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Re: usage of abbreviation tag

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From: Olaf Drümmer
Date: Sep 17, 2013 2:19AM

With abbr it is the same as with a lot of other aspects - the "problem to be solved" should rather be addressed on the editorial level, than on the technical level. If - as Joe describes - the abbreviation is explained in the text by providing the full text on its first occurrence on the page, nothing else will be needed. Editorial solutions have the advantage that they are technology-agnotisc, and good writers get it right anyway (because it is also useful for users without disabilities). They even continue to work when you print out the page or copy and paste the text into your favourite text editor.

From my point of view only looking at technical band-aids is a waste of scarce and precious resources, and tends to help only in very specific circumstances (screen reader) and misses just about every other type of access (keyboard driven access, magnification, text customisation, ….). Instead it would usually cost much less to get the content right, or to think of solutions that work always, whether a user has a disability or two or not.

Olaf



Am 17 Sep 2013 um 10:01 schrieb Joe Chidzik < <EMAIL REMOVED> >:

>> Questions:
>> Do I still emphasize to people the importance of using the abbr tag and title
>> attribute -- the problem is with the screen reader, not the HTML?
>
> Note also that the abbr element is inaccessible for keyboard users.
>
> I generally advise that when an acronymabbreviation is used for the first time on a page, it is expanded in full e.g. BBC (British Broadcasting Corporation). This approach is accessible to screenreader users, and also gives keyboard users access to the expansion.
>
> Another, accessible, alternative, is using a pure CSS tooltip which uses the :focus pseudoclass in addition to :hover so that it is accessible to keyboard and mouse users, as well as screenreader users.
>
> Joe
> > >