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Re: headings

for

From: John Foliot - WATS.ca
Date: Feb 21, 2005 6:34AM

michael.brockington wrote:
>>
>> A lot of developers use the H1 as the name of the site, the
>> h2 as the section and so on, which is simply wrong.
>>
>
> On Friday you made the above statement.
> Several people have made a number of assertions in this
> thread, but I have
> yet to get a direct response to this one simple question, despite the
> strength of the original assertion. Jukka made a number of
> valid points, but
> while his opinions on related issues appear to agree with
> yours, they did not
> appear to me to address this point.
>
> I am not advocating that we should stipulate that the site
> name appears
> within an H1 heading, but can anyone give me a valid reason
> for not doing so,
> if the site owner so desires?
>
> Mike
>

Mike,

You want to be right? Be right.

Like many issues regarding Universal Accessibility, there reaches a point
where human judgment must be invoked... We all use the example of ALT text
when we explain our missions to the uninitiated; people can understand that
ALT="picture" is pretty pointless.

There have been numerous voices on this thread that have tried to explain
why, *in their opinion* using the tag in the way you suggest may in
fact be counter-productive. They include, but may not be limited to:

* semantic logic of the document vs. site structure/navigation
* human usability (annoyance factor) of some users of Adaptive Technology
* Search Engine Optimization

....etc.

Can somebody point to a "rule" that says don't do this? Not that I am aware
of - it does not exist as far as I know (although it *may* in fact be part
of internal authoring guides). You want the technical win? You got it. You
don't want to listen to the other voices - fair enough, everyone is entitled
to an opinion.

Might I suggest however that this thread has reach a point where it is now
going 'round 'n 'round... Let's leave it shall we?

Cheers!

JF
--
John Foliot <EMAIL REMOVED>
Web Accessibility Specialist / Co-founder of WATS.ca
Web Accessibility Testing and Services
http://www.wats.ca 1.866.932.4878 (North America)