[whatwg] use cases for <figure> without <figcaption>?

[Martin Janecke]

Hi Steve,

>> The fact that they are enclosed in the <figure> elements means that they
> are referenced somewhere, I believe.
> 
> so if not referenced somewhere, they should not be in a figure?


Probably they should not, as figures are "typically referenced as a single unit from the main flow of the document"^[1]. I'd like to add that the reference can be implicit, though. A short car magazine article about a particular model might be a good example. Readers who are likely to have seen some cars in their lives will identify a car's front section on a photograph by themselves and make the connection to what the articles writes about it.

Here is such an article: http://www.caranddriver.com/news/2014-bmw-4-series-photos-and-info-news
Although the webpage does not actually use figure elements, it would be appropriate for the photographs that are embedded in the main article. The photographs illustrate and enhance the article's content by providing more design details than the text, are self-contained, not part of the main flow and implicitly referenced from it. (The photos should have alt-texts though.)

Regards
Martin

[1]: WHATWG HTML spec 4.5.11 The figure element

Am 20.06.2013 um 23:27 schrieb Steve Faulkner:

> Hi Xaxio,
> 
> <p>Fonts come in many different varieties. The Arial font, for example,
> does not have serifs.</p> <div>arial</div>
> <p>However, font varieties go beyond simple serif and sans-serif
> distinctions. The Old English font is neither of these, instead being
> considered a "decorative" font.</p><div>Old English</div>
> 
> The above example has meaning with or without the divs, and the placement
> of the divs doesn't matter. They could be in a font index at the end of the
> document, as long as the data consumer knows to look there if example are
> needed.  right?
> 
>> The fact that they are enclosed in the <figure> elements means that they
> are referenced somewhere, I believe.
> 
> so if not referenced somewhere, they should not be in a figure?
> 
> --
> 
> Regards
> 
> SteveF
> HTML 5.1 <http://www.w3.org/html/wg/drafts/html/master/>
> 
> 
> On 20 June 2013 20:46, Xaxio Brandish <xaxiobrandish at gmail.com> wrote:
> 
>> <p>Fonts come in many different varieties. The Arial font, for example,
>> does not have serifs.</p> <figure>arial</figure>
>> <p>However, font varieties go beyond simple serif and sans-serif
>> distinctions. The Old English font is neither of these, instead being
>> considered a "decorative" font.</p><figure>Old English</figure>
>> 
>> The above example has meaning with or without the figures, and the
>> placement of the figures doesn't matter. They could be in a font index at
>> the end of the document, as long as the data consumer knows to look there
>> if example are needed.  The fact that they are enclosed in the <figure>
>> elements means that they are referenced somewhere, I believe.
>> 
>> When referring to multiple figures containing graphs or tables with really
>> long names such as "Number of Children With Orange Dreadlocks With Respect
>> to Decade" and "Periods of Time During Which Dreadlocks Are Popular, Where
>> Orange Is Popular, and Where They Overlap", it's so much easier just to
>> give them a <figcaption> and refer to "Table 1" and "Table 2" in the
>> document.
>> 
>> --Xaxio
>> On Jun 20, 2013 12:20 PM, "Steve Faulkner" <faulkner.steve at gmail.com>
>> wrote:
>> 
>>> OK so how do you reference
>>> 
>>> <figure>
>>> arial
>>> </figure>
>>> 
>>> for example?
>>> 
>>> --
>>> 
>>> Regards
>>> 
>>> SteveF
>>> HTML 5.1 <http://www.w3.org/html/wg/drafts/html/master/>
>>> 
>>> 
>>> On 20 June 2013 20:16, Xaxio Brandish <xaxiobrandish at gmail.com> wrote:
>>> 
>>>> The figures could be in a document talking about fonts, yet easily moved
>>>> to the side of the page and still maintain relevance if referenced within
>>>> the document.  I think something important about figures is placement
>>>> irrelevance as long as they can be referenced, whereas paragraphs don't
>>>> have the added semantic of "this will be referenced at some point."
>>>> 
>>>> --Xaxio
>>>> On Jun 20, 2013 12:10 PM, "Steve Faulkner" <faulkner.steve at gmail.com>
>>>> wrote:
>>>> 
>>>>>> An illustration of a font name, in its respective font?
>>>>> 
>>>>> why is <figure> better in this case than <p> (for example) ?
>>>>> 
>>>>> --
>>>>> 
>>>>> Regards
>>>>> 
>>>>> SteveF
>>>>> HTML 5.1 <http://www.w3.org/html/wg/drafts/html/master/>
>>>>> 
>>>>> 
>>>>> On 20 June 2013 19:27, Xaxio Brandish <xaxiobrandish at gmail.com> wrote:
>>>>> 
>>>>>> An illustration of a font name, in its respective font?
>>>>>> 
>>>>>> --Xaxio
>>>>>> On Jun 20, 2013 11:24 AM, "Steve Faulkner" <faulkner.steve at gmail.com>
>>>>>> wrote:
>>>>>> 
>>>>>>> What are the use cases for a <figure> without a <figcaption> ?
>>>>>>> --
>>>>>>> 
>>>>>>> Regards
>>>>>>> 
>>>>>>> SteveF
>>>>>>> HTML 5.1 <http://www.w3.org/html/wg/drafts/html/master/>
>>>>>>> 
>>>>>> 
>>>>> 
>>>