[thelist] Acronym and abbr tags

Lee kowalkowski lee.kowalkowski at googlemail.com
Mon Jan 29 03:04:47 CST 2007


On 29/01/07, tim <tim at hyperlinkage.com> wrote:
> we are discussing how a screen reader will act when
> encountering an abbreviation or acronym on a web page.
>
> Traditionally, acronyms are *pronouncable* words such as LASER and NASA,
> while an abbreviation such as NCB must be spoken as a series of letters.
>   As HTML provides us with two different elements, I think it's
> important to make this distinction.

Does this mean there might be some additional consideration for
deciding which to use?  Whether or not the element should be read as a
word or spelled-out?  "doc" is a pronounceable abbreviation (of
"doctor" or "document"), but not an acronym.  How would a screen
reader read "doc" when it's in an ABBR element?  "Dee-oh-see" or
"doc"?

-- 
Lee



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