Re: screen readers for macs - also bobby question

> example 1: form entry field should contain a default
> text.  that's not always practical and in my own
> experience with user tests can confuse users.

I've always wondered why people feel the need to do this.  This is not
an accessibility ghetto thing; it is something that was introduced in
mainstream web pages, but not done in the Visual Basic applications
which the design is trying to emulate.

> example 2: for purely decorative images it has become
> general practise to use empty alt attributes.  that is
> just to satisfy bobby and wai.  how is that more
> accessible than a missing alt attribute?

A missing alt makes the HTML invalid.  I think the idea was that requiring
the attribute would make people think about it, but, of course, people just
use authoring tools that insert alt="", alt="<value of src attribute>",
etc., or don't validate anyway.

> 
> example 3: links should be separated by printable
> characters (this is one of the 'until user agents...'
> points).  so web designer often insert the pipe
> character and then make it invisible with display:none
> in the stylesheet.  that adds a lot of wasteful code
> to a page.

I'm not quite sure of the point, but I would suggest that this process 
leaves you with an accessibility/usabiliity problem, unfixed.  I.E.
it is hiding the problem from the checker without removing it.

Received on Saturday, 8 March 2003 05:45:08 UTC