Re: Error on generator-unable-to-provide-required-alt

Hello, Jukka!

Am 03.09.2013 11:43, schrieb Jukka K. Korpela:
> 2013-09-03 12:20, Jan P. wrote:
> Why would you need to satisfy the validator? The validator is there to
> serve you, not vice versa.

Good point. However, I am trying to create valid HTML5, and when I
decide to put a note to the generated pages that they are conform to the
standard, I don't want anyone who tests that to see any error messages.

> What matters is how you serve your potential visitors. For this reason,
> you should include useful alt attributes when feasible. This means
> writing the obvious text when an image represents text or a symbol that
> has an easy text equivalent. The rest is rather controversial. But in
> general, any alt attribute that gives at least a cue about the content
> of the image (such as alt="(Photo of a silly walker.)") is usually
> better than no alt attribute, which in turn is better than an absurd or
> patently wrong alt attribute.

I am aware of that. Sadly I do not have any information about the images
but the file names.

Maybe I just generate ASCII art from the image file. I bet that looks
just great on a Braille terminal. :(

> While it might make sense to issue one message only, I don’t think any
> time should be sent in improving a feature that should not be there at
> all. Besides, not reporting an error when there is an easily detectable
> violation of the specification (the nonsensical attribute) does not
> sound like validation to me.

'That should not be there'? Now that really is a matter of HTML5
specifications, not validation. However, as long as it is there the
validator should, IMHO, behave accordingly.

If you decide that the validator should continue to report this as
error(s), please, at least change the error messages to reflect the
issue. For example: '... For details, consult guidance on providing text
alternatives for images. (Please note that this validator does not
respect the generator-unable-to-provide-required-alt attribute.)' And:
'Attribute generator-unable-to-provide-required-alt not accepted by this
validator. Please consult guidance on providing text alternatives for
images to avoid this attribute.'

Best wishes

Jan

Received on Tuesday, 3 September 2013 10:39:57 UTC