[Bug 10455] Mint a describedby attribute for the img element

http://www.w3.org/Bugs/Public/show_bug.cgi?id=10455





--- Comment #75 from Leif Halvard Silli <xn--mlform-iua@xn--mlform-iua.no>  2010-09-02 21:40:58 ---
(In reply to comment #72)
> In reply to comment #69
> 
> i, for one, have maintained from the beginning that a verbose description
> mechanism is NOT only for those who cannot process an image at all, but that it
> has benefits for many other user groups:

Good. I said it only because a correct problem description affects which
solutions we look at. If we want to reach many uses, then we should also look
at the feature that all users use: links. Hence rel="longdesc".

>  for example, a user with an extremely
> limited viewport may only be able to process the information contained in the
> image through the direction and guidance provided by the verbose descriptor;

An excellent usecase! Would love that on my Nokia mobile phone.

> likewise, it is relatively easy, using simple CSS, to make a strong visual
> binding between a verbose descriptor and the object it describes -- a box of a
> certain color could be generated to provide a color-coded border for an image
> for which a verbose descriptor has been defined/

Indeed. But the same could also be possible with the help of  selector such as 
[rel="longdesc"]. 

  [...]
> this is why i have oft articulated the mantra: "a verbose descriptor
> should not be an either-or option for a user -- there are users who 
> will benefit greatly from the description even though they are capable
> of visually processing the described image, in whole or in part

I absolutely agree that many authors and designer are willing to provide
visible long descriptions, even when the long descripion could be redundant. 

However, I think that if the long description is linked to via a feature (read
@longdesc) which  most user agents do not support and which most users are
unaware of, then they may not be as willing to make it clear. 

That's why, in addition to @longdesc, we should *also* be able to use plain old
links, equipped with programmatic purpose information, to link to long
description.

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Received on Thursday, 2 September 2010 21:41:00 UTC