- From: <bugzilla@jessica.w3.org>
- Date: Wed, 10 Aug 2011 03:23:26 +0000
- To: public-html@w3.org
http://www.w3.org/Bugs/Public/show_bug.cgi?id=13728 Summary: on guidance for conformance checkers about text alternatives Product: HTML WG Version: unspecified Platform: PC URL: http://www.w3.org/mid/B6CB855C5769484F862F4FB2CCFA50F4 02D545A7@VHAISHMSGJ2.vha.med.va.gov OS/Version: All Status: NEW Severity: normal Priority: P2 Component: LC1 HTML5 spec (editor: Ian Hickson) AssignedTo: ian@hixie.ch ReportedBy: mike@w3.org QAContact: public-html-bugzilla@w3.org CC: mike@w3.org, public-html-wg-issue-tracking@w3.org, public-html@w3.org http://www.w3.org/mid/B6CB855C5769484F862F4FB2CCFA50F402D545A7@VHAISHMSGJ2.vha.med.va.gov Guidance for conformance checkers Allowing a conformance checker to allow images without alt attributes as long as they have a title attribute are asking for trouble. Already, people assume that title and alt can serve the same purpose, and although the spec explains the limited situations in which a title attribute is acceptable, your average web-developer is not going to read the specification. We have not gotten web devs to reliably implement alt attributes yet, allowing conformance checkers to pass an alt-free img because it has a title attribute, or because the image has been generated with certain tools, will only maintain the level of "but the checker said it was fine" that we already have. Images without alt attributes should always be flagged. If exceptions need to be made for the cases listed in the situations cited, those exceptions should be made knowingly by a human being somewhere (webmaster, site maintainer, etc.). Also, with the advancing level of image recognition, there may eventually be automatic ways of generating rudimentary alternative text which could also count as rudimentary keyword generation for categorizing online images. Explicitly excusing a condition based on current inconvenience and limitations seems short-sighted. It would also be useful to have a way to view alternative text even if images are not turned off, for users who would benefit from this feature. PS. The suggested alternative text for the image taken by the blind photographer would seem to be inaccurate. Hummingbird feeders do not contain nuts and seeds, they contain sugar water, so whomever described the picture as a hummingbird feeder has mislead the alt-text reader. [split out from bug 13590] -- Configure bugmail: http://www.w3.org/Bugs/Public/userprefs.cgi?tab=email ------- You are receiving this mail because: ------- You are on the CC list for the bug.
Received on Wednesday, 10 August 2011 03:23:31 UTC