.
>
> Indeed. In addition, the whole reason the include-pattern was developed was
> to NOT to have to repeat such text in the content of the document.
>
> Thus I've changed it to use the 'title' attribute instead, which is
> simultaneously a less invasive / content-affecting requirement on the
> author, and still available to assistive technologies (same citation in the
> section, Clark, 2007).
>
> http://microformats.org/wiki/include-pattern#accessibility

This is interesting now, because we have an empty anchor that's linking to more detailed information for the machine's benefit.
    <a href="#jl-name" class="include" title="James Levine"></a>

I forsee some issues with this though.
The title appears to be superfluous because there is no text on which the title can make itself visible, and content providers will have have to deal with issues relating to hiding the empty anchor elements, as has been expanded on at http://microformats.org/wiki/include-pattern

Hang on, we've faced this kind of issue before.
The FAQ, "Microformats provide a mechanism for marking up visible content. Any mechanism for embedding invisible or hidden content risks being considered spam"

The empty anchor really can't be allowed as a design principle. What if the empty anchor idea is scrapped, so that humans can gain a benefit from this information too.

If you want to link to the more detailed information, you could use
    <a href="#jl-name" class="include">James Levine</a>

Or some kind of notation could be used to indicate that there's more information available
    James Levine <a href="#jl-name" class="include">[more info]</a>
or 
    James Levine <a href="#jl-name" class="include">[*]</a>



-- 
Paul Wilkins