- From: John M Slatin <john_slatin@austin.utexas.edu>
- Date: Mon, 20 Dec 2004 15:09:15 -0600
- To: "Chris Ridpath" <chris.ridpath@utoronto.ca>, "Gregg Vanderheiden" <gv@trace.wisc.edu>, "WAI WCAG List" <w3c-wai-gl@w3.org>
Chris Ridpath wrote: <blockquote> > "For all non-text content that is functional, such as graphical links > or buttons, text alternatives serve the same purpose as the non-text content." > OK. So what is the purpose of an image used in an INPUT element? I believe that the purpose of the image is always a form submit button. So the Alt text for an image used in an INPUT element is always "form submit button". Is this really what the guideline means? </blockquote> Actually, I don't think that's quite right. The purpose of the *button* is to submit the form. The purpose of the *image* is to convey that information to the user So "Submit" or "Submit form" might be appropriate alt for the button (but see below). The word "button" need not (should not) be included in the alt text because the user agent already makes it evident that it's a button, either by displaying it as a button or by inserting the word button. But "Submit" or "Submit form" aren't appropriate alt when the image on the button is an image of text (such as Go or Search or Find or Done or whatever). In those cases, the alt should match the word that's displayed in the image. Chris
Received on Monday, 20 December 2004 21:09:21 UTC