[whatwg] Re: <object> form controls

[Matthew Raymond]

Ian Hickson wrote:
> On Tue, 31 Aug 2004, Matthew Raymond wrote:
>>   If <label> elements use native platform conventions with regard to 
>>focus passing, and you have a <label> associated with an <object>, what 
>>is the focus passing behavior of the <label>? Either the UA has to 
>>assume a behavior or it has to have a means of getting the correct 
>>behavior from the program/plug-in that the <object> encapsulates. The 
>>problem with the former is that it could be a wrong assumption. The 
>>problem with the latter is that the plug-in might lie.
> 
> If you're going to assume the plug-in lies, you've got _much_ bigger 
> problems on your plate. (Like why are you running native code that you 
> don't think is trusted.)

    Well, it should be pointed out that when I say "lie", I mean give 
information that would conflict with documented or well-established 
conventions. That doesn't mean that the author(s) of the plug-in are 
trying to deceive people/browsers. It simply means that you can't 
necessarily rely on a plug-in vendor to always give correct info.

    Personally, I'd prefer allowing vendors to choose the default of 
their choice that "should" be consistent with OS conventions in the 
event that labels are used in the same way across all controls. Polling 
the plug-ins strikes me as a waste of programming time and resources 
(although we could certainly allow vendors to implement it if they so 
choose).