ACJ’s Departing from separation

Posted

May 1 2005

Last Friday, Molly posted the question p or pre? in which she ponders about the proper semantic markup for a poem in which linebreaks are essential. Should the piece be a paragraph, or pre-formatted text?

The reason it is hard to find the proper semantic markup in this case (which isn�t even one of the most difficult cases, but is one that clearly illustrates the problem) is because of a very fundamental point: content and presentation cannot always be separated.

Some years ago, the www overlords concluded that separating content and presentation (and behaviour, etc.) is a good thing. I testify to this theory, and it�s what I preach on a daily basis. However, I think that some of us [web-savvy elitists] have been approaching the concept a tardy bit too dogmatic. There are many very good reasons to separate presentation from the content, but there�s also bad reasons.

Some of the main good reasons:

• It�s hip � like pixel patterns and oxygen bars.
• Decentralization in general is sexy.
• Accessibility:
  • Documents become platform/device/media indipendant, and therefor accessible to a wider array of people, particularly those with certain disabilities.
  • User agents are provided with more specific means on how to interpret content. (Think semantics. Think Google.)
• Usability:
  • Documents (especially in series) require less time to load. (One of the reasons being that style sheets cascade, and less markup is required.)
  • Users have more control over documents in order to make them meet their needs. (This can be used to compensate for a certain disability.)
• Money.
• Re-usability:
  • Style sheets can be aplied cross-page, cross-domain, and even cross-project/time.
  • Documents can be translated to other (new) formats. (Think xsl.)
• Everytime you mix the two, God kills a kitten.

Bad reasons:

• Separating for the sake of separating.

The web is all about communication, and you must do whatever it takes to get your point across as clearly and efficient as possible. Text-replacing images, inline style rules, and presentational markup elements such as b or i may sometimes be a necessity, and that is o�kay.

However � whatever you do � please do think of the kittens.

Thank you.

Comments

0 comments so far.

Comment