[whatwg] Web Forms 2.0 Feedback

[Matthew Thomas]

On 10 Nov, 2004, at 5:37 PM, Matthew Raymond wrote:
>
> Matthew Thomas wrote:
> ...
>> Actually, buttons with rounded ends and buttons with rectangular ends 
>>  have had the semantic meanings I described above since Mac OS 8.0  
>> (albeit that those meanings were not explicitly stated in the HIGs).  
>> ...
>> It is true that the semantics are currently happening by accident, 
>> and  they can be flouted if authors try hard enough, but they do 
>> exist. They  may not be worth keeping; conversely, they may be worth 
>> specializing  even further. (For example, Mac OS X introduces 
>> completely circular  buttons, primarily used for controlling playback 
>> of a media track.)
>
>    Are any of the differences you described actually in the HTML 4.01 
> specification?

No, which is why I said "the semantics are currently happening by 
accident".

> ...
>    With regard to buttons with rounded and square corners, could you 
> please explain the differences in how they're used, because from a 
> purely graphical standpoint, they seem well into CSS territory.

I don't think I can explain their meanings any better than I already 
did, but here are some examples of each. Rounded: "OK", "Cancel", 
"Save", "Don't Save", "Choose File...", "Advanced...", "Insert 
Addresses...", "I'm Feeling Lucky". Rectangular: "Play", "Pause", 
"Stop", "Move Up", "Move Down", "+", "-".

-- 
Matthew Thomas
http://mpt.net.nz/