[whatwg] editorial ambiguity in definition of <nav>?
Bruce Lawson
brucel at opera.com
Thu Jun 18 03:24:17 PDT 2009
Spec says
"The nav element represents a section of a page that links to other pages
or to parts within the page: a section with navigation links. Not all
groups of links on a page need to be in a nav element — only sections that
consist of primary navigation blocks are appropriate for the nav element."
http://www.whatwg.org/specs/web-apps/current-work/multipage/semantics.html#the-nav-element
"Primary navigation blocks" is ambiguous, imo. A page may have two nav
blocks; the first is site-wide naviagtion ("primary navigation") and
within-page links, eg a table of contents which many would term "secondary
nav".
Because of the use of the phrase "primary navigation block" in the spec, a
developer may think that her secondary nav should not use a <nav> element.
Suggest rewording along the lines of "only sections that consist of blocks
whose primary purpose is navigation around the page or within the site are
appropriate for the nav element, so - for example - lists of links to
sponsors/ advertisers would not be marked up as nav elements."
--
Hang loose and stay groovy,
Bruce Lawson
Web Evangelist
www.opera.com (work)
www.brucelawson.co.uk (personal)
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