Re: "ASCII subscripts"

"Doug Ewell" wrote:

>> And FWIW, some of us find them of great use. Yes, they have
>> "visual semantics", but they also have a well-understood
>> semantic component. Headings have "visual semantics" too,
>> but I don't hear of anyone calling for deprecating headings.

> Headings in HTML do not just have visual semantics. They
> identify logical sections of the document. I think there is
> at least one utility that converts HTML into PDF and uses
> the HTML heading tags to create subsections, which can then
> be indexed through the normal PDF indexing mechanism.

Indeed. As with other document-oriented markup languages (e.g., Docbook,
TEI). A common scenario is for a program or stylesheet to generate a table
of contents based on the document's heading elements.

It's us human (and sighted!) processors who tend to appreciate "visual
semantics". :)


/Jelks