Re: ***DHSPAM*** Re: Request for clarification of the case where 'the image isn't discussed by the surrounding text, but it has some relevance'

At 14:02  +0100 25/08/08, Philip TAYLOR wrote:
>Ian Hickson wrote:
>
>>The meaning of the page is unchanged whether the image is present 
>>or absent. That's basically the _definition_ of purely decorative.
>>
>>What possible benefit could a blind user get from knowing that 
>>there is a picture present that he can't see? We're not trying to 
>>taunt people here. The page is a poem, that's the sole purpose of 
>>the page, to convey that poem.
>
>No, Ian, the page is /not/ a poem : it is a poem
>plus a picture.  Surely you can see that.

I think you are missing something fundamental.  The author is the 
only person who can answer the question "is the semantics of what 
wish to convey reduced if the image is not seen?".  If the author 
says "no, it is not", then who are we to second-guess him (or her)?

In the hypothetical case posited, the author wished to convey the 
text of the poem.  In order to make the page prettier or something, 
he decided to put a picture on there for those who were consuming the 
content visually.

Only the page author can satisfactorily answer the question of what 
is semantically significant.
-- 
David Singer
Apple/QuickTime

Received on Monday, 25 August 2008 17:56:31 UTC