Re: Useful implementation of IMG ALT
Liam Quinn (liam@htmlhelp.com)
Fri, 23 Jan 1998 18:46:44 -0500
Message-Id: <3.0.5.32.19980123184644.0099de40@undergrad.math.uwaterloo.ca>
Date: Fri, 23 Jan 1998 18:46:44 -0500
To: cottier@fox.nstn.ca, www-html@w3.org
From: Liam Quinn <liam@htmlhelp.com>
In-Reply-To: <34C92043.4BF5@fox.nstn.ca>
Subject: Re: Useful implementation of IMG ALT
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At 02:57 PM 23/01/98 -0800, Francis Cottier wrote:
>AS someone who runs my browser with images off the IMG ALT can tell me
>two things :
>
>1) The name of the image to see if it could be of interest or is it just
>a decorative ornament ?
The browser already knows the name of the image. Repeating this
information in the ALT attribute is a waste of an otherwise good
attribute. It's also not nearly as useful as a textual description
(TITLE) or textual replacement (ALT). A decorative ornament should have
empty ALT text, possibly with a descriptive TITLE.
>2) Its filesize to see if it's worth waiting for.
Again, this is something that the browser should do for you if you're
concerned about it. But using ALT="wdglogo.gif (8 kB)" is harmful to the
users most dependent on good ALT text--the search engines, the blind, and
Lynx users.
>If I don't know this, then I usually don't even bother downloading them.
ALT text should not indicate if an image is worth downloading; it should
replace the image. The TITLE attribute should be used to give the
description you seek.
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--
Liam Quinn
Web Design Group Enhanced Designs, Web Site Development
http://www.htmlhelp.com/ http://enhanced-designs.com/