Sanity check: Should user agents return multiple pointers to the same object?

[joanmarie]

The "ID Reference Error Processing" section states:

If the same element is specified multiple times in a single WAI-ARIA relation, user agents SHOULD return multiple pointers to the same object.

Why? As a screen-reader developer, I can see no benefit to having multiple targets in an accessible relation pointing to the same object. Anyone else think this is a good idea? If not, I propose we remove this statement.

@asurkov, @melanierichards, @cookiecrook, @aleventhal: Thoughts?

[asurkov]

It doesn't make any sense for things like aria-controls or aria-owns. However it could make sense for aria-labelledby/aria-describedby if the author wants to reuse an element content to create accessible name. It feels artificial though.