Hi Bevi,
I am one of the editors of the HTML spec [1]
Anybody can file a bug [2] against the HTML spec or send an email to the
public html comments list [3] if they have constructive input.
Unclear what your issue is with figure/figcaption, the semantics of the
figure element is that its a grouping element. figcaption allows a
programmatically associated caption to be added. images are the obvious use
case but others are also covered. If you don't like the idea of using for
content other than images then don't.
On 16 May 2013 17:30, Chagnon | PubCom < <EMAIL REMOVED> > wrote:
> Rabab wrote: "...- HTML 5 example specifies <figure> to code table
> footnotes. However, we prefer not to use <figure> for data tables. ...
> http://www.w3.org/TR/html5/common-idioms.html#footnotes."
>
> Can't answer your question Rabab, but it brings up another related issue:
> the use of one term <FIGURE> in 2 different ways.
>
> In PDFs, all graphical images are tagged with <FIGURE>.
>
> But in HTML 5, it's used for any content, not just graphics, that are
> related to the main story content.
> http://www.w3.org/TR/html5/grouping-content.html#the-figure-element "some
> flow content, optionally with a caption, that is self-contained and is
> typically referenced as a single unit from the main flow of the document."
>
> The specific reference above for tables reads: "A figure element is used to
> give a single legend to the combination of the table and its footnotes."
>
> Never in my editorial mind would I ever call a table a figure, nor the
> extracted poem in an HTML5 example on the W3C's website. Jeeze Louise, are
> there any professional editors at the W3C who can step in and say "that's
> not the best word for that item"?
>
> It would be so helpful to all communities, web developers and document
> specialists, if the power players with the W3C could coordinate their use
> of
> the same tag.
>
> -Bevi Chagnon
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