On 2/8/07, James Graham <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> wrote:
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.
One example would be the highlighting of terms in Google Cache:
<http://209.85.165.104/
search?q=cache:q_G8YP3E4WwJ:www.worldprimatesafaris.com/+primate+england+madagascar&hl=en&ct=clnk&cd=2&client=opera>
This is Google's current syntax:
<b style="color:black;background-color:#ffff66">Primate</b>
They are marking the search terms with a highlighter. In an aural
browser, would these terms be read differently? Perhaps. Does this
transfer to mobile browsers? Very definitely.
In the Western world, the standard for highlighting is a neon yellow
background. I submit that a much better name for <m> is <hi>
(<hilite>, <highlite>, <highlight>). People don't necessarily mark
text much -- if anything, "mark" implies underlining, circling, and
drawing arrows -- but they do highlight. In university, I often saw
students perched with their notes and a highlighter, marking important
sections. The semantic meaning is to draw attention for later review.
The default styling of <hi> would be a neon yellow background.
Google's choice of #ffff66 could well be suitable.
--
Leons Petrazickis
Database Technology Advocate, IBM
I work on the free DB2 Express-C data server
http://www-306.ibm.com/software/data/db2/express/
