Mention <br> element about accname HOT 8 OPEN

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I think it is a fair simplification to say that a <br> element is equivalent to CSS generated content of a line break character (although the CSS working group has determined that existing behavior cannot be described so simply, and so it's currently "magic" behavior outside the CSS model).

However, as Bryan hinted at in his reply, the <br> is only one of many block-level elements that can break up a text. In script-generated DOM, you often won't have whitespace between other block elements, such as <p> or <li>. The name & description computations still need to insert whitespace for the visual break caused by the block layout.

So that should be a broader issue: if elements are displayed as separate blocks, insert one whitespace character between them. For CSS-styled content, that could basically be defined as: If an element's CSS display type is not inline, add whitespace before and after its text alternative when compiling a parent node's alternative text.

For environments without CSS styling, you would use the default display type for the element, which could be defined as lists of block vs inline elements (e.g, in the HTML-AAM).

If specific additional details are required for <br>, that should probably also go in the HTML-AAM, although maybe with an informative note in the text alternative computation section of this spec.

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<br> is only one of many block-level elements

I am not 100% sure, but <br> seems to get display: inline, at least in chrome. This is why I think it is special.

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I brought up block-level elements because they don't seem to be mentioned in the current spec text, and they have the same effect of breaking up text.

But yes, relying on CSS display to describe <br> would not be sufficient, since it is an inserted forced line break, not a new CSS box. Sorry for going off topic on that point.

My suggestion would therefore have 3 parts:

• In HTML-AAM's Accessible Name and Description Computation section, include an entry for <br> that clarifies that it is equivalent to a line break character.
• Clarify in AccName step 6 (where there is currently an Editor's note) that you need to add whitespace between the alternatives for block elements, but not between inline text spans.
• Add an informative note about <br> to AccName, explaining that even though it is inline, it has an alternative text equivalent to non-collapsible whitespace.

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Maybe @stevefaulkner or @jasonkiss could comment on the plausibility of adding a <br> text equivalent to HTML-AAM, for use when computing parent text even though it has no role itself.

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The issue of how to process <br> issue is closely related to #3. It should not be addressed independent of all the other white space considerations, which, due to their complexity, are targeted for accname 1.2.

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