[html4all] Numbered headings (was HTMLWG)

Mon Nov 26 07:21:48 PST 2007

On Mon, 26 Nov 2007 16:05:18 +0100, Vlad Alexander  
<vlad.alexander at xstandard.com> wrote:
> 1. Using a numbered heading to represent a generic heading is going to  
> be very confusing for users.

I suppose this could be true.

> 2. Redefining the semantic meaning of h1 is not backwards compatible.

You can still use h1-h6 if you really need compatibility.

> 3. This would cause problems for authoring tool vendors because the same  
> element can be used in different contexts.

I don't understand this comment. h1-h6 meaning depends on their ancestor  
element chain. This is new. But the elements in their ancestor chain that  
can affect their meaning are also new.

> 4. And more precisely, the X/HTML 5 spec does not in fact treat  
> section/h1 as equivalent to the XHTML 2 section/h construct as  
> illustrated by this example from X/HTML 5:
>
> <body>
>  <h1>Apples</h1>
>  <p>Apples are fruit.</p>
>  <section>
>   <h2>Taste</h2>
>   <p>They taste lovely.</p>
>   <section>
>    <h3>Sweet</h3>
>    <p>Red apples are sweeter than green ones.</p>
>   </section>
>  </section>
>  <section>
>   <h2>Color</h2>
>   <p>Apples come in various colors.</p>
>  </section>
> </body>

I don't understand. HTML 5 is indeed incompatible with the XHTML 2 model  
as it caters for h1-h6 as well and has a few more sectioning elements. I  
don't see how this is problematic.

> We therefore request that X/HTML 5 adopt the section/h construct from  
> XHTML 2.

I think this would be the wrong list to make such requests.

-- 
Anne van Kesteren
<http://annevankesteren.nl/>
<http://www.opera.com/>