- This version:
- http://www.w3.org/TR/2010/NOTE-xhtml-role-20101216
- Latest version:
- http://www.w3.org/TR/xhtml-role
- Previous version:
- http://www.w3.org/TR/2008/WD-xhtml-role-20080407
- Diff from previous version:
- xhtml-role-diff.html
- Editors:
- Mark Birbeck, Sidewinder Labs mark.birbeck@sidewinderlabs.com
- Shane McCarron, Applied Testing and Technology, Inc.
- Steven Pemberton, CWI/W3C®
- T. V. Raman, Google, Inc.
- Richard Schwerdtfeger, IBM Corporation
This document is also available in these non-normative formats: PostScript version, PDF version, ZIP archive,
and Gzip'd TAR archive.
The English version of this specification is the only normative version. Non-normative translations may also be available.
Copyright © 2006-2010 W3C® (MIT, ERCIM, Keio), All Rights Reserved. W3C liability, trademark and document use rules apply.
The XHTML Role Attribute defined in this specification allows the author to annotate XML Languages with machine-extractable semantic information about the purpose of an element. Use cases include
accessibility, device adaptation, server-side processing, and complex data description. This attribute can be integrated into any markup language based upon XHTML Modularization [XHTMLMOD].
This section describes the status of this document at the time of its publication. Other documents may supersede this document. A list of current W3C publications and the latest revision of
this technical report can be found in the W3C technical reports index at http://www.w3.org/TR/.
This document is a Working Group Note. The XHTML2 Working Group's charter expired before it could complete work on this document. Work related to this document is being done by the Protocols and Formats Working Group.
Comments on this document should be addressed to www-html-editor@w3.org. All comments sent to that address are available in a (public archive).
Publication as a Working Group Note does not imply endorsement by the W3C Membership. This is a draft document and may be updated, replaced or obsoleted by other documents at any time. It is
inappropriate to cite this document as other than work in progress.
This document has been produced by the W3C XHTML 2 Working Group as part of the HTML Activity. The goals of
the XHTML 2 Working Group are discussed in the XHTML 2 Working Group charter.
This document was produced by a group operating under the 5 February 2004 W3C Patent Policy. W3C maintains a public list of any patent disclosures made in connection with the deliverables of the group; that page also includes instructions for
disclosing a patent. An individual who has actual knowledge of a patent which the individual believes contains Essential
Claim(s) must disclose the information in accordance with section 6 of the W3C Patent Policy.
Please report errors in this specification to www-html-editor@w3.org (archive). It is
inappropriate to send discussion email to this address. Public discussion may take place on www-html@w3.org (archive).
This section is informative.
This document is a module designed to be used to help extend the scope of XHTML-family markup languages into new environments. It has been developed in conjunction with the accessibility community
and other groups to make it easier to describe the semantic meaning of XHTML-family document content.
This section is normative.
The keywords "MUST", "MUST NOT", "REQUIRED", "SHALL", "SHALL NOT", "SHOULD", "RECOMMENDED", "MAY", and "OPTIONAL" in this document are to be interpreted as described in [RFC2119].
Note that all examples in this document are informative, and are not meant to be interpreted as normative requirements.
XHTML Role Attribute Module is not a stand-alone document type. It is intended to be integrated into other host languages such as XHTML. A conforming XHTML Role Attribute Module document is a
document that requires only the facilities described as mandatory in this specification and the facilities described as mandatory in its host language. Such a document must meet all the following
criteria:
-
The document MUST conform to the constraints expressed in its host language implementation.
-
If the host language is in the XHTML Namespace, there are no additional requirements. If the host language is not in the XHTML namespace, and the host language
does not incorporate this module into its own namespace, then the document MUST contain an XML namespace declaration for the XHTML Role Attribute Module namespace [XMLNAMES]. The namespace for XHTML Role Attribute Module is defined to be http://www.w3.org/1999/xhtml. An example start tag of a root element might look
like:
This example is informative
<mylang xmlns="http://www.example.com/dtd/mylang"
xmlns:xh="http://www.w3.org/1999/xhtml" xml:lang="en" >
When the XHTML Role Attribute Module is included in a host language, all of the facilities required in this specification MUST be included in the host language. In addition, the attribute defined in this specification MUST be included in the content model of the host language.
This section is normative.
The Role Attribute Module defines the role attribute. The role attribute takes as its value one or more whitespace separated CURIEs [CURIE]. Each CURIE maps to a URI that corresponds to a vocabulary term that SHOULD be defined using RDF.
Note that the CURIE specification indicates CURIEs can be prefixed (of the form prefix:reference), can rely upon a default prefix (of the form :reference), or can be from
a collection of reserved values (of the form reference). This specification defines the mapping for the default prefix to be http://www.w3.org/1999/xhtml/vocab#. The host language MAY define a different default prefix mapping. Any value that consists of just a reference MUST use the default prefix mapping
http://www.w3.org/1999/xhtml/vocab#. For a list of all roles in the vocabulary referenced by the default prefix, see [XHTMLVOCAB].
The attribute describes the role(s) the current element plays in the context of the document. This can be used, for example, by applications and assistive technologies to determine the purpose of
an element. This could allow a user to make informed decisions on which actions may be taken on an element and activate the selected action in a device independent way. It could also be used as a
mechanism for annotating portions of a document in a domain specific way (e.g., a legal term taxonomy). Although the role attribute may be used to add semantics to an element,
authors SHOULD use elements with inherent semantics, such as <p>, rather than layering semantics on semantically neutral elements, such as <div
role="paragraph">.
The following is an example of a good, appropriate use of the role attribute:
This example is informative
<ul role="navigation">
<li href="downloads">Downloads</li>
<li href="docs">Documentation</li>
<li href="news">News</li>
</ul>
The next example, on the other hand, is a poor use of the role attribute because it attempts to apply semantics of an element that already exists onto some other element:
This example is informative
<p>Do you agree with the above license?
<span role="checkbox">Yes</span>
<span role="checkbox">No</span>
</p>
A more appropriate use of this module would be to use the existing checkbox element:
This example is informative
<p>Do you agree with the above license?
<input type="checkbox" name="agree" value="y" />Yes
<input type="checkbox" name="agree" value="n" />No
</p>
It is possible to define additional role values. Such values MUST be defined in their own vocabulary. Note that current best practice is that the URI associated with that vocabulary resolve to a
resource that allows for the discovery of the definition of the roles in the vocabulary.
This appendix is informative.
The DTD implementation of XHTML Role Attribute Module conforms to the requirements defined in [XHTMLMOD]. Consequently, it provides a Qualified Names
declaration module.
Note that this module defines the parameter entity %xhtml-role-attrs.qname;. This entity is intended to be used in the attribute lists of elements in any host language that permits
the use of the role attribute on elements in its own namespace. If a host language does not permit role in its namespace, then the host language driver should set a parameter entity
%XHTML-ROLE.prefixed; to INCLUDE and a parameter entity %XHTML-ROLE.prefix; to a value that is the prefix for the XHTML Role Attribute Module attribute.
<!-- ....................................................................... -->
<!-- XHTML Role Qname Module ............................................ -->
<!-- file: xhtml-role-qname-1.mod
This is XHTML Role - the Role Attribute Module for XHTML.
Copyright 2006 W3C (MIT, ERCIM, Keio), All Rights Reserved.
This DTD module is identified by the PUBLIC and SYSTEM identifiers:
PUBLIC "-//W3C//ENTITIES XHTML Role Attribute Qnames 1.0//EN"
SYSTEM "http://www.w3.org/MarkUp/DTD/xhtml-role-qname-1.mod"
Revisions:
(none)
....................................................................... -->
<!-- XHTML Role Attribute Qname (Qualified Name) Module
This module is contained in two parts, labeled Section 'A' and 'B':
Section A declares parameter entities to support namespace-
qualified names, namespace declarations, and name prefixing
for XHTML Role and extensions.
Section B declares parameter entities used to provide
namespace-qualified names for the XHTML role attribute:
%role.qname; the xmlns-qualified name for @role
...
XHTML Role extensions would create a module similar to this one.
-->
<!-- Section A: XHTML Role Attribute XML Namespace Framework ::::::::::::::: -->
<!-- 1. Declare a %XHTML-ROLE.prefixed; conditional section keyword, used
to activate namespace prefixing. The default value should
inherit '%NS.prefixed;' from the DTD driver, so that unless
overridden, the default behavior follows the overall DTD
prefixing scheme.
-->
<!ENTITY % NS.prefixed "IGNORE" >
<!ENTITY % XHTML-ROLE.prefixed "%NS.prefixed;" >
<!-- 2. Declare a parameter entity (eg., %XHTML-ROLE.xmlns;) containing
the URI reference used to identify the XHTML Role Attribute namespace
-->
<!ENTITY % XHTML-ROLE.xmlns "http://www.w3.org/1999/xhtml" >
<!-- 3. Declare parameter entities (eg., %XML.prefix;) containing
the default namespace prefix string(s) to use when prefixing
is enabled. This may be overridden in the DTD driver or the
internal subset of an document instance. If no default prefix
is desired, this may be declared as an empty string.
NOTE: As specified in [XMLNAMES], the namespace prefix serves
as a proxy for the URI reference, and is not in itself significant.
-->
<!ENTITY % XHTML-ROLE.prefix "" >
<!-- 4. Declare parameter entities (eg., %XHTML-ROLE.pfx;) containing the
colonized prefix(es) (eg., '%XHTML-ROLE.prefix;:') used when
prefixing is active, an empty string when it is not.
-->
<![%XHTML-ROLE.prefixed;[
<!ENTITY % XHTML-ROLE.pfx "%XHTML-ROLE.prefix;:" >
]]>
<!ENTITY % XHTML-ROLE.pfx "" >
<!-- declare qualified name extensions here ............ -->
<!ENTITY % xhtml-role-qname-extra.mod "" >
%xhtml-role-qname-extra.mod;
<!-- 5. The parameter entity %XHTML-ROLE.xmlns.extra.attrib; may be
redeclared to contain any non-XHTML Role Attribute namespace
declaration attributes for namespaces embedded in XML. The default
is an empty string. XLink should be included here if used
in the DTD.
-->
<!ENTITY % XHTML-ROLE.xmlns.extra.attrib "" >
<!-- Section B: XML Qualified Names ::::::::::::::::::::::::::::: -->
<!-- 6. This section declares parameter entities used to provide
namespace-qualified names for the XHTML role attribute.
-->
<!ENTITY % xhtml-role.role.qname "%XHTML-ROLE.pfx;role" >
<!-- The following defines a PE for use in the attribute sets of elements in
other namespaces that want to incorporate the XHTML role attribute. Note
that in this case the XHTML-ROLE.pfx should be defined. -->
<!ENTITY % xhtml-role.attrs.qname
"%XHTML-ROLE.pfx;role CDATA #IMPLIED"
>
<!-- end of xhtml-role-qname-1.mod -->
This appendix is normative.
The schema implementation of XHTML Role Attribute Module conforms to the requirements defined in [XHTMLMOD]. It is included here as an example
implementation.
<?xml version="1.0" encoding="UTF-8"?>
<xs:schema
xmlns:xs="http://www.w3.org/2001/XMLSchema"
elementFormDefault="qualified"
xmlns:xh11d="http://www.w3.org/1999/xhtml/datatypes/"
>
<xs:import namespace="http://www.w3.org/1999/xhtml/datatypes/"
schemaLocation="xhtml-datatypes-1.xsd" />
<xs:annotation>
<xs:documentation>
This is the XML Schema attribute module for XHTML Role
$Id: Overview.html,v 1.5 2018/10/09 13:22:52 denis Exp $
</xs:documentation>
<xs:documentation source="xhtml-copyright-1.xsd"/>
<xs:documentation source="http://www.w3.org/TR/xhtml-role#A_role"/>
</xs:annotation>
<xs:attribute name="role" type="xh11d:CURIEs"/>
</xs:schema>
This appendix is normative.
- [CURIE]
- "CURIE Syntax 1.0", W3C Candidate Recommendation, M. Birbeck, S. McCarron, ed., 16
January 2009.
Available at: http://www.w3.org/TR/2009/CR-curie-20090116/
The latest version is available at: http://www.w3.org/TR/curie
- [RFC2119]
- "Key words for use in RFCs to indicate requirement levels", RFC 2119, S. Bradner, March 1997.
Available at: http://www.rfc-editor.org/rfc/rfc2119.txt
- [XHTMLMOD]
- "Modularization of XHTML™ 1.1", W3C Recommendation, D. Austin et al.,
eds., 8 October 2008.
Available at: http://www.w3.org/TR/2008/REC-xhtml-modularization-20081008
The latest version is available at: http://www.w3.org/TR/xhtml-modularization
- [XHTMLVOCAB]
- "XHTML Vocabulary", XHTML 2 Working Group.
Available at: http://www.w3.org/1999/xhtml/vocab
- [XMLNAMES]
- "Namespaces in XML", W3C Recommendation, T. Bray et al.,
eds., 14 January 1999.
Available at: http://www.w3.org/TR/1999/REC-xml-names-19990114
The latest version is available at: http://www.w3.org/TR/REC-xml-names
- [XHTML]
- "XHTML™ 1.0: The Extensible HyperText Markup Language (Second Edition)". S. Pemberton et
al., 26 January 2000, revised 1 August 2002.
Available at: http://www.w3.org/TR/2002/REC-xhtml1-20020801
The latest version is available at: http://www.w3.org/TR/xhtml1
- [XHTML2]
- "XHTML™ 2.0". J. Axelsson et al., 27 May 2005.
Available at: http://www.w3.org/TR/2005/WD-xhtml2-20050527
The latest version is available at: http://www.w3.org/TR/xhtml2
This section is informative.
This document was prepared by the W3C XHTML2 Working Group. The members at the
time of publication were:
- Markus Gylling, DAISY Consortium (XHTML 2 Working Group Co-Chair)
- Steven Pemberton, CWI (XHTML 2 Working Group
Co-Chair)
- Mark Birbeck, Sidewinder Labs (Invited Expert)
- Susan Borgrink, Progeny Systems
- Christina Bottomley, Society for Technical Communication (STC)
- Alessio Cartocci, International Webmasters Association / HTML Writers Guild (IWA-HWG)
- Alexander Graf, University of Innsbruck
- Tina Holmboe, Greytower Technologies (Invited Expert)
- John Kugelman, Progeny Systems
- Luca Mascaro, International Webmasters Association / HTML Writers Guild (IWA-HWG)
- Shane McCarron, Applied Testing and Technology, Inc. (Invited Expert)
- Michael Rawling, IVIS Group Limited
- Gregory Rosmaita, Invited Expert
- Sebastian Schnitzenbaumer, Dreamlab Technologies AG
- Richard Schwerdtfeger, IBM
- Elias Torres, IBM
- Masataka Yakura, Mitsue-Links Co., Ltd.
- Toshihiko Yamakami, ACCESS Co., Ltd.