Re: ALT-text and LONGDESC presentation

On Wed, 25 Mar 1998 19:22:59 -0500 Liam Quinn <liam@htmlhelp.com> wrote:
> >Proposal for UA guidelines:
> >
> >Presenting an ALT-text or LONGDESC to the user
> > -    It must be clear when an ALT-text is available/presented.
> 
> I disagree.  ALT text is replacement text for the image.  Good ALT text
> fits seamlessly into the context of the document, without the need to
> announce "Hey, there's an image here!".  ALT text should be presented as if
> it were normal text and there was no image.  Let's look at a common example:

That is the ideal situation.
If the situation was always so nice I would fully agrre.
We of course ask for good ALT texts and LONGDESCs.
I like and agree on yhour good example which is ... ideal.

The real situation is though that we may be glad if there is an 
ALT text and we may even be happy if there is a LONGDESC.

I would like to know when a posible pitfall is nearby and
there for I do not want to trust on possible good ALTs.
Just to replace a "possible good ALT" by being sure "an ALT has been
added to someting els".
We ALWAYS must be aware there is something for which an ALT is added
i.e. it is an alternative, a stand in, never a 100 % garanteed
form of the origional thing showed.

Best regards,
Jaap

Message from: Jaap van Lelieveld      The Netherlands
              Chairman of EBU commission on Technical Devices and Services
E-mail:       Jaap.van.Lelieveld@inter.nl.net

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Received on Sunday, 5 April 1998 15:35:41 UTC