Lachlan Hunt wrote:
Leons, you forgot to CC the list.
Leons Petrazickis wrote:
Lachlan Hunt wrote:
<m> is for highlighting text that is of some interest to the reader,
but it does not alter the meaning of the text itself.
Would you say that <em> is semantic and <m> is presentational, with
the difference from <span> is in default formatting? Or is "meaning"
not quite the right word - is <m> like a highlighter in revision
change tracking, meant to be seen and then discarded?
No, <m> does have semantics. It marks a specific point of interest, as
you might do with a highlighter, it just doesn't alter the meaning of
the text itself.
A marker element certianly has a few use cases: marking syntax highlighting e.g.
<m class="keyword">def</m> <m class="functionName>foo</m>; marking search terms
identified on a page, marking parts of a document with an external annotation
attached (though arguably this requires more sophisticated machinary). I believe
(though many including, I suspect, Hixie, would disagree) the real question is
whether using <m> rather than span for these use cases enables useful features
in general purpose UAs (e.g. a common aural styling, a way of presenting the
information in aggregate form, etc.). I'm strugging to see that it does.
--
"Eternity's a terrible thought. I mean, where's it all going to end?"
-- Tom Stoppard, Rosencrantz and Guildenstern are Dead
