HTML posting

[Jason Clinton]

Jonathan Hutchins wrote:
> I can't recall the last plain-text editor I saw that wouldn't wrap text.  
> Better and more consistently than HTML, which sometimes doesn't wrap (and 
> sometimes won't horizontal scoll either). 

I can think of two big ones right off of the top of my head: Outlook and
Outlook Express. I especially like it when you forward a message that
was wrapped at 80 characters and you wrap at 72; the forwarded messages
has the last word of every line on a line by itself.

Plain text editors are retarded when it comes to quoting/indenting plain
text. I especially dislike attempting to mark up an outline with spaces
and astricks.

>>* Accessibility. In plain text, nothing tells a screen reader that a  
>>line by itself is a header. In markup, this is indicated. 

Not those headers; <h1> <h2> etc... Screen readers would read this clip:

Test Test Test. Test Test Test. Test Test Test. Test Test Test. Test
Test Test. Test Test Test. Test Test Test. Test Test Test. Test Test
Test. Test Test Test.

Header Header Header.

Test Test Test. Test Test Test. Test Test Test. Test Test Test. Test
Test Test. Test Test Test. Test Test Test. Test Test Test. Test Test Test.

As one long continuous paragraph. Some of the more advanced readers
would pause between double lines. But not everyone uses the double line
syntax. Newletters and announce mailing lists are especially plagued by
this problem. You should hear it try to read back a line of ======='s
used as a divider or those cute ASCII graphical sigs --- it's horrific.

> Right - so why clutter up the bandwidth with the unnecessary HTML?  This is 
> niether a math- nor a foreign language list. 

This is not 1991; we do not use 2400 baud modems. Give me a break. This
isn't an argument.

No one is /really/ harmed by HTML email and if you have a good email
client, it will protect you from the <blink> and <img> tags. If someone
wants to use HTML to create bullets and such, more power to them. BTW,
the forthcoming XHTML 2.0 (and XHTML 1.1) have modules that can
establish "subsets" of HTML that can be supported by different rendering
modules. I think all future email readers should offer users the ability
to disable modules above level one -- thereby killing the ability of an
email to display images, color, or font-face. All that remains is the
basic structure.

-- 
Jason Clinton
I don't believe in witty sigs.