From ff2ba06400fccc2527db7b786ce8c2649575f35b Mon Sep 17 00:00:00 2001 From: Ray Schwartz Date: Wed, 26 Jun 2024 20:17:35 -0400 Subject: [PATCH] Added definition of host language Used existing verbiage to make a definition of "host language" while keeping all existing content in tact. --- index.html | 7 ++++++- 1 file changed, 6 insertions(+), 1 deletion(-) diff --git a/index.html b/index.html index b887e641d..4ecd410fe 100644 --- a/index.html +++ b/index.html @@ -243,7 +243,12 @@

User Agent Support

Co-Evolution of WAI-ARIA and Host Languages

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WAI-ARIA is intended to augment semantics in supporting languages like [[HTML]] and [[SVG2]], or to be used as an accessibility enhancement technology in other markup-based languages that do not explicitly include support for ARIA. It clarifies semantics to assistive technologies when authors create new types of objects, via style and script, that are not yet directly supported by the language of the page, because the invention of new types of objects is faster than standardized support for them appears in web languages.

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A host language is a markup-based language that either:

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For example, WAI-ARIA augments semantics in supporting, host languages like [[HTML]] and [[SVG2]]. It clarifies semantics to assistive technologies when authors create new types of objects, via style and script, that are not yet directly supported by the language of the page, because the invention of new types of objects is faster than standardized support for them appears in web languages.

It is not appropriate to create objects with style and script when the host language provides a semantic element for that type of object. While WAI-ARIA can improve the accessibility of these objects, accessibility is best provided by allowing the user agent to handle the object natively. For example, it's better to use an h1 element in HTML than to use the heading role on a div element.

It is expected that, over time, host languages will evolve to provide semantics for objects that currently can only be declared with WAI-ARIA. This is natural and desirable, as one goal of WAI-ARIA is to help stimulate the emergence of more semantic and accessible markup. When native semantics for a given feature become available, it is appropriate for authors to use the native feature and stop using WAI-ARIA for that feature. Legacy content can continue to use WAI-ARIA, however, so the need for user agents to support WAI-ARIA remains.

While specific features of WAI-ARIA might lose importance over time, the general possibility of WAI-ARIA to add semantics to web pages is expected to be a persistent need. Host languages might not implement all the semantics WAI-ARIA provides, and various host languages can implement different subsets of the features. New types of objects are continually being developed, and one goal of WAI-ARIA is to provide a way to make such objects accessible, because authoring practices often advance faster than host language standards. In this way, WAI-ARIA and host languages both evolve together but at different rates.