Re: feedback requested on WAI CG Consensus Resolutions on Text alternatives in HTML 5 document

Maciej Stachowiak writes:

> On Aug 17, 2009, at 3:02 AM, Steven Faulkner wrote:
>
> > I think the follwoing should not [be a conformance error]
> > <a href="#"><img src="delete.png" aria-labelledby="this"></a> <span  
> > id="this">delete</span>
>
> I believe this is not currently conforming, but probably will be once  
> ARIA is integrated.

I would object to that on universality grounds.

Aria is specifically about accessibility for those with disibilities.  A
user without any disabilities using, say, Lynx or Firefox with images
turned off, would not be using any technology that processes aira-*
attributes.  As such she would not see an alternative to the missing
image, and would not know the purpose of the link.

We (HTML WG) need to ensure that HTML 5 continues to cater for to users
with 'non-mainstream' set-ups even when ignoring all Aria-specifc
features.

In this particular case the simplest way of achieving that seems to be
to retain the requirement for a non-empty alt on an image which is the
entire content of a link.

Smylers