[Clients] Gemini and accessibility regarding preformatted code blocks

[Rohan Kumar]

On Thu, Feb 25, 2021 at 05:25:08PM -0500, Sean Conner wrote:
>  I might suggest something like:
>
>	preformat = "```" [ [WSP] tag ] [ [WSP] alt-text] end-of-line
>	tag       = '@art' / '@code' / '@data' / '@poem'
>
>  Some examples:
>
>``` @code
>x = 5
>```
>
>``` @art Obligatory Cat picture
>cat
>```
>
>``` @data Price list
>widget	3.45
>gadget	5.99
>fob	1.99
>```
>
>``` @poem
>There once was a person from Nantucket ...
>```
>
>``` Just some regular alt-text
>blah
>```
>
>```
>nothing special here
>```

I think that a small but significant change to the spec is necessary 
here. My proposal:

- Three backticks signify readable preformatted text (e.g. a code 
	snippet or a poem); screen-readers should not skip this.
- Four backticks signify something that isn't readable, like ascii-art.

This is consistent with the spirit of gemtext: characters at the 
beginning of a line are the only way to describe semantics.

Benefits of this proposal:

- It doesn't break any existing sites; it just adds one feature.
- It's very simple to implement: parsers scan for a single additional 
	backtick
- Authors can still provide any alt-text they wish without worrying 
	about "reserved words" like the proposed tags
- It provides *critical* semantic information: whether or not a block of 
	preformatted text should be treated as readable text.

I'm generally against gemtext spec changes, but I think this is 
necessary for screenreader-friendliness.

-- 
/Seirdy
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