- From: Bill Mason <w3c@accessibleinter.net>
- Date: Sun, 24 Jun 2007 20:09:39 -0700
- To: public-html@w3.org
Gregory J. Rosmaita wrote: > aloha -- there are several essential reason for retaining LONGDESC: > > 1. RATIONALE for PRESERVING LONGDESC in HTMLx: > > my mainstream arguement for LONGDESC is that there is a screaming > need for it amongst academics and educational institutions, as more > and more course content migrates to the web or intranets, equal access > DEMANDS that they provide a meaningful long description... i have > been asked about this issues inummerable times by educators and > developers of educational software, at symposia, workshops, and via > email, which usually sparked by one of my archived impassioned pleas > on the topic of longdesc, it's importance, and what it needs to achieve... > > academics constantly complain to me that if they are to teach students > without vision or with very low vision, they need more than ALT or > CAPTION -- they need to describe the subtleties of the image being > presented as content for those who cannot see the content, and those > who have found a longdescription helpful, as a key to the symbolism > contained in the image; or as a means of expounding on a static image > of a map (such as of a migration, a battlefield, a schematic of a subway > system, etc.) Unfortunately the rest of your example has no such subtle needs of the image in question. > a few months ago, i was asked advice on how to provide meaningful alt > text to a UK flag that is used to indicate resources in english, without > the quote english english unquote redundancy... i suggested "British" > for the alt-text, so that the listener would hear "British English" (the > page encoding was en-uk), and provided an extensive longdescription > from memory to describe the Union Jack; this is particularly pertinent > when a CAPTION (championed by some over longdesc) is used to > illustrate a british flag -- the caption might read: A blank ALT attribute would have been equally sufficient, since: * presumably the resource was not written specifically in British English -- otherwise the author would have not had this problem to solve since he could have had "British English" without fear of difficulty or confusion. * The text "English" immediately following the image acts as the equivalent of an ALT attribute text. > --- begin CAPTION content --- > The Flag of Union has been the official flag of the United Kingdom since > the Act of Union of 1807, which created the modern political entity known > as the United Kingdom, which, this year, celebrates its 200th anniversary. > --- begin CAPTION content --- What would such text have to do with the image being used as an icon to indicate content presented in English? > now, compare that to the longdesc i recommended in the excerpt below: > > --- begin quote from post to webmaster --- > > Q: what is the purpose of the icon? > > A: to represent the english language; therefore, in the interest of > both aural terseness and aural completeness, i would have advised > you to do this: > > <th lang="en"> > <img src="ukflag" alt="British" longdesc="ukflag_longdesc.html" /> > English > </th> Unless the resource being referenced is specifically in British English (and not just 'generically English'), this is a somewhat misleading label to apply. I would again say a blank ALT text would have sufficed, as would have making the image a CSS background image, because.... > with a description of the british flag as the contents of the > longdesc target, provided you contextualize: > > --- begin LONGDESC --- > The flag of the United Kingdom is used on this site to indicate > resources that are in the English language. > > The flag of the United Kingdom is commonly known as the Union Flag, > or Union Jack. It is the national flag of the United Kingdom > of Great Britain and Northern Ireland. The flag's design dates from > January 1, 1801, as a symbol of the Act of Union of 1800, which > merged the Kingdom of Ireland and the Kingdom of Great Britain (until > 1707, the United Kingdoms of England and Scotland), to form the > United Kingdom of Great Britain and Ireland. > > The flag symbolically uses the national flags of England, Scotland, > and Ireland to form a single flag comprised of: > > * the flag of Scotland, which bears Saint Andrew's cross: > a white X on a blue field; and > > * the flag of Ireland, which bears Saint Patrick's cross: > a red X on a white field; > > * the flag of England, which bears Saint George's cross: > a red cross on a white field; > > the flag of Scotland forms the bottom layer of the Union Flag. Over > Saint Andrew's white cross, the red cross of Saint Patrick is > superimposed, on top of which is a white-bounded red cross of Saint > George. > > --- end LONGDESC --- > --- end quote from post to webmaster --- ...this is completely irrelevant LONGDESC, unless the site's audience is readers interested in the history and evolution of flags. (And if it is, this information should be in a resource available via conventional means, not only addressable through a LONGDESC.) Given that LONGDESC is for: * "...a long description of the image. This description should supplement the short description provided using the alt attribute." [1] * "...complex content (e.g., a chart) where the "alt" text does not provide a complete text equivalent...." [2] * "[providing] information in a file designated by the longdesc attribute when a short text alternative does not adequately convey the function or information provided in the image." [3] The history of the flag has nothing to do with its function/purpose on the page as an HTML element, does not fulfill a need not being handled by the short description, and arguably the image shouldn't even be on the page as an HTML element. -- Bill Mason Accessible Internet w3c@accessibleinter.net http://accessibleinter.net/ [1] http://www.w3.org/TR/html401/struct/objects.html#adef-longdesc-IMG [2] http://www.w3.org/TR/WAI-WEBCONTENT/#tech-text-equivalent [3] http://www.w3.org/TR/WCAG20-TECHS/#H45
Received on Monday, 25 June 2007 03:55:19 UTC