- From: John M Slatin <john_slatin@austin.utexas.edu>
- Date: Fri, 13 May 2005 17:19:46 -0500
- To: "Patrick Lauke" <P.H.Lauke@salford.ac.uk>, <w3c-wai-ig@w3.org>
Patrick Lawke wrote: <blockquote> But until browsers present longdescs in a user friendly way, you'll probably still have to revert to using the dreaded [d] links (or use CSS3's content generation or javascript to create those links client side, which obviously opens up a whole different can of worms with regards to backwards compatibility and equivalent functionality when scripting is disabled/unavailable) </blockquote> Rather than literally using a "d-link" (that is, <a href="somedescription.htm">d</a>), consider providing meaningful screen or alt text for the link to the description. The link text then makes sense both in and out of context, whereas the letter "d" showing up by itself in the tab order or a links list always seems bizarre even when you know what it is. If the screen design won't support screen text for the link use a graphic icon with appropriate alt text. And if there's more than one image on the page that has an associated description, then the link text should clearly identify which description appears at the other end of the link. Screen reader support for CSS 3 isn't quite there yet... JOhn "Good design is accessible design." Dr. John M. Slatin, Director Accessibility Institute University of Texas at Austin FAC 248C 1 University Station G9600 Austin, TX 78712 ph 512-495-4288, fax 512-495-4524 email jslatin@mail.utexas.edu Web http://www.utexas.edu/research/accessibility -----Original Message----- From: w3c-wai-ig-request@w3.org [mailto:w3c-wai-ig-request@w3.org] On Behalf Of Patrick Lauke Sent: Friday, May 13, 2005 11:10 AM To: w3c-wai-ig@w3.org Subject: browser support of longdesc (was RE: Is an empty alt attribute ok when...) > David Balch > Yeah, I need to check up on browser support of longdesc... If by support you mean "exposed in an easy and reasonable way to the end user", then the situation is rather bleak. Out of the main Win browsers, only Firefox/Mozilla barely support it by showing the link to longdesc in the image properties dialog (convoluted to get to, and even then the link is not even clickable). Not sure about the situation on the Mac...anybody care to fill in the gaps? I wonder why it seems so hard for browsers to natively implementat something like my firefox longdesc extension http://www.splintered.co.uk/experiments/55/ which just adds the option to follow the longdesc link in the context menu... Having said that, some assistive technology running on top of the browser offers access to longdesc, so at least it's exposed via the API and/or DOM. But until browsers present longdescs in a user friendly way, you'll probably still have to revert to using the dreaded [d] links (or use CSS3's content generation or javascript to create those links client side, which obviously opens up a whole different can of worms with regards to backwards compatibility and equivalent functionality when scripting is disabled/unavailable) Patrick ________________________________ Patrick H. Lauke Webmaster / University of Salford http://www.salford.ac.uk
Received on Friday, 13 May 2005 22:19:55 UTC