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Re: Hyphenation best practices

for

From: ckrugman
Date: Jan 5, 2010 1:33PM

This is interesting although I found the format hard to navigate with JAWS
11.
Chuck
----- Original Message -----
From: "Bevi Chagnon | PubCom" < <EMAIL REMOVED> >
To: "'WebAIM Discussion List'" < <EMAIL REMOVED> >
Sent: Tuesday, January 05, 2010 11:04 AM
Subject: Re: [WebAIM] Hyphenation best practices


> Those of us from the professional publishing world learn the
> keyboard/ASCII
> characters for en-dashes, em-dashes, and other typographic glyphs.
>
> If we want our information correctly interpreted by computers - which
> includes screen readers, search engines, and content management systems -
> we
> need to use the correct glyph at the right time.
>
> - hyphen used for hyphenation and compound words, such as
> blue-collar worker.
>
> - em-dash (Alt + 0151) used to indicate a break in the sentence
> structure, a phrase, or clause.
>
> - en-dash (Alt + 0150) connects a series of numbers, such as
> 2001-2010, or a compound adjective, such as Monday-Friday sessions.
>
> My company created character charts eons ago that are still valid today.
> Download them from our archives at
> http://www.pubcom.com/downloads/Character-Chart.pdf
>
> Strict typesetting protocol of yesteryear was to set em-dashes "tight"
> without spaces.
> But today that rule is loosened; because of a lack of hyphenation on
> websites, many style guides and editors allow "spaced" em-dashes so that
> HTML text can reflow more easily and keep words visually more readable.
>
> However, I don't believe spaced or tight em-dashes affect 508
> accessibility
> one iota.
>
> --Bevi
> . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .
> .
> . . .
> Bevi Chagnon | <EMAIL REMOVED> | www.PubCom.com
> Consultants + Trainers + Designers | for print, web, marketing, Acrobat, &
> 508
> PublishingDC Group Co-Moderator |
> http://groups.yahoo.com/group/PublishingDC
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