[whatwg] Add 'type' attribute to <mark>

[Ian Hickson]

On Sat, 1 Nov 2008, Eduard Pascual wrote:
> On Fri, Oct 31, 2008 at 7:29 PM, Ian Hickson <ian at hixie.ch> wrote:
> > On Fri, 31 Oct 2008, Pentasis wrote:
> [...]
> >> As the <mark> element has different usages defined on it already why not
> >> include a "type" attribute (or similar) that defines what it is used
> >> for. One of these types would then be "footnote", others could be
> >> (relating to what is already in the spec) "term", "highlight" etc. (I am
> >> sure others would be much better at thinking up names than I am).
> >
> > That's what the "class" attribute is for.
> 
> What's the difference then between <mark> and <span> then? I mean, does 
> the <mark> element provide anything that <span> with an appropriate 
> class wouldn't?

A default style when there's no CSS support, support in accessibility 
tools, the ability for search engines to understand what's going on, 
easier round-tripping between editors, simpler rules in CSS and other 
selector-like environments, etc. The usual benefits of semantics.

-- 
Ian Hickson               U+1047E                )\._.,--....,'``.    fL
http://ln.hixie.ch/       U+263A                /,   _.. \   _\  ;`._ ,.
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