Re: alt tags - a moot point?

At 5:16 PM -0700 7/12/00, Benjamin J. Simpson wrote:
>ALT TAGS
>Q: What alt tag should a graphic link that represents text have? 
>(ie, home.gif - a gif that is the word 'home')
>A1: The alt tag text is the same as the graphical text. (alt="Home")
>A2: The alt tag provides alternative content. The text provides a 
>more detail about what the link points at.  (alt="Yahoo's home page")

I agree with (I think) you, Benjamin.

Here's how to do what's suggested above:

<a href="http://www.yahoo.com/" title="Yahoo's home page">
   <img src="home.gif" alt="Home" />
</a>

The title attribute should be used whenever you want to convey that
extra bit of human-readable information about what a link (of any
kind) is going to do.  The alt describes the _image_, the title
(on the a tag) describes the _link_.

This has the extra advantage of providing a tool tip for the link
on many browsers.

-- 
--
Kynn Bartlett <kynn@idyllmtn.com>
http://www.kynn.com/