Re: Question about HTML abbr and acronym tags

Just adding my perspective into this tangled web of a discussion -

First of all, we're getting slightly away from the primary issue when
we start talking about how screen readers should or should not
pronounce something like "NASA", despite the fact that it is an
acronym. That should be left up to aural stylesheets, if I'm not
mistaken.

As for the reason why one of the newer discussions in this thread,
<abbr> should used in the case of something like "etc.", where it is
an actual abbreviation. An acronym is a special type of abbreviation,
in that it uses the first letters of (almost) every word to denote the
term, such as "NASA". In that respect, I feel <acronym> is somewhat
redundant. While they are slightly different, I believe it is a
difference that is not worth noting.

<p>Joy, happines, pain, <abbr title="et cetera">etc.</abbr></p>
<p><acronym title="National Aeronautics and Space
Administration">NASA</acronym> announced today that a new flight is
planned.</p>

The real problem is something like "e.g." It appears to be an
abbreviation, but it could be an acronym since it is made up of the
first letters of each of its words: {e}xempli {g}ratia. I might
recommend the removal of <acronym> to avoid such troubles as this. As
I've previously mentioned, <acronym> is not very different from <abbr>
considering the fact that both mark up a shortened version of a
phrase. It could be something worth thinking about.


Regarding the issue of '<abbr title="Identity">ID</abbr>s or <abbr
title="Identities">IDs</abbr> (identity vs identifier issue aside),
the problem that opened up this discussion, I believe the latter
should be used. It makes no sense to think of it as "Identitys". Yes,
I know that the 's' is not a part of the abbreviation. However, that
doesn't necessarily mean that it should not be included. It is my
opinion that it looks odd to see a single letter after the closing tag
solely because it is not a part of the abbreviation.


Of course, all of that was merely my opinion, so feel free to use
facts to battle against my arguments. I have no problem with
explaining myself further, though I don't see how I could make my
position much more clear.

Received on Friday, 11 January 2008 23:38:12 UTC